Austria.Karl by Elias Schneitter

Author:Elias Schneitter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Edition Baes
Published: 2015-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

8

My divorce didn’t just cost me the earth.

It took some getting over.

We were married for twelve years.

You can’t just wipe away all those years at the drop of a hat.

It’s all dead and buried now though.

I have a few good memories left.

Especially from the early days before we got married.

I was a young good-looking guy, my God...

When I first met her I’d only just joined the Austrian railroad.

Yeah, I was working for the Austrian railroad, because my father had worked there before me.

At the time, he got it all sorted through the party.

I was on the trains as a ticket inspector and she lived on my route, not far from the station.

So I hopped off the train and ran off to her.

Not surprisingly, I wasn’t a ticket inspector with the ÖBB for much longer after that.

The Austrian railroad didn’t have any sympathy for that kind of love.

But then again, a ticket inspector’s life wasn’t for me.

My father went crazy when he found out.

How can you give up a job in the civil service, blablabla....

But can you think of anything more tedious than being a ticket inspector?

It’s always the same.

One station after the next.

The only thing that changes is the date on the ticket stamp.

Otherwise, it’s always the same.

So, it’s hardly surprising I always ran to her.

And anyway, I was head over heels in love with her.

Yes, I really was at the time.

I can say that hand on heart.

The two of us had many good times together.

Our first holidays camping in Italy were great.

We didn’t have two cents to rub together, just enough to buy a pizza to share.

But it was still fantastic.

Even when the kids were young.

Jesolo, Riccione, Fano.

It was like a dream.

But life is what it is.

By that I mean that everything always ends so tragically.

There you are living together for years, thinking and believing everything’s fine.

You think you’ve found someone you can grow old with and before you know it, it’s all over.

Yep, before you know it.

Suddenly, your whole life’s in tatters.

I guess I have Karl to thank for opening my eyes.

Hey George, he once said to me after a soccer match, just keep an eye on that wife of yours, ok?

He said it in a tone that was quite unlike him.

Karl’s the funniest guy you can imagine.

He always has a joke up his sleeve, always full of shenanigans.

My problem is that I’m far too trusting.

At the time, I was away all week and only home on the weekend.

Of course, we had our issues from time to time.

Anyone who says they never have problems is lying through their teeth.

When Karl said that to me, I knew she was playing away.

That was as clear as day.

I raced home like a mad man.

First of all, she denied everything, but then she gradually came out with the truth...

So that was all the thanks I got for working my fingers to the bone for my family.

She said we’d drifted apart, I didn’t give her enough attention when I was home, I didn’t

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