It happened on an Easter Sunday during my ‘Easter vacation’, which meant four days off service, and a good chance to go home and relax. In my country it is common to complete two years of military service. I had tried to do the best of it, and had applied for the rescue troops. We were taught how to get casualties out of the debris of their crushed houses after major earthquakes, or to back up the fire department whenever those boys needed help. It sure was a tough job, but I somehow enjoyed it.
Still, I was unbelievably happy to come home for just these four days after a long period of rescue exercises, endless lectures about camaraderie, obeying to pointless orders, and wasting tons of ammo in senseless shooting exercises with our own personal SIG SG 550 assault rifle. It was a huge relief to get back to civilization – and of course to see some girls.
As I stepped out of the bus, in my hand my green bag saying “Swiss Armed Forces” in all four national languages, the cool chill of March caught me. I decided to head home quickly.
The caretaker of the block my apartment was in had to look twice before he recognized me. “Long time no see, Mr. Coming home from service?”
“Hello, Mr. Nidegger, Just for the coming four days. It's gonna take until July 'til they let me go for good,” I replied kindly.
“I remember my time in service. I really hated it back then, but it made me a man...”
I laughed, wished him a nice day, and climbed up the stairs to the fifth floor where my apartment was. I opened the door with my name badge. The familiar smell of my place came to my nose, and I knew I was home. What a feeling! I stepped in, let my bag fall on the floor, and myself on the sofa. I took a nap.
Once settled, I tried to figure out what my family or friends were up to. My family turned out to be on vacation somewhere, and my friends were either staying at the caserne, or travelling around, just like my family did. So I decided to call it a day already, and just chill out doing nothing. It felt so great to hang around in my own clothes for a few days. Four days just for me, no orders, no yelling, no running, no uniform, no guns... Just me, and some time to do whatever I wanted!
Until Sunday morning, nothing worth mentioning happened, just routine stuff… On that mentioned Sunday morning, I decided to go to the nearby hot springs to relax for a few hours. In the afternoon I ordered a taxi to get me there .
However, as I arrived at the hot springs, all I wanted was to sit in a hot Jacuzzi, and have a good time. I got a ticket for three hours.
While changing into my swimming trunks, I checked myself out in the mirror. All the exercise during the past one and a half years had forged my 23 year-old body. I was looking at the body of a well-built, fine young man. Before I got too carried away by my own looks, I stepped out of the cabin, and headed for the showers. I quickly rinsed my body under the warm water without pressure of time for the first time since too damn long.
Coming out my shower cabin, I ran my hand through my shortened hair, and took a towel. I entered the main area. I sure hadn't been there for quite some time. It had changed a lot, and I liked the new design. I decided to explore the whole place, and to check out everything at least once. There were several areas like odoriferous saunas, salty Jacuzzis, ice cold baths, and a brine pool, where you would float from alone.
I checked the clock on the wall: 3.30 pm, so I had to leave at around 6.20... I also checked for emergency exits... Some sort of trained habit.
First, I got in a hot outdoor Jacuzzi. It seemed pretty popular, judging from the amount of visitors – mostly people in retirement, with or without their grandchildren. One could hardly see a thing, due to the thick vapor in the cool air. I found one of the last free places, and sat down for a while, listening to the water, or to bits of other people's conversations.
I was about to close my eyes, as I felt something fall gently on my eyelids. It was cool and gone after a few seconds. I looked into the sky. Snow was falling. It certainly was rare for this place to snow in the middle of March. I smiled. What a great moment: me in a Jacuzzi, snow falling from the sky, and all that steam. Only one thing was missing... Someone by my side... I sighed.
I got back on my feet and waded through the water back to the main area. The next thing to check out was the Hammam. This wasn't quite so popular, and it didn't take me all too long to know why. The heat combined with the high humidity was almost unbearable . Nevertheless, I enjoyed my momentary loneliness.
During the next two hours, I visited almost every area there was. It was huge. From time to time, I checked the clock. It was 5.30 pm, and a lot people had already left the spa. I was standing in the main area, not really knowing what to do, or where to go next. Lots of snow was falling now. Outside would be very lovely, I thought, so I headed outside.
Shortly before I stepped into the Jacuzzi, I noticed one last quite secluded area I hadn't been to yet. As I got there, I was surprised to find a very simple warm salty pool made for just swimming laps - nothing more. There wasn’t anyone in there, save for an old couple and a young girl.
That girl looked at me as soon as she had taken notice of my presence. She was cute. Very cute, or better: she was drop-dead gorgeous! The best asset she could offer was her smile. She smiled at me with a smile I was unable to resist. I returned the kind gesture with a gentle smile of mine. We were both just standing there, facing each other, unable to move. So I started to swim a few laps – that’s what I had actually come for, right? I could tell the girl kept looking at me the whole time.
I stopped just a few feet away from her.