Homecoming

Finally she is returning home. She is happy and exited. A whole week without Mom and Dad and Grandma and Grandpa is still pretty long. Especially if you have no visitors. But she is supposed to be reasonable. Because she is a big girl now. Since little sister has arrived she is the older one. After all, she is already four years and three months old.

The best thing about the tonsillectomy was that every day, they gave her ice cream for dessert. Unfortunately, there were also nasty, sour-tasting tablets. But she always dropped them secretly under the bed. She imagines how some nurse will find the small pink round thingies she had already sucked on a little. She gets a weird anxious feeling in her tummy. No, better not think about that. What if the boss of the hospital writes to her parents, and everything comes out!

Better to look out the car window and watch the trees whizz by. Driving in a car is rather exciting. All the way from Bad Homburg to Frankfurt. She can  understand that Mom and Dad could not come to visit. She always tries to be reasonable and calm. Everything else would be too stressful for her family. SHE would be too much stress for her family.

Now she can already see the familiar buildings. One more turn and they are in her street. She sees the third floor balcony. And - she almost doesn’t trust her eyes - there is a gigantic doll! She can see a small round head and a narrow flared dress in bright stripes. A doll just for her, because she comes home today and has been such a good girl.

So they do look forward to her return.  And the doll is a surprise, that’s why it  stands on the balcony. She will pretend she hasn’t noticed.

Now she gets out, one of the men in their elegant white uniforms carrying her small suitcase up the stairs to the front door. Granny stands there and says hello, then she immediately turns around and goes back to the cradle where the baby lies. Mostly it is not laying there quietly, but is very agile and cheerful and noisy. Sometimes it is screaming. But everybody loves the baby, and she must love it, too. After all, it is her little sister.

She can hardly wait until someone shows her the doll. But nothing happens. Then it's time for bed. She gathers all her courage and asks.

"You silly thing," says mom. "It's just the new parasol!" And laughs at her. The heat is flooding her face. She is mortified.