America

My favorite coat

            “We’re going to America,” said Mutti.

            Heidi didn’t know what that meant, but Mutti always planned adventures. “When do we go; when do we go?” she asked jumping up and down. Her brother just wrinkled his face at her excitement. He was older and wasn’t so sure about leaving home.

            “In a week,” said Mutti pulling the big brown suitcase out from under the bed. “Let’s see what you want to take along?”

            Heidi thought hard about that. She wanted to bring her favorite grey coat with the black velvet collar and buttons. It wouldn’t have to go into the suitcase because the weather was still cold and she could wear it. Remembering that school wasn’t out yet she asked, “What about my sewing kit?” Heidi loved her sewing class. It was always on Wednesday.

            Mutti said, “We’ll pick it up from Sister Maria Ruth before we leave. You have a whole week to say good-bye to your friends.” But the week went too fast for Heidi. There were going away parties at her aunts’ apartments. There were shopping trips for a new dress and sweater. There was a quiet farewell at the church with the priest who had baptized her and her brother the year before. There were big hugs from her teacher and from Sister who, instead of handing back her sewing kit asked, “Wouldn’t you like to give your school supplies to Margareta? Her family is very poor.”

            Sister gave her and her brother holy cards for the trip.  Heidi’s brother got a picture of Jesus surrounded by children. She got guardian angels. The last party was at her favorite uncle’s house on the outskirts of town. Heidi sat at the little kitchen table munching cake. She looked out at the berries growing heavy on the bushes, and suddenly blurted out, “Oh, Uncle Alfred, can I pick a pound of Johannisberries to take along?”

Uncle owns a car

          He smiled under his mustache and nodded, “Quickly, though. The train leaves soon.” 

          Uncle owned a car and drove everybody to the station. All the aunts and uncles gathered there to wave their farewells amid tears.” Heidi wondered why everybody was so sad. The adventure was about to begin. It was a happy day, not a sad one, and by the time she had settled into her assigned seat, Heidi had already become the favorite of a fellow traveler named Mausi. The young woman with blonde curls and blue eyes was also going to America. During the day long rumbling trip, she told stories of America, so that even Heidi’s brother got excited. 

On the train with Mausi

            The long train ride was followed by a much longer boat ride. The boat wasn’t a little rowboat like the one Tante Maria had let her row on the Stamberger See. This boat was a giant ocean liner called the Neptunia, and when its horn blew, Heidi covered her ears. Her brother pulled on her arm and said, “Let’s explore the ship.” Heidi followed along. Day after day, she and her brother looked for things to do together, because around the boat was only water, water, and more water. One day Heidi decided the short hair she saw on a picture in the ship’s beauty salon would look cute on her. Mutti gave permission, and the ship’s hairdresser clipped off her pigtails. She could shake her head and her hair would fall neatly into place.

            On some days Heidi played shuffle board, a game played up on deck. Hide and go seek kept her busy, too, since her brother always found the best hiding spots. On other days she would sit on her bunk and read one of the books Mutti had packed in the suitcase. “So you won’t forget your language,” Mutti said.

            By the end of the first week on the water, Heidi got bored. Day after day Heidi stared out at the ocean where no land was in sight. She wondered if she would ever see land again. On one of the days clouds rolled across the sky and the ocean began to roll with them. Heidi got sick to her stomach and Mutti suggested, “Go, lay down in the cabin. You’ll be better after a nap.” The nap didn’t help and Heidi groaned, her brother giggling at her distress. Only when the storm was over did she start to feel better. Eleven days had gone by. Suddenly, Mutti rushed into the cabin, her eyes sparkling. “We’re here. We’re in America!”

            Her brother was the first out the door, and Heidi mustered herself to beat him. She threw on her bathrobe, and raced up to the top deck taking stairs by twos. When she burst into the open, she saw her brother, his arms hanging over the rail, and staring into the darkness. Heidi climbed up next to him. Her eyes adjusting, she began to see miniature pearls of light on a thin line of blackness between water and sky. She held her breath, because she knew she was in America.   

The Neptunia