In the Eyes of Sainte Catherine

Nina (23) from Augsburg

Today was the first day it smelled like autumn. A smell that always reminded her of her best friend, even though they were not close anymore.

At about half past seven in the morning she stepped out of the house. The darkness of the night still covered the city, and yet it was surprisingly – pleasantly – warm for Brussels at this time of year. It smelled of the leaves the trees had lost in last night’s storm and of fresh rain on the cold asphalt.

But the storm was history already, the rain just hiding for a little while.

The play of lights at the little church she passed every morning on her way to the metro was pulchritudinous. A normal “beautiful” would not be enough to describe the amazement this fascinating spectacle would evoke in her whenever she got a glimpse of it.

The birds, hiding in the church’s tower before the frosty night would change into a new meaningful day, were giving a chirping concert as on most metro mornings.

A navy blue sky, deep as the ocean, offered a spectacle of alternating azure stripes, and glittering golden light of the street lamps gave the finishing touch. The perfect stage set for a masterful play of coloured lights, the scent of this season and a hiding flock of birds as fellow performers.

Enchanting autumn.

For the few minutes’ walk that lay between her apartment and the metro station, she was immersed in a fairy-tale world, a world in which it was not at all certain whether a kind or a wicked fairy would be waiting for her at the next corner.

At quarter to eight, now she remembered the exact time, the lights went out all at once. Now the witching hour began.

The rising sun, slowly emerging from behind the church tower, dipped the empty streets into new light. A light reflected in the crimson autumn leaves.

The chime of the bell rang through the morning air, bidding the city’s inhabitants to begin the day.

She remembered hearing people shouting. We live in a time of meaningless complaints.

She reached the square with the empty canal and from afar saw the metro station

in view of the real Sainte Catherine.