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We are writing history - Chapter 1
26.11.2020
Translation: machine translated
Pictures: Clémence Censi
One crime novel, two authors. My colleague Natalie and I are writing a short story, alternating chapter by chapter. This week: a poetic sun blind weaver, a murder attempt and a dry food vending machine that awakens bitter memories.
What's happened so far
In the intro article, Natalie and I explained the rules for our new series and let you vote on the genre, time and product to be included. That's why we're now taking it in turns to write a crime novel in the present day every Thursday. The product in the first chapter is a dry food vending machine.
Ephraim can barely feel his hands. Cuts and calluses adorn his sandpaper-grey skin. Today he has made six sun blinds. Soon they will be hanging over the balconies of people who have grown tired of the orange-brown fabrics. Day after day, the fine yarns intersect to form the metre of his emotions and become works of his personal truth. He does not accept commissions. Artists cannot be service providers.
With a slightly stooped posture, he trots to the fridge in the corner of his workshop and grabs a non-alcoholic beer. He gave up alcohol years ago, involuntarily. He still likes the flavour, sweet drinks or even water are not worthy substitutes. His gaze fixes on the finished blinds and a gentle smile crosses his lips. The fabrics tell his story.
Lost next to a tool shelf is a still half-filled dry food dispenser. Even after all these weeks, he still doesn't have the heart to dispose of Hannibal's things. He had come across the Kangal in the Turkish hinterland when he was researching the ancient Aramaic art of weaving in a village near the Syrian border. He travelled by boat from the Bosporus to Venice, then hitchhiked over mountains and through valleys back to Hinterpagig. Hannibal never left his side again. Until that one moment. The moment that made Ephraim lonely.
He was often alone in his life. As a child, he ate tinned herring fillet almost every day. As a teenager, he turned to poetry instead of kissing girls and going over the top. As an adult, he added the blinds. Since then, he has spent his days in the cool workshop. What others pejoratively refer to as a hole is a place of security for him. His thoughts kept him company, people never could. They are little more than extras in a film set in his own head.
But now Hannibal is gone. For the first time, he feels a longing for another living being. And he feels anger and rage at the person who took his canine friend away from him. To this day, he still doesn't know the name of the perpetrator or what he looks like. The police are at a loss. No one can help him. And this despite the fact that Hannibal, a high-ranking member of the Bündner PdA, also lost his life. The man was just about to enter Ephraim's workshop to buy new sun blinds for the party headquarters when the nail bomb went off. A politically motivated act of terror, the media surmised. The physical manifesto of a desperate capitalist who could not bear the end of this form of economy is speculated. Hannibal was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Collateral damage. An innocent victim of an act in an asymmetrical war.
Ephraim is not interested in politics, for him the deed is personal. The extent to which it clouds his heart can be seen in his boots. Black, purple, slate grey, midnight blue. These colours have been an expression of his inner torment for weeks. The constant psychotic weaving has by no means helped him to come to terms with his grief. On the contrary, his need for revenge intensified with every stitch. Today, Ephraim has made a decision. For the first time, the doors to his workshop will remain closed. Tomorrow he will set off on foot. His destination is unknown, the colour of his mission clear: blood red.
Continued on 3 December 2020.
You can vote until 29 November 2020 at 11:59 pm. The product with the most votes at that time will be included in the next part of the story. Follow the topic "Series" here or us as authors to make sure you don't miss an episode.
Here you can find the next chapters
My life in a nutshell? On a quest to broaden my horizon. I love discovering and learning new skills and I see a chance to experience something new in everything – be it travelling, reading, cooking, movies or DIY.
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