(AIS01)  –  [EN]    Abend, Stadt  / Evening in Town 

zurück zur Kapitelseite  Kurzgeschichten …	back to the chapter page  Short Stories …
weiter zur Wörterliste …	continue to the word list ...

Abend in der Stadt  /  Evening in Town

Listen to the text, in German (MP3)

For Isabella a busy day comes to an end.

She works in the office of a company that offers training and education.

Isabella checks the working hours of the teachers and calculates the amounts to be paid to them.

Now she has finished the last calculation.

She is still cleaning up the office, locking it and saying goodbye to her colleagues.

Often she goes to a nearby coffee house after a hard day's work.

When the weather is fine, she sits on the terrace.

From there she can watch the hectic activity on the square in front of her and on the wide street.

Many people rush by.

Some walk by quickly and make a phone call.

Some make excited movements with their hands,
even though the other conversation partner is not even standing in front of them.

An older woman pushes a pram in front of her
and leads a second child by the hand.

She does not seem to be in a hurry.

An elderly woman is pushing a pram in front of her

and leads a second child by the hand.

She does not seem to be in a hurry.

A colourful mixture of cars, buses and trucks move slowly in both directions on the road.

Everyone wants to get on quickly.

But, because everyone wants so at the same time,
the streets are overcrowded and nothing goes on.

The traffic light switches to green.

A car driver honks angrily and curses loudly,
because the one in front of him does not drive on fast enough.

And then the traffic light is red again.

Another car driver makes a phone call while driving
and therefore notices too late that he has to stop.

Therefore he has hit the vehicle in front of him
and caused an accident.

Now he is blocking the road.

Many people also travel by bicycle.

They hardly care about the chaos, because they pass the columns on the left and right where they can find space.

Some also hardly show any consideration for pedestrians.

But they also run all over the street.

That will cause trouble!

Isabella sitting on the terrace
and observes all this in peace.

She is happy that she can take her time.

Sometimes she observes a situation,
about which she has to laugh,
because people act so foolish.

She drinks a coffee,
a second one every now and then.

Then she pays and strolls leisurely through a quiet alley
 to the stop of her railway line.

It is only a few stations to her neighbourhood.

After a few minutes on foot she is at her shop,
where she still buys a few things for dinner.

Then one more cross street and she is at home.

The flat door falls into the lock,
and all the bustle of the day stays outside.

So the doorbell rings.

A good girlfriend from the same house surprises Isabella
with an invitation to dinner together.

She is happy about it and gladly accepts it.