one day in Berlin

The Monday at the beginning of August had such a special taste; the relatively empty and silent S-Bahn would bring another of its surprises. As it departed from Hackescher Markt, the sun let some beams through the rain, and expectations grew for a rainbow during the trip.

Friedrichstrasse. He boarded, quiet, carrying a big bag, a little humpback, one meter 60 centimeters tall, crushed and spread-out hair, beard, moustache, about 40 years old... He took a seat next to the aisle while arranging his walkman and glasses, across from a blond girl carefully reading her newspaper... I couldn't help looking in the bag sitting open in the middle after he took out a drawing pad and a pencil: an old case, some messed-up papers, a take-out box from Pizza Hut... I also couldn't stop myself from watching him out of the corner of my eye the entire way, dividing my attention between him and the show that the raining-shining day was giving... In fact, I think I was the only one who ! was paying attention to both. The gentleman sitting in front of me seemed absorbed in his papers, and the other passengers were sitting far enough away to miss the scene...

He was scribbling and looking at her, drawing and looking at her... I thought: of course, he is sketching her! Serious, immersed, in a trance... and she similarly absorbed, but with the newspaper... She hadn't noticed anything.

Curious, I stood up before we got to the Zoo and took a look... Yes, he had drawn her. Part of her, actually: the eyes, nose, mouth, a bit of the hair, half her face, but it was already her... When I realized this, both of them had also gotten up; he, until the last minute trying to catch more details, went toward the train door still drawing... Then, surprising me, he ripped off the sheet of paper and gave it to the girl who, at first, didn't understand anything. She saw the sketch and looked up at the exotic fellow who was going away... She gave him a surprised-emba! rrassed-scared-in a hurry smile, and left, looking back, trying to see if he was following her... He, having taken the opposite way, sat down on a bench like someone who had finished a task and packed away his materials.

I myself, running to work and still expecting to seeing a rainbow, observed the girl having a short date with the drawing for a few minutes, folding it and carefully packing it into her blazer. She looked happy, got something for nothing, probably thought how nice that a stranger, on a short S-Bahn trip, for a while, had her as his muse! Or maybe she just thought: we see such weird and funny things in Berlin...