07-10-2025, 12:42 PM
It was cold when we got off the bus that had been taking us through the Canadian wilderness for hours. I pulled my winter jacket tighter and pulled my cap down over my face. To escape the piercing wind, I joined my classmates at the bag distribution point and was able to grab my suitcase relatively quickly. I now walked quickly to the youth center in the middle of nowhere. There was snow everywhere and if you didn't watch your step, you quickly sank dozens of centimeters deep into the snow. Thick flakes easily fell to their fellow flakes and as much as I loved snow, this amount was a bit too much of a good thing, so I was glad when I finally stepped through the heavy wooden door into the inside of the hut. It was beautifully furnished. A fire was burning in the fireplace, the walls and furniture were made of wood and the upholstery looked a lot like fur. Was it real? And in one corner, I discovered why we had been asked in advance whether we liked dogs and whether anyone had an animal hair allergy. There, three beautiful huskies were curled up and sleeping. One of them slowly woke up and was surprised to see about twenty teenagers standing in the living room. All of them were wet from the melting snow, but at least most of them seemed enthusiastic. Kathy immediately knelt down and waved at the awake dog. He immediately jumped up and ran to my best friend. They greeted each other as if they had known each other forever. Then the three huskies inspected the whole class. And of course they all got a pat. Then a young, almost inconspicuous woman with a friendly smile stepped forward and said, “You've now met my three sweethearts. They'll get in your way often enough during your stay. You now have an hour to look around here and then there's food. What do you think of that?” Some nodded in agreement, others walked up the big stairs to the dormitories without a word, and the rest murmured ‘yep, sounds good’ or something like that and then followed the others. The last ones to arrive upstairs had still been petting the dogs and now they came into the dormitories with them. We heard the woman in the kitchen and she shouted up: “Better leave the dogs outside, otherwise you won't get rid of them and their hair.” We looked at each other in the girls' room, then shrugged our shoulders in agreement and continued to put our bags next to the already covered mattresses. And the woman was right, the dogs were in the way. We had just put our stuff away when the woman called up to us to come and eat. There we met her, her husband and her brother. All between 20 and 30 and very nice. The woman's brother, Gideon, said that if the storm had passed by the next day, we could go out and explore the area. Our class teacher was given the task of dividing us into five equal groups of two boys and two girls each. Then we were dismissed and those who didn't have to do the dishes surrounded our class teacher in the hope of being able to influence the group formation. That could be something...
Tired, I crept down the stairs to the living area. It was only the first night and I was already completely exhausted. Hoping that a coffee would help me to join the world of the fully alive, I dragged myself to the machine. One of my friends must have had the same idea, because he was already standing at the machine, about to pour the coffee into the filter. So it would probably take a while before I got mine. “Morning, want one too?” ‘Yep.’ Way too exhausting a conversation so early in the morning. We stood silently next to each other at the kitchen counter, and I noticed how good he smelled. Not because he had showered so early in the morning, but his own scent had that certain something. He didn't stink, he just smelled good. Know what I mean? Probably not. His hair was tied back as always and looked a lot like Björn's hairstyle in the third season of Vikings, except that Jacek's hair was so long by now that he pulled it through in a kind of loop. Even the color matched quite well. You don't know what I mean again, do you? Well. Now he noticed my quick glance and looked at me questioningly. Then I realized that the quick glance had actually been a somewhat longer one and quickly nodded towards the window, which was fortunately behind him from my point of view. A few flakes were falling outside, it was such an idyllic landscape that I hoped he would believe me that I had been looking there the whole time. Then he looked at the window himself and watched the dance of the flakes with fascination. So now I really had a great view. Through the window, of course. I slowly woke up and noticed both the ticking of an old wall clock and the soft rumbling of the coffee machine. “Where are the others?” I only now noticed their conspicuous absence. It was much too quiet. “They were still awake until a little while ago, at least a few guys from your room came to us. That woke me up and since I didn't have much chance of falling back asleep with that sawmill up there, I got up.” Then I realized that I had no idea what time it was. I just saw the light coming through the old blinds earlier and got up. When I looked at the clock, I slapped my hand to my forehead. It was only five o'clock. Five! The others would not be here for another hour or two at the earliest. No wonder I was so sleepy. I noticed Jacek laughing briefly and then tucking into the coffee that was now ready. He knew very well that I was not an early riser and had probably wondered why he had company and then of all people me. I leaned on the kitchen counter with both hands and let my head fall back. Again there was a quiet laugh beside me. Then I heard a “here” and the pungent smell of coffee was in the air. I brought my head back into a more normal position, the most normal at this time of day would be lying on a pillow, of course, and opened my eyes. Jacek was standing in front of me, with an outrageously sweet smile on his face and two steaming cups in his hand. He was about to offer me one until he thought of something. “How do you actually drink yours?” And with that, he placed the cups on the counter and began to look for sugar in one of the cupboards. “Black, coffee doesn't have to taste good, it just has to work.” I was about to reach for a cup when his hand closed around mine. ‘That's just what people say who have never had good coffee. Let me do it, okay?’ As if paralyzed, I could only nod. Then he let go of my hand and if my thoughts were just simply not present, they now shot so fast through my mind that I couldn't grasp any of them. So I had no choice but to watch him pour milk and then sugar into both cups. When he had stirred the sweet, he held one of the cups out to me and said a little proudly, “After this coffee, you will never again claim that coffee can't taste good.” “Oh, there's still coffee in it, I thought that was sweetened milk now.” When I saw his indignant expression, I had no choice but to laugh. I had already taken my cup, a beautiful blue one with a light-colored gradient, from him while I was talking and now put my arm around him. I didn't know exactly why I did it, but since he didn't seem to mind, I left it at that for now. I led him to a couch that was in a somewhat separate area in the living room in front of a large window front. There were some blankets and pillows on it and also one of the huskies. I sat down between the dog and boy and took a sip of my coffee. Jac looked at me expectantly from the side. “Yeah, it's okay.” “Really? You think so? FYI: You won't find a better one anywhere in the world.” I smiled wearily at him and poked him in the side. ‘Is that supposed to be a challenge? Drinking coffee until I never sleep again? Nah, I don't think so, I like my dreams too much for that.’ Before he could react, I pushed my cup into his hand and before he could protest, he noticed my intention. I pulled a blanket halfway out from under the dog and draped it over us both. He was sitting in sweatpants and a T-shirt and I was still in my pyjamas, which were actually too big for me. It wasn't cold in the house, but a blanket was still appropriate. I put my legs up on the couch, partly around the husky, and then took my cup again. The position was uncomfortable. I fidgeted around a bit until Jac put his arm around me and pulled me close. At first I was irritated, but I quickly realized how much more comfortable this position was. Satisfied, I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder while the husky put his head on my lap. As you can probably imagine, there wasn't much left to do with thinking. His scent enveloped me and slowly I began to understand how much more comfortable a shoulder was compared to a pillow. I slowly became friends with this day, maybe the following hours would be anything but hell. Grinning blissfully, I stroked the husky's head and took another sip of what must have been the best coffee in the world.
And indeed, the following two hours flew by. We talked about this and that until we fell asleep again. I was still leaning on his shoulder and his arm was around me when I was awakened by a hysterical giggle. Definitely Kathi. Jen, my second best friend, whispered that she should be quieter, but since she couldn't whisper, the people in the kitchen probably heard it. Suddenly Jacek's breathing quickened, so he had woken up too. Then he remarked in a deep, hoarse morning voice: “I think we're being watched.” “No shit, Sherlock.” My voice was also hoarse from sleep, but not half as nice as his. I buried my face in his shirt as best I could and he pulled me a little closer to him. Kathi started laughing again and stood in front of us. “Sorry, but I need one more photo. You're just too cute.” And before I could react, the sound of her cell phone announced that she was taking a picture. Why she didn't put it on silent remains a mystery to me to this day. Tired, I looked up and did her a favor by giving the camera a smile. “You'll send that to me, though.” With that, I hid my face again. The light reflecting off the snow outside was just too bright. Jacek laughed briefly and then said, to my surprise, ‘Me too.’ Why did he want pictures of this scene? Well, he could have them. ‘All right, I'll do it.’ Just then, Jen pulled her away so the two of them could have a little more privacy. Even if the blissfully grinning girl in the boy's arms couldn't see it, she had a pretty good idea of what was going on behind the couch. Satisfied, her grin broadened a little, so they still had some time before they had to sit at the table.
But that time came too. I was almost asleep again when the husky and with it its warmth disappeared. And soon Jacek said: “I'm really enjoying this, don't get me wrong, but I think we should get up slowly.” I just grumbled without deeper sense and buried my face even deeper into his shirt. “Should I carry you over?” There was amusement in his voice. Now I raised my head. I looked at him questioningly: “Nah, you better not.” “Then get up.” That sounded almost like blackmail. “Nope” ‘Yes’ ‘Nope, get up yourself’ ‘I would love to, but you're lying half on top of me’ I was about to give a useless ‘hmpf’ until I thought of the ultimate answer: ‘Nope’ ‘Then I'll just carry you over’ ‘N-Okay, I'll st-’ before I could finish my sentence, which would have meant something like, ' I'm standing up' would have included, his arm slid under my legs and I was lifted in bridal style. Totally romantic you might think now, but unfortunately not. We got so tangled up in the blanket that I had pulled over us earlier that Jacek had exactly two options for taking a step. Option one: sit me back on the couch and run the risk that I re-injured my back or option two: throw me over his shoulder. And what can I say: I was thrown over his shoulder and he marched straight to the dining room, ignoring my loud protests. The whole class was sitting at the breakfast table, laughing and wondering at our arrival. Their laughter was so infectious that Jac and I would have had to join in if we hadn't already done so. I was gently set down on the bench and Jac disappeared again towards the kitchen. I brushed my hair out of my face and realized that I was surrounded by my besties. Enrico, my best friend, was sitting right next to me, and in front of me were Jen and Kathi. The two girls gave me the infamous 'We need to talk about boys' look, which, to the chagrin of my nerves, I already knew far too well. I nodded conspiratorially at them, and then they sank into some speculation about what might have happened. But asking them would be too easy. Shaking my head, I turned to Enrico. “Well, how did you sleep today?” “Quite well. And you?” “Yeah, me too. I ha-” At that moment, the cup with the blue gradient was placed in front of me and when I turned around in surprise, I saw Jacek sitting down next to me. He had actually made me another coffee. “Oh great, sugar milk” I grabbed the cup and held it like Gollum his ring. “My sweetheart” Everyone who had somehow witnessed this action laughed. But the warmest laugh came from Jacek.
Tired, I crept down the stairs to the living area. It was only the first night and I was already completely exhausted. Hoping that a coffee would help me to join the world of the fully alive, I dragged myself to the machine. One of my friends must have had the same idea, because he was already standing at the machine, about to pour the coffee into the filter. So it would probably take a while before I got mine. “Morning, want one too?” ‘Yep.’ Way too exhausting a conversation so early in the morning. We stood silently next to each other at the kitchen counter, and I noticed how good he smelled. Not because he had showered so early in the morning, but his own scent had that certain something. He didn't stink, he just smelled good. Know what I mean? Probably not. His hair was tied back as always and looked a lot like Björn's hairstyle in the third season of Vikings, except that Jacek's hair was so long by now that he pulled it through in a kind of loop. Even the color matched quite well. You don't know what I mean again, do you? Well. Now he noticed my quick glance and looked at me questioningly. Then I realized that the quick glance had actually been a somewhat longer one and quickly nodded towards the window, which was fortunately behind him from my point of view. A few flakes were falling outside, it was such an idyllic landscape that I hoped he would believe me that I had been looking there the whole time. Then he looked at the window himself and watched the dance of the flakes with fascination. So now I really had a great view. Through the window, of course. I slowly woke up and noticed both the ticking of an old wall clock and the soft rumbling of the coffee machine. “Where are the others?” I only now noticed their conspicuous absence. It was much too quiet. “They were still awake until a little while ago, at least a few guys from your room came to us. That woke me up and since I didn't have much chance of falling back asleep with that sawmill up there, I got up.” Then I realized that I had no idea what time it was. I just saw the light coming through the old blinds earlier and got up. When I looked at the clock, I slapped my hand to my forehead. It was only five o'clock. Five! The others would not be here for another hour or two at the earliest. No wonder I was so sleepy. I noticed Jacek laughing briefly and then tucking into the coffee that was now ready. He knew very well that I was not an early riser and had probably wondered why he had company and then of all people me. I leaned on the kitchen counter with both hands and let my head fall back. Again there was a quiet laugh beside me. Then I heard a “here” and the pungent smell of coffee was in the air. I brought my head back into a more normal position, the most normal at this time of day would be lying on a pillow, of course, and opened my eyes. Jacek was standing in front of me, with an outrageously sweet smile on his face and two steaming cups in his hand. He was about to offer me one until he thought of something. “How do you actually drink yours?” And with that, he placed the cups on the counter and began to look for sugar in one of the cupboards. “Black, coffee doesn't have to taste good, it just has to work.” I was about to reach for a cup when his hand closed around mine. ‘That's just what people say who have never had good coffee. Let me do it, okay?’ As if paralyzed, I could only nod. Then he let go of my hand and if my thoughts were just simply not present, they now shot so fast through my mind that I couldn't grasp any of them. So I had no choice but to watch him pour milk and then sugar into both cups. When he had stirred the sweet, he held one of the cups out to me and said a little proudly, “After this coffee, you will never again claim that coffee can't taste good.” “Oh, there's still coffee in it, I thought that was sweetened milk now.” When I saw his indignant expression, I had no choice but to laugh. I had already taken my cup, a beautiful blue one with a light-colored gradient, from him while I was talking and now put my arm around him. I didn't know exactly why I did it, but since he didn't seem to mind, I left it at that for now. I led him to a couch that was in a somewhat separate area in the living room in front of a large window front. There were some blankets and pillows on it and also one of the huskies. I sat down between the dog and boy and took a sip of my coffee. Jac looked at me expectantly from the side. “Yeah, it's okay.” “Really? You think so? FYI: You won't find a better one anywhere in the world.” I smiled wearily at him and poked him in the side. ‘Is that supposed to be a challenge? Drinking coffee until I never sleep again? Nah, I don't think so, I like my dreams too much for that.’ Before he could react, I pushed my cup into his hand and before he could protest, he noticed my intention. I pulled a blanket halfway out from under the dog and draped it over us both. He was sitting in sweatpants and a T-shirt and I was still in my pyjamas, which were actually too big for me. It wasn't cold in the house, but a blanket was still appropriate. I put my legs up on the couch, partly around the husky, and then took my cup again. The position was uncomfortable. I fidgeted around a bit until Jac put his arm around me and pulled me close. At first I was irritated, but I quickly realized how much more comfortable this position was. Satisfied, I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder while the husky put his head on my lap. As you can probably imagine, there wasn't much left to do with thinking. His scent enveloped me and slowly I began to understand how much more comfortable a shoulder was compared to a pillow. I slowly became friends with this day, maybe the following hours would be anything but hell. Grinning blissfully, I stroked the husky's head and took another sip of what must have been the best coffee in the world.
And indeed, the following two hours flew by. We talked about this and that until we fell asleep again. I was still leaning on his shoulder and his arm was around me when I was awakened by a hysterical giggle. Definitely Kathi. Jen, my second best friend, whispered that she should be quieter, but since she couldn't whisper, the people in the kitchen probably heard it. Suddenly Jacek's breathing quickened, so he had woken up too. Then he remarked in a deep, hoarse morning voice: “I think we're being watched.” “No shit, Sherlock.” My voice was also hoarse from sleep, but not half as nice as his. I buried my face in his shirt as best I could and he pulled me a little closer to him. Kathi started laughing again and stood in front of us. “Sorry, but I need one more photo. You're just too cute.” And before I could react, the sound of her cell phone announced that she was taking a picture. Why she didn't put it on silent remains a mystery to me to this day. Tired, I looked up and did her a favor by giving the camera a smile. “You'll send that to me, though.” With that, I hid my face again. The light reflecting off the snow outside was just too bright. Jacek laughed briefly and then said, to my surprise, ‘Me too.’ Why did he want pictures of this scene? Well, he could have them. ‘All right, I'll do it.’ Just then, Jen pulled her away so the two of them could have a little more privacy. Even if the blissfully grinning girl in the boy's arms couldn't see it, she had a pretty good idea of what was going on behind the couch. Satisfied, her grin broadened a little, so they still had some time before they had to sit at the table.
But that time came too. I was almost asleep again when the husky and with it its warmth disappeared. And soon Jacek said: “I'm really enjoying this, don't get me wrong, but I think we should get up slowly.” I just grumbled without deeper sense and buried my face even deeper into his shirt. “Should I carry you over?” There was amusement in his voice. Now I raised my head. I looked at him questioningly: “Nah, you better not.” “Then get up.” That sounded almost like blackmail. “Nope” ‘Yes’ ‘Nope, get up yourself’ ‘I would love to, but you're lying half on top of me’ I was about to give a useless ‘hmpf’ until I thought of the ultimate answer: ‘Nope’ ‘Then I'll just carry you over’ ‘N-Okay, I'll st-’ before I could finish my sentence, which would have meant something like, ' I'm standing up' would have included, his arm slid under my legs and I was lifted in bridal style. Totally romantic you might think now, but unfortunately not. We got so tangled up in the blanket that I had pulled over us earlier that Jacek had exactly two options for taking a step. Option one: sit me back on the couch and run the risk that I re-injured my back or option two: throw me over his shoulder. And what can I say: I was thrown over his shoulder and he marched straight to the dining room, ignoring my loud protests. The whole class was sitting at the breakfast table, laughing and wondering at our arrival. Their laughter was so infectious that Jac and I would have had to join in if we hadn't already done so. I was gently set down on the bench and Jac disappeared again towards the kitchen. I brushed my hair out of my face and realized that I was surrounded by my besties. Enrico, my best friend, was sitting right next to me, and in front of me were Jen and Kathi. The two girls gave me the infamous 'We need to talk about boys' look, which, to the chagrin of my nerves, I already knew far too well. I nodded conspiratorially at them, and then they sank into some speculation about what might have happened. But asking them would be too easy. Shaking my head, I turned to Enrico. “Well, how did you sleep today?” “Quite well. And you?” “Yeah, me too. I ha-” At that moment, the cup with the blue gradient was placed in front of me and when I turned around in surprise, I saw Jacek sitting down next to me. He had actually made me another coffee. “Oh great, sugar milk” I grabbed the cup and held it like Gollum his ring. “My sweetheart” Everyone who had somehow witnessed this action laughed. But the warmest laugh came from Jacek.