Now that my life is slowly coming to an end, I have to think more and more about the past. One experience remains in my very special memory.---------Open my eyes slowly, look around in confusion. Must have fallen asleep, awakened by the rain. Everything around me is wet. I'm wet. It's not the first time. I hate to be wet My cup is like the Trevi Fountain, just not that well filled. Drag me under the front of the ATM. Businesspeople with umbrellas in fancy suits or sexy costumes rush past, their cell phones firmly in view. But no look for me, no time, no money. Tourists with city maps and sturdy shoes study the menu of the Thai restaurant with great interest. Refugees with empty eyes stand freezing in the entrance of the language school and smoke a cigarette. But I'm looking forward to a roof over my head and a hot plate of soup.---------The nights are short. Following an inner urge, I go to the toilet. The only place where I can be alone A last bit of privacy if you will. I look tiredly in the cracked mirror. My God, did I get old. My mother died of leukemia, my father a few years later of drunkenness. Foster parents, several homes, petty crimes, jail, homelessness. That is my life. Now, in my early 30s, I hang around from one daydream to the next. Without perspective, without hope. Alone, and yet never alone. The man in the mirror reminds me of Robinson Crusoe and the few days of a carefree childhood. I secretly smoke the remains of a thrown cigarette in my tattered underwear. Then I shuffle back into the totally overcrowded, foul-smelling, but warm dormitory of the homeless shelter. Hoping to be warmed by my dried clothes the next morning as I am now by my blanket, I fall asleep.---------When I wake up most of them are already on the way or having breakfast. With my clothes dry and the certainty that nothing has been stolen from me, I make my way to my work place. I like the expression. It had snowed overnight and the temperatures had dropped dramatically. So I would spend the whole day freezing in the entrance area of the ATM. Dawn is cold and relentless in the mist-shrouded city. There is a ghostly but at the same time pleasant silence from the threatening noise of the approaching rush hour. My steps crunch softly in the snow.As I cross the bridge towards the city center, a loud splash pulls me out of my lethargy. Someone or something must have fallen into the river. Without thinking about it, I start walking. Run down the ice-covered stairs, take off my moth-eaten coat and jump into the bubbling river with the thought: "Water again". The milky emitters of the slowly sinking car show me the way. Then everything goes very quickly. With all my might I open the driver's door, release the seat belt and pull the unconscious man out of the car. On land I put him on my coat, open his shirt, which is much too tight, untie his designer tie and try to bring him back to life. At last! A deep breath in and out, a confused look, I did it. Since no one except me had apparently noticed the accident, and at this time practically no one comes down here by the river, I carry the man, who is bleeding heavily and moaning in pain, to the next taxi stand, up at the end of the bridge. The driver reluctantly takes us with the words: “And watch out, because of the blood, I mean. Do you have any money with you? ”And drives us to the nearby clinic. And while I, as a celebrated hero, take a warm shower congratulated by the hospital staff and am dressed in new clothes, the casualty is already in the operating room. After a delicious second breakfast, I put my personal details and what happened on record at the police station.(Printed Circuit Board Assembly) I carry the man, who is bleeding profusely and moaning in pain, to the next taxi stand, up at the end of the bridge. The driver reluctantly picks us up with the words: “And watch out, because of the blood, I mean. Do you have any money with you? ”And drives us to the nearby clinic. And while I, as a celebrated hero, take a warm shower congratulated by the hospital staff and am dressed in new clothes, the casualty is already in the operating room. After a delicious second breakfast, I put my personal details and what happened on record at the police station. I carry the man, who is bleeding profusely and moaning in pain, to the next taxi stand, up at the end of the bridge. The driver reluctantly picks us up with the words: “And watch out, because of the blood, I mean. Do you have any money with you? ”And drives us to the nearby clinic. And while I, as a celebrated hero, take a warm shower congratulated by the hospital staff and am dressed in new clothes, the casualty is already in the operating room. After a delicious second breakfast, I put my personal details and what happened on record at the police station. Do you have any money with you? ”And drives us to the nearby clinic. And while I, as a celebrated hero, take a warm shower congratulated by the hospital staff and am dressed in new clothes, the casualty is already in the operating room. After a delicious second breakfast, I put my personal details and what happened on record at the police station. Do you have any money with you? ”And drives us to the nearby clinic. And while I, as a celebrated hero, take a warm shower congratulated by the hospital staff and am dressed in new clothes, the casualty is already in the operating room. After a delicious second breakfast, I put my personal details and what happened on record at the police station.A short time later I make myself comfortable on a blanket with the imprint KLINIKUM in the entrance area of the ATM. The first rays of the rising sun conjure a small smile on my face. Against all logic, it was I who could help someone. An incredibly beautiful, indescribable feeling! With the words that I know all too well: "Hey, can't you sleep off your intoxication somewhere else !?" I am torn from my thoughts and brought back to the reality of everyday life.---------Five months later, a black limousine with tinted windows stopped in front of the ATM. A perfectly dressed chauffeur with a peaked cap leaves the car. "Well, did your boss forget the wallet?" I still think when he suddenly speaks to me and says something unbelievable. After a shopping tour of the city's best shoe and men's clothing stores, a number of jewelers and a visit to a French hairdresser, we drive to the country. We stop in front of a small castle in the middle of an English park. Beaming with joy, a man walks towards me, limping slightly, leaning on a crutch. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! ", He repeats over and over again, while he closes me in his arms with tears.One year later.The rest is quickly told. The man I pulled out of the icy river is a global oil magnate. Today I sit as a co-partner on the 50th floor of his branch in Mega City and look lost in thought at the sea glistening in the sun deep below me.Getting wet can also be something incredibly beautiful. THE END
