Part 9

The escape

It was one of these rainy, gloomy and cold days in Seattle on which I was wandering through the streets. I had left the gallery already about 18 o’clock, I had to get some air. Sometimes this spontaneous need overcame me to simply start running, wandering purposelessly through the streets.

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Raindrops whipped stronger and stronger at my face and the wind became more and more icy and by then I was soaked to the skin. If I didn’t want to get no pneumonia, I had to get to a dry place fast. At that moment I saw a small inconsiderable bar at the corner. On any other day I probably would have simply run past this bar, but on that day this the bar was my last rescue. I had to warm up myself quite urgently. I hoped that the bar would be not too crowded, because I didn’t want to cause any sensation with my appearance, which probably came nearest to the look of a soaked poodle.

For my luck, the bar was almost empty, except for three figures sitting at the bar looking hypnotized in their glasses. Perfectly, here I wouldn’t cause any attention; everybody here obviously looked after their own junk. I sat down at one of the scarcely illuminated tables in the back, which were near the heating. I took off my jacket and put it over one of the heating bodies. Thank God, the corner there was quite dark, so the water puddle which slowly formed beneath my chair wasn’t immediately eye-catching.

I looked around and couldn’t find a waiter far and wide. Then my look fell at a picture on the wall.

It released a feeling of familiarity in me, like a memory from long bygone days which was not tangible. I knew this picture, but just where from? I could not remember, if had I seen it already somewhere in a museum or in a gallery, was it a reprint?

It happens extremely seldom that I can’t designate a picture right away. I got up from my chair; this picture had taken me under its spell. I had to have an absolutely close look at it. I felt that the closer I would get to the picture, the more clearly also the memory would get. I studied inch by inch of it and the longer I looked at it, the more a feeling of anxiety spread in me. What was it that drew me so much into this picture and at the same time also caused so much fear in me that I began to shiver?