There is a war. It’s not a war between countries or even between people. It’s a war of many European countries against a German Mozart-Chocolate shop. The media is all over it and everyone is speculating what will happen.
On the day that the war ends and the newspaper prints triple it’s usual prints I head to the swimming pool with two friends. We happen to walk past the shop and it seems quiet, a silent triumph. There is no media, just a few loyal old customers conversing out front.
I write to two old friends to tell them about the triumphant Mozart shop, only that they already know through social media. We chat for a bit about this and that and then I hang up because we’ve arrived at the pool.
It’s an indoor pool and as we enter we meet that warm damp pool atmosphere. It was cold outside so we quickly take off our coats, hats, scarves and gloves.
We change in the cute little cubicles and head to the pool.
There is dark mood lighting and we pass a big window in the wall where you can see the inside of the pool like in an aquarium, except you can see the people swimming in there. There’s a little boy watching, a big guy swims up and scares him. He squeals in delight and runs around the next corner.
We keep waling and get to the water slide. There is a small run up space about 10m long with gym mats on the floor where a few people sit and chat before sliding down the massive slide into the tiny pool at the bottom.
Jane Goodall is there with one of her monkeys, he is learning how to react to larger amounts of people. The monkey jumps around a big and climbs onto Mrs. Goodall. She talks to him calmly so as not to frighten or excite him. He bits her shoulder, a sign he wants to fight. She says that that wasn’t very nice of him and that this is not the time to fight. He rolls around on the floor and grins, almost like a toddler.
The slide needs to be cleaned soon so we all like up so as to still get to slide. I’m sitting on the edge when the bell rings. I slip and slide down anyway. One of the lifeguards shouts something from up on the platform.
The monkey wasn’t expecting him to shout and jumps around shouting. He jumps onto the slide and gestures wildly on the way down. Once in the water he flails around and tries to grab onto me. I’m almost at the ledge with the stairs.
Up above there is a huge commotion, the lifeguards can’t tell if I’m in danger. They are discussing wether they need to shoot the monkey or not. Jane stands next to them silent.
I make it to the ledge and they shoot a huge arrow into the pool. It misses the monkey but still releases it’s poison into the water. The monkey screams and cries as I crawl up the steps.
When I reach the top the monkey is dead. A friend of mine wraps me in a big towel. Jane is standing there and doesn’t say anything as the people around her accuse and comfort her. Some whisper that she should never have brought a money here, others argue that shooting him was not right.