Dear friends of the art of Ralf Christoph Kaiser and thebedtimestory.online, Today I would like to give you another short story in combination with an additional radio play. The short story and the radio play both take place in Chicago in 1924. It's a bit dirty there at the harbor, but the experiences are beautiful love evenings...
Here is the short story: "Chicago 1924 by Ralf Christoph Kaiser"
Chicago 1924
I'm driving my Chevrolet toward the port on the Chicago River. It's after 10pm and I got my salary today. With a full wallet, I park at the Blue Angel and get out.
It's a harbor dive bar that's open until the early hours of the morning.
I'm just in time. It was already the shift change, the kitchen is closed now, but at the bar my dearest wild cat. With the omniscient serpent gaze, as seductive as when Adam ate the apple in paradise.
I order a double whiskey with ice and watch her prepare it.
I follow their every move. She is graceful and moves gracefully. She throws back her hair and smiles at me. But somehow she's grumpy again today. I think she's been dreaming of a better life far away from this dump here for a long time, but habit is a big animal and one or the other cherished customer is welcome at the right moment.
She tells me what she thinks of all the silly cinnamon rolls and pinup girls in the glossy magazines. She is disgusted by this image of women in men; been in need of an overhaul for so long, but as long as business is booming, she's holding back. I try to change her mind and tell her a few stories from my life while standing at the bar. Suddenly everything around fades out. It's like in the movies. Other customers come and go, but I stick to my film, convince them with a bit of humor and a wink to smoke a cigarette with me during their break.
We find ourselves alone on the terrace. I chuckle with joy.
She asks for a light, I hand her my lighter, I wouldn't dare light her cigarette. It's sad to smoke that much anyway and I don't want to owe myself any more. We exchange a few words, then the customers call you back behind the counter. I'm done smoking. Her butt is still climbing, only half surfaced, in the ashtray.
It's a winter night and almost stars clear, and quite cold.
Before I go, I'll say hello to you, then I'll drive away happy.
We talked about an open marriage with love on the side.
She was interested to hear about my new flame, the entrepreneur who is now entering well-earned retirement after selling her business. Somehow it feels better right now when you talk openly about everything.
In the past, when I came to her, it was always a bit wicked, since I am married and she is also in steady hands, but today it was like an aha experience, like an agreement with tolerating platonic love on the side. You already know that anyway, I thought so.t.
Such a job behind the counter also requires the willingness to accept several admirers. This is admirable on the one hand, but also a bit special on the other. I hope she gets off well there because she still has something to expect from life.
Her dream is to study and later get a better paying job.
We had often exchanged views on political issues. She is well informed here and a little bit for important reforms.
A bit revolutionary almost, that impressed me.
Sometimes we were almost like a conspiracy when we rioted against official political opinion.
I was often very impressed by her because she has such a clear pronunciation and a clear opinion with a lot of life experience despite her young years. She is 23 years younger than me. I could be your father. Sometimes she called me grandpa and I put up with it.
A look into her shining eyes was enough every time and I knew again how beautiful deep dark brown eyes can be. Such depth and warmth and full of life.
Like I've known her for centuries.
We got it today too. It's like a multidimensional encounter physically purely platonic but on other levels of existence in the past or in the future there are shared stories as well. That's the attractive thing about short meetings with loose connections. There is always food for the soul and for the history books.
Once her boyfriend picked her up after work when I was leaving. He drove up in his luxury car and I was glad that he took good care of it.
It was a bit of a queasy feeling to get into my car next to her and to say goodbye to her in front of her boyfriend, but with so many customers coming in and out here every day, he must have been able to cope with the fact that he is taking her with him shares with others. Somehow the future also lies in this, that there are more changes and incidentally also with fixed partnerships. As long as it is done respectfully and in mutual agreement.
Perhaps this is even partly a guarantee that it is possible to stay longer with the same happy person.
I had experimented with this before, but often I was jealous. Still, a lot was possible. It was a simplification for me to receive love on a plantonic level without physical exchange.
This often went well for a very long time.
It requires discipline and respectful handling, but brings a lot of pleasure for a long time. Where you might otherwise only meet once in bed, you might have a warming stove for several years. A hug was often enough for me to say hello or goodbye.
I learned this open-heartedness from a former bandmate who I loved dearly and who showed me this possibility of devotion.
Actually a nice gesture of trust with friends and family to practice these hugs, as long as they are genuinely felt.
After all, I had experienced this regularly for 20 years.
So I'm going home today filled with pride and gratitude - I'm happy with myself. Today I was finally more of a shaper than a plaything;
more the director and less the extra.
- A soothing experience.
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In the download package you will receive the short story in an international version as a PDF and the cover and the radio play as a 24-bit 44 Khz Wav file.
The audio play is more than 8 minutes long and supplements the short story with a few more highlights with music and sound noises, it is like an auditory feature film that can run in front of the inner eye and stimulates the imagination.
Thank you for your support!
Your Ralf Christoph Kaiser and the TheBedtimestory.online team