Her thoughts return to the word freedom. Oddly enough it awakens in everyone similar longings but everyone understands it differently. 

Sozieterna understands it as:

‘Nothing to be, Nothing to have, Nothing to want, Nothing to need’

Death seems to be the ultimate liberator and Philosophers, particularly the existentialists or materialists subscribe to it:

‘No Body, No Possession, No Desire, No Necessity.’

One could conclude that this is incompatible with life! In the concept of Existentialism it is indeed. Sozieterna agrees to such view only conditionally.

Sozieternas experience absolute freedom within their existence. They accept it as a state that is shaped by the physical conditions to which all living things belong, but they can access this state, transcending matter.  Some do so more often than others, but that usually depends on their environmental circumstances. All of them however can enjoy absolute freedom. All of them consider relative freedom (one cannot go without the other), to be a force, not state, of the physical world, firmly anchored in it, and effective in all creatures. Absolute and relative freedom have equality of content, but are different in effect because they act on different plains or premises, if you like.

The qualities are interchangeable:

‘Nothing to be, or no body, or no weightiness. Nothing to have, or no possession, or no stagnation. Nothing to want, or no desire, or no dominion. Nothing to need, or no necessity, or no selfishness.

It is the nature of relative freedom to cause problems. Femina is in the midst of it.

“Can you imagine”, she continues with the conversation, “some weeks ago I had the beadles in my home. Mind you, as law enforcers!”

“You say! What did they want?” Tina is very interested.

“I think they wanted ‘brownies’, get a medal or whatever. There were 4 of them and I have no idea what they were after, except they may just have done a sweep to see if they could unearth anything, anything indeed. I understand they do that quite routinely. It means to me that they don’t really have specific knowledge but are hoping for some success to report to their bosses. You know, sometimes reality does not seem real to me, rather being a cliché or a soup opera; I watch in astonishment, but it has nothing to do with my reality, except that it makes me concerned.”

She lights a cigarette before she continues with the actual event that took place.

 “Just picture that! “She says, “I have friends visiting me, a couple from an other country. I am not at home. There is a ring at the door. Naturally my friends open.   It is no nice surprise. They are confronted by the beadles instead and these act accordingly. They intimidate my friends, search their luggage and my home, take the young man away into their station, leave the young woman behind totally shocked and all that without any explanation to any of them, which would have been the least you could expect. That was even more so upsetting for her, because she could not speak the local language, and though he could, having lived in this state at one time, he was not explained anything either and was not permitted to discuss anything with her, for the obvious reason of having a language barrier that the beadles could not overcome. He was then held for hours at the station, where they questioned him before they let him go. He had no idea what they really wanted and to this day none of us ever found out. When I got the call from her I was as shocked, but she was horrified as he had not yet returned home. I could not leave work either. It was indeed very upsetting. This was a demonstration of power, totally uncalled for and utterly disgusting! When I finally was able to follow up on this at the local station, I still did not get any reasonable answers, except that, so it seems, some paranoid neighbors raised alarm of strangers being in my home, and it was the officials’ duty to act upon, or so they say. Of course, they insisted the event was handled absolutely to their standards, after all they only did their duty! There was nothing I could do. It was 4 against 2 reporting how the event unfolded and who can argue against officials doing their duty! It is sad enough to have such neighbors, and let me assure you, the couple was not strange, only strangers. The neighbors do not really care about me. They hardly talk to me, because I am not one their crowd. So whatever was said or suggested, it remains unknown to me. However, doing a raid like this is alarming, after all the state claims to be a democracy! But, ‘they only do their duties!’ Disgusting, that’s what it is!”

She shudders in memory of this incident. Though to be fair, there are worse states around who employ even worse methods, but it does not justify any of it.

“How come you can tolerate this society so much better than me? You had one of your official departments coming up against you recently as you told before.”

Tina grimaces, shrugs her shoulders and finally says: “I am just fatalistic.”

Femina breaks into laughter. Tina pretends to have a weak point and is resigned to it, which is utterly non-sense.

“Such stigma would be no problem for any of us. I wished I had more of it. But you have answered my question, thank you. It is not different for you either. I just make more noise about it, isn’t it?”

They look at each other and smile. Suddenly Femina jumps up, rushes into the kitchen. She fetches a bottle of champagne from the fridge and two crystal goblets from the cabinet. How beautiful the crystal sparkles. She smiles. She has a weakness for all things beautiful particularly when it sparkles and gleams. All her friends know it, Tina sometimes makes fun of her for it. Femina admits, it can be more costly than it is reasonable but she does not care. Ph!

Back in the living-room, she puts the glasses down and lets the cork softly pop. She fills the glasses. The pearling champagne scatters more sparkles around. Tina watches her smiling silently.

“To Sozieterna!” says Femina and raises the goblet.

“To Sozieterna!” says Tina doing the same

They clink glasses. The sound is as beautiful as the champagne sparkles. They empty the glasses in one go and then throw them against the wall. That’s how you turn twinkling into clatter. Both listen to the sounds. There was the crying of the stars and the laughing of uncounted voices. There was the joy of liberated souls and the sound of immortality.

Femina brings new goblets and puts another record on, Miles Davis ‘In a silent way’, will smooth all temper. They drink more than just one bottle. In fact they empty three.

“Do you believe, we will meet each other again?” asks Tina

Femina falls into silence. Indeed, will she see her friend again? Her answer comes very slowly indeed and is uncertain: “I don’t know…….., it may depend on our direction and speed.” Silence returns. Sadness seems to set in.

Femina recalls the beadles. Defiantly she pouts her mouth. Aloneness in space seems to be endless, but in reality it is not. Sozieternas move in time-spaces and space-times. They will always find each other. Fear on earth is unavoidable. There the torture has no end and the suffering is one’s own. A friend can take away loneliness but never the pain.

Femina raises her glass and blinks at her friend. “Of course we will meet again! No matter where, no matter when. Cheers!”

The light breaks in the cut plains of the crystal. Cinderella glistens in her beauty, her feet hardly touch the ground. She seems to glide from plain into space as she dances with her prince. Magic overtakes him. It is simple as always. ‘Love is the core of all things and the answer to all questions.’