Berlin, "Zyankali Bar" - 9 p.m.

February, the 26th.

***

We make ourselves comfortable in the armchairs and benches of our favourite bar with the promising name "Zyankali Bar", we order our drinks; there is so much talking and laughing, we simply had a wonderful time! After several hours, numerous drinks, and a high level of alcohol, it is decided to leave the city. However, I decided to stay for my part. My best friend goes to some club to celebrate a twentieth birthday of friends and friends of friends. I called her on the phone, we arranged to meet and entered the club, and the first thing that greets you feels like a solid wall of deep bass, cigarette smoke, sweat, piss, and beer...

The hours passed until I finally - exhausted - found my way home. Honestly, I don't remember how, but somehow I managed to get to the train station... I probably don't need to explain that February is in winter? It is so... cold... out there. Sweaty, as one is after such a club party, these weather conditions are extremely bad for you. I had the idea to buy myself a kebab, however with the crazy addition of 3 portions of hot sauce. Luckily, there is a 24/7 kebab shop at the train station, so I marched over or staggered over.

Drunk as I was, I put the money I had left on the counter and demanded to know what I could afford with it. I could have sworn there must have been some huge pile of coins ... probably just copper coins... I was of course brushed off, and that should not really have been the last surprise of this evening. It's clear if some drunkard like me, swaying like a boat on the counter unpacks the remaining small change and then audaciously demands help counting it when I saw everything double and triple.

- Suddenly, out of nowhere

...or rather - behind me appears this hand and puts a €2 coin on the counter. I turn around and squint at her - into her beautiful face.

She smiled.

"...Why?"

My call to humanity was just a weak, tired whisper; marked by icy cold and exhaustion. Immediately I felt that queasy feeling between my stomach and diaphragm.

"I don't know.

I still had this coin left and don't need it."

At that moment, I was completely finished with the world. Looking back, I can think of so much more that I could have asked. Instead, in that moment, the only logical thought for me was to ask for her name. And now that I think about it, it wasn't that wrong. Now I know what name I want to give to my future daughter.

"Ariane."

What a beautiful name! The perfect name for one person who directs my world through a smile and through kindness in a direction that I never thought possible back then.

___

So much impact from so little...

Especially now, where I am more mature and experienced than back then; especially now, where I understand and study the fine nuances of human connections, I still tremble in awe when I think back to then. I could have asked her so much more, as I was distracted by the seller; please place my order.

As soon as I turn back to her, she was as if she had never been there. Gone, as if she had swallowed the night.

It seemed so unreal for so long before I understood... as I bite into this kebab with triple spicy hot-sauce, waves of heat flow through my shivering body. I owe her so much. I owe her not only for "saving" my evening in a way. No - she has made me a better person. She reminded me that it is the smile and kindness that ignites the flame in everyone. She was the little push in the right direction, she helped to write this book - and she is also its namesake!

"Man in itself is a species that often remains a mystery to many of its kind. Nevertheless, seemingly every encounter has a hidden message or a good reason." - Dendemann

I wish that you, Ariane, discover and read this someday. I couldn't thank you properly back then and until today, I haven't had the opportunity to express my gratitude to you. The only way I can express my gratitude is by giving the gift of realization that it was never about one's own life story, but about how one interacts with others; that the protagonist in this crazy movie was never really oneself, but the person in front of you! That I am allowed to pass on this light that you gave me back then, in the hope of saving a world worth saving, that is my gift to the world. You saved my world - with a smile that I will never forget.

___

Thank you for the €2

Canary