Coming home late, well in the dark of the night, Pia and Dimitri who had been anxiously waiting for her are very upset. They were worried not knowing where she had gone. She understands, their worries were not unreasonable. But as she tries to explain to them that she wanted to leave, this is met with disdain. Dimitri accuses her of being ungrateful and selfish. “What do you want? Don’t you have everything you need?” he asks reproachfully. She feels misunderstood and it makes her somewhat angry. She reacts defensively: “Give me one good reason why I should not leave! People are disappearing all the time for no reason; their coming and going is controlled by the Unknown, and nobody knows really anything! And I should not leave, voluntarily, that is? This is a game...

  Femina does not find it difficult to find her way and adjust to this new world after having learnt the language. Besides, she loves the opportunity to feed her brain with all this new information. She enjoys it so much that she becomes negligent towards her original intention to search for her lost memory. The amnesia has not lifted but there are so many new things that vie for a place in her brain that the old cannot compete, particularly as it gives her more grief than pleasure searching for it. But change is on its way. Slowly and unnoticeable fine cracks appeared in her blissful state of mind. It was nobody’s fault just an inevitable development. Not all memory had gone! That became always apparent when her customary opinions collided with that of the...

  She has seen many sunrises, many days and nights have passed. Nothing has ever changed. She is a dot in the wide open plain. The rocks have long been left behind. Above her was always a cloudless blue sky. But today she believes there is some change in the color. It is very subtle, just a tinge of green. Then again it may not be. But there is also something in the far distance, an unevenness on an otherwise flat ground. A wave of excitement runs through her body. Presentiment, - something could happen! She keeps walking. No point to stop as she is not tired. However, there is also some trepidation though she has no explanation why that should be. She lets logic do its work. She sure has nothing to lose, she can...

  The tale begins between night and day, at the time of dawn to be correct. Nothing unusual, it will be a morning as any other, but not for the one person still sleeping curled up in a roll in a hollow between rocks and stone. The head resting on one of the bent arms, the long hair cascading over face and shoulder, the chest moving as the breaths come and go. It is the body of a female, completely naked and though the air of the morning hour is as always the coolest it does not seem to be disturbing her sleep at all. At the horizon the new morning starts to linger encroaching on the fringe of the night. Pale is the light as it moves through the misty veils and there is great...

                                            ‘To be or not to be?’ What is here in question? Is it about the ‘Here’ being less beautiful than the ‘There’? May be! Or, if ‘to be’ is a problem, does it mean ‘not to be’ is the solution because it implies there is no ‘There’?  Essentially it is the question of WHY that has everyone puzzled. If there is a here, logic dictates there is a there. The Here one can see, its HOW can be explained. That may however be a deception, relying too much on Factuality without the consideration of Nothing.  It is not a question of ‘either – or’, but of ‘and’, ‘to be and not to be’. For...

  It seems, she has to adjust to the sudden silence. Her senses are still in overdrive. Lying back using the unpacked sleeping bag as a pillow she stares into the cool watery blue sky. The damp of fog can be sensed already and may be, she won’t see any stars tonight. Her cheeks feel the touch of moist air. How hurried the sun suddenly is. Just before he could be seen behind the trees, now he is gone and the shadows are getting longer.Femina jumps up, grabbing a few items she rushes to the waterfall. Better to get ready for the night now, not later when it might be too late for anything. She washes herself quickly. The water is cold and certainly stimulates her circulation. After rubbing herself dry and slipping into her tracksuit...

Weekend! How quick it came, but she feels that way always when it has arrived. They took a trip to Femina’s favorite spot that she often visited to get away from the hustle of city life. She calls it a trip into the green, though there is not much green left at this time of the year. The meadows still are and some trees, but most of them have turned their leaves into all kinds of colors and they seem to compete for the brightest one. They walk through the mixed woodland. The little one collects some treasures as she goes, leaves, twigs, and seedpods. They carry warm cloths and overnight gear, because it can get quite cool without the sun and Femina intends to stay the night outdoors. It will be the last time for...

Femina would like to take up the topic of emancipation again but does not really know how to reignite the interest. ‘Nonsense, ‘she reassures herself, ‘anything would make a good entry, for example, that the cosmos enters into a new phase, or she could ask one particular question that most people at least once in their lifetime ask, ‘what am I’; or she may just return to her relationship with men, or simply to the current boyfriend. It always includes emancipation in one way or the other: The human race has been given the ultimatum, either to destroy itself or to get rid of their primitive and unsustainable ways of life; men, women, everyone has to take responsibility for their action and free themselves from their dependencies. Well, and she herself, she must let go of...

“Hi Femina,” the little one calls out immediately, “you know where we were today?” She beams with enthusiasm. “We were at the animal museum! That was great, wasn’t it mum?” Her mother nods but seems less impressed. “They have done a good job,” she says. “The animals looked very real and were placed amongst realistic imitations of their natural habitat. They provided earphones for the original sounds. They had video shows and even a little real zoo where the animals could be stroked and fed. But surprisingly, they had no holograms.” Femina shrugs her shoulders. “You are surprised? Don’t I always say, that here they live on the …..” “Yeah, yeah, so you say,” Tina interrupts her. Uh, she does not seem to be in a good mood though she tries to hide it. “What did...

The next day is more or less what she expected. To tell the future is really no problem as long as one can add up one and one. Of course, one needs to leave room for the surprise as a factor of uncertainty, - only gods are permitted to be infallible. Good fortune has it that work is not quite as unpleasant. It is one of those days where it is very quiet indeed.  Femina has plenty of time to brew herself one coffee after the other and she can read the papers and magazines that lie around. The news are not really any different from the ones yesterday, the only things that change are the names and the localities. She browses the pages without much interest and has another cigarette, again. She had no breakfast....

They are in an indulgent mood, but must serve themselves because Femina’s domestic help is in its docking station to get uploaded. Tina is inspecting ‘him’ while Femina puts out all the goodies she can find. Tina states that it is exactly the model she is after. Her old one is definitely not for repair, but she does not want to spend too much money, though she admits, the really top class models are outstanding in what they can do and what they actually look like. However, these are not yet available where she or Femina live. At their latitude everything lags behind. Of course it is only a question of time when the markets will offer them but one can expect them to be exorbitant expensive, initially at least. Femina’s type is sufficient to do...

“Mh, this champagne is not bad at all”, says Femina and follows the tingling cool from the mouth into the stomach, into the blood, right into the cells of her brain and all her body. In fact, she feels more and more tipsy and she does not mind at all. She leans back into the pillows and looks closely at Tina. She has changed, is far more relaxed than she has ever seen her. Tina glances back and reading minds comes naturally. They smile and are happy. It is after all only a question of dimensions: the content is a constant, the form is changeable, the shapes are different and limited in time. It may be only a moment, but that is exclusive. “You look phantastic”, she states, eying her friend all over again. She starts...

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...

Should we be concerned about the children living in such unconventional conditions? This is a question only asked by people who believe their type of raising children is the right one. Sozieternas are less categorical. The only thing they insist on is that every Sozieterna is responsible for all children, their own or not. The two women would never consider anything else. Children as a topic is for them always present, particularly as they have such a different opinion about it. Tina is keen to test Femina’s decision not to have any children. After all, she may want to change that. In the past they had hot discussions about it. Femina accused Tina once of having her child only for selfish reasons anyway. Of course, this was unfair, like the boxer hits under the belt. Tina’s...

They are a minority, but they differ from other ethnic groups and any other nations as they have no and never claim or want to have a state of their own. They have no government and no representative whom they chose and who would act on their behalf. Every single person is a representative of their nation. Every single person takes care of governing business by consulting each other if necessary. They have neither jurisdiction nor executive power because they have no written laws and therefore don’t need law enforcement. They have councils for all matters they wish to address. They have freedom of faith, though they may not belong to a religious community and they certainly have no priesthoods. Generally they are nomads, or cosmopolitans, settling at times and integrating into the local society, but...

“Well”, says Femina with a dismissive gesture, “the boss is just the hook to hang the hat on for all the other things that cause my heartburn. I don’t know if he really is the worst.” She quickly takes account of various colleagues. “Indeed, the boss is reactionary, intelligent and therefore dangerous, but the subordinates are ignorant, undiscerning, and even dumb, and therefore not less dangerous. The dog bites its tail. The system is so perfect, ‘thumbscrews’!-  In fact, I should not be angry, not with anyone. I am the one who does not fit in.” She falls into silence. “I think, I have become unsociable and a cynic. ….. just listening to what some have to say, their commentary, all their narrow-mindedness, showing their true color…….”, she shakes her head, “then only my arrogance and...

Mr. Autumn has arrived early. During the day he tries to hide behind the sun but when the sun is not around he cannot fool anyone. Even the days are shorter as Femina sadly notices. In the morning when she hurries to work, the sky is grey and it takes a long time until the sun, if at all, can pierce through the thick layers of mist and fog. The grasses are wet and the many flowers in the gardens gleam loudly in their bold colors as if they wanted to scream ,- "hey, we are still here despite the nights being so cold, so cold". In fact, this year has not been summerly at all. The harvest is later than usual and fruits lack the sweetness that comes with maturity.