Sudetenland Tales by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Sudetenland Tales

Page 415

When I couldn't wait any longer, I went to the dining room, where Moortje, the cat, welcomed me by rubbing against my legs.

A little after seven I went to Daddy and Mama and then to the living room to open my presents, and you were the first thing I saw, maybe one of my nicest presents.

Then a bouquet of roses, some peonies and a potted plant. From Daddy and Mama I got a blue blouse, a game, a bottle of grape juice, which to my mind tastes a bit like wine. After all, wine is made from grapes, a puzzle, a jar of cold cream, 2.50 guilders and a gift certificate for two books. I got another book as well, “Camera Obscura,” but Margot already has it, so I exchanged mine for something else, a platter of homemade cookies which I made myself, of course, since I've become quite an expert at baking cookies, lots of candy and a strawberry tart from Mother, and a letter from Grammy, right on time, but of course that was just coincidence.

Then Hanneli came to pick me up, and we went to school. During recess I passed out cookies to my teachers and my class, and then it was time to get back to work. I didn't arrive home until five, since I went to gym with the rest of the class. I'm not allowed to take part because my hips tend to get dislocated now. As it was my birthday, I got to decide which game my classmates