Autobiographical Fiction

How Cold Is That Water?

Göttingen, oh Göttingen, how many childhood memories are you holding for me?

I believe this incident had occurred after my brother’s walnut-in-the-nostril experiment in Kindergarten.

            Germany was going through an icy cold winter season that year. My brother’s Kindergarten was on Christmas break. Dad had taken us to the visitors’ center of the building where he was conducting his research. For my brother and me, the  food showcase in the cafeteria downstairs was too enticing to ignore. After spending some time eating, drinking and listening to native speakers chat away, my parents took us for a short walk through the adjacent small park. A man-made pond apparently called my brother’s name. Before any of us could understand what was happening, he jumped in. The top of the pond was frozen, but his snow boots broke some of the ice. He was wet up to his knees. Then, he lost his balance, and went halfway in. When my Dad pulled him out of the water, he looked embarrassed at first but then managed to grin.

Our leisure stroll was over. Off we rushed home.

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From Once upon a Time in Turkey . . ., my upcoming book of autobiographical short stories