“Are you asleep? Come on, sweetheart, you’ll miss an interesting view!”
The voice resonated as if erupting from afar. It was so deep as if it were coming from the depths of the ocean.
Was that a dream?
I hardly opened my eyes when suddenly the voice began talking to me again. “Wake up, Matilda. Look at this picturesque mountain! This is the incredibly stunning Erzgebirge, the Ore Mountains!”
I finally realised that this familiar voice belonged to my mum, who was sitting in the front seat of the car next to my dad.
I immediately opened my eyes and, to my great astonishment, fetched a dark greenish mountain that stood proudly in the middle of the vast landscape.
As we progressively drove, several grey clouds began to hang over the towering mountain peaks, enveloping everything beneath them.
The bitterly cold winds still howled around the horizon like hungry wolves.
It was mid-October 1983, and it was already frigid outside. Here, along the south-eastern German borders, it began to be freezing cold from September because of the range of mountains that surrounded the villages.
From my fogged car window, I stared at the blackish-brown rocks spread here and there on our travel route as if they were dark chocolate pieces scrambled everywhere on our path.
As the car still bounced on the sharp, firm rocks, I stretched my legs beneath my seat, gazing wonderfully at my surroundings.
I was utterly exhausted because I had woken up at 3 a.m.
Struggling to keep my eyes open, I glanced at the numberless trees, full of green dots. I half opened my window, and immediately the fragrant, fresh scent of nature filled my nose.
I quickly realised that we had finally reached my aunt’s house.
As I was lost in admiration of the peculiar atmosphere around me, the overwhelming silence was suddenly broken by my father’s voice.
“HERE WE ARE!” he yelled excitedly, stopping the car in front of a white-stoned cottage that almost appeared as if it were being swallowed up by the surrounding forest.
“Finally,” I whispered, grabbing my mum’s arm.
“I know, sweetheart,” she smiled tenderly as she caressed my hair with her graceful fingers. “It was a hard night for all of us.”
During the night, my mother had been very nervous as my father had argued with East German soldiers at the checkpoint, panicking that they would prevent us from crossing the borders, although we were allowed to travel in.
I remembered how I had been squashed in the corner of the rear car seat, holding my knees with my thin trembling arms while hearing my parents’ voices murmuring anxiously.
Everything had been frighteningly gloomy and glacial around us as the soldiers checked every corner in our car, opening the heavy, big suitcases fiercely before a loud, rough voice shouted at us. “You can cross now!”
“Freya!” my father yelled as he ran towards my aunt with his open arms.
I turned around and saw a short, thin woman in her sixties standing at the cottage’s front door, her grey hair swept over her beige, woolish cardigan. She looked effortless and classically elegant.
Beside her stood a nearly same-faced silhouette, holding a baby in his blue, fluffy blanket.
She waved towards us warmly as her wide smile crossed her white, pale face.
That was my cousin, Hannah. She swept her brunette locks into a high ponytail so everyone could see the beauty of her young, glowing face.
She looked stunning, as her wide, blue eyes sparkled brilliantly as if they were two blue sapphire beads.
I had heard from my father that she was a famous craftswoman in the village. She became skilled at making traditional wooden handicrafts after her husband, an ex-miner, had been arrested by the German Democratic Republic authorities three years ago.
Within a few seconds, my aunt came close to me and murmured while kissing me warmly on both my cheeks, “Oh, my dear Matilda! You’re such a beauty, sweetie.”
Then she added, turning to my father, busy taking the stuff out of the car, “She looks like an exact facsimile of our beloved mum; can’t you see, Matteo?”
Just behind her, my cousin Hannah swiftly came up to me, gave me a warm hug, and together we promptly rushed into the house.
