Bromford and German Shepherd / Bon Printemps, Bon Printemps …

 

There is a chill creeping up my spine.

I am feeling kind of exposed, like I am sitting with the back to an open door that leads to a dark dungeon made of long and winding cellar hallways.

I am feeling watched like someone was in the room with me, someone or something invisible I cannot see.

But that is the point with invisibility, that you cannot see invisible things and beings, isn't it? What about fear? Can you see fear? Can you picture or personalize it?

There is nothing to fear but fear itself . I have a bad feeling about this. A bad feeling about this fear?

»Wow, dude«, the llama is disturbing and interrupting my unsettling train of thoughts with a loud entrance into the living-room of our penthouse on the roof and above the fifteenth floor of the apartment building on 666 Whitaker Lane in Bromford, the friendly town by the bay and seaside. »Why are you posting again? And what is that Nazi dog doing in the hallway?«

I am shaking my head closing the laptop. Maybe the time for writing subtile sentences and stories about fear and creepy thrilling feelings has gone by, is yet to come or simply not now.

»That is a Germany Shepherd, animal«, I say, »not necessarily a Nazi dog. Dogs are men's best friends and oldest companions. Domestication of dogs dates back more than 14,000 years ago deep into the Stone Age of the human race.«

»That's history, dude«, the llama is lying down on a reproachfully squeaking couch after a running jump. »And when did you humans domesticate the glorious llama race to herd your sheep?«

»Let me think about it«, I say. »That was like… NEVER! That never happened. It's because of reliability or something like that, camelid.«

»OK, and why are you posting on a Thursday again, dude?«

I take in a deep breath.

»It's because I want to celebrate not only the phases of the moon, especially the full-moons, but all kinds of terrestrial cycles, like the four seasons for example.«

»Four Seasons?« The llama is kicking some cushions on the couch with two of its four leags. »Like the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts,the luxury hotel chain?«

»I don't know how you know about hotels and resorts. And the answer is NO. I am talking about the four earthly seasons like spring, summer, autumn and winter. I want to wish you and all the readers a good springtime which starts today in the Northern hemisphere.

Bon printemps, bon printemps!«

»Whatever floats your boat, dude«, the llama says, »Or do you say, whatever floods your boat? And why are you writing about eerie things or invisible beings watching you? Doesn't that feeling fit better in the darker seasons like fall or winter?«

»Maybe I have watched to many dark and creepy television series lately«, I murmur.

»We are all in the night country now«, the llama says mysteriously. »But me as your bestest animal companion you have ever had and that knows you better than you sometimes know yourself I sense another reason why you are feeling watched from the darkness of the hallway.«

»Really?« I ask sceptically. »And what is your guess, animal?«

»You are afraid of the Shepherd dog in the hallyway«, the llama cannot hide a giggle in its voice. »And you don't know how to get past it or rid of it.«

»OK«, I say, »I give up. You got me. I thought a watchdog was a good idea. But good old Brownie out there will not stop barking and growling at me once I try to leave the living-room for the kitchen, the bath or the bedrooms. He just won't let me pass.«

»Well, well, well«, the llama has jumped up to all four legs. »I will go out and talk to him. But from now on you owe me.«

»That's exactly what I was also afraid of«, I whisper to myself opening the laptop again.

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Today, is Thursday, the 20th of March 2025.
Bon printemps, bon printemps…