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© Yuri Maslov, 2023
ISBN 978-5-0059-6623-0
Created with Ridero smart publishing system
Israel, 2022
All the events described in this book begin just a couple of weeks before Christmas and take place in the city of Zurich. All members of the Rosenberg family live a calm, slow-paced life. The head of the family, Martha Rosenberg has a job she likes a lot in a large Swiss bank. Her children, Mark and Greta, live the lives of ordinary teenagers with school on weekdays and various exhibitions and museums on weekends.
And nothing meant trouble it seemed. No one thought about it anyway.
However, fate decreed otherwise and a fair amount of trials and obstacles fall to the lot of our characters. Who in the end will be able to help a seriously ill person and who should he rely on in his life? Will his relatives be able to help him, or will professional doctors do it? Or should he wait upon the Creator? Will a miracle happen on the eve of a bright Christmas Day?
You will find answers to all these questions on the pages of this wonderful and fascinating book.
CHAPTER 1
THE BEGINNING
It was winter. Just a couple of weeks before Christmas. Mark Rosenberg was standing near the Swiss National Museum of Art waiting for his mother and sister to come out.
He was born and raised in the city of Zurich. At the moment he was twelve years old. He was a fairly tall young man for his age. He had black wavy hair and green eyes.
Since childhood, he did not particularly like to go to various exhibitions and museums and opposed in every possible way, when he was forced to visit such places.
So, this time he told his mother that he would leave to the toilet for only five minutes, but instead he went straight to the exit of the building. However, before leaving the building, he did go to the toilet, so he had not lied in this case. He went out into the street and began to look around. He started looking for the nearest cafe, where he could buy himself hot coffee. That day it was pretty cold outside. As is often the case in winter in these parts, there was wet snow under the feet of the inhabitants of the city. Of course, in Zurich there were no such frosts and snowstorms, as in Siberia, but the weather remained rather cool.
He didn’t want to stray too far from the main entrance so as not to lose sight of it. He continued to stand outside and look around until he noticed a cafe nearby.
He approached it and read the name on the signboard.
«Café De Zeevaart,» he said aloud.
Without hesitation, he decided to enter.
Once inside the cafe, he immediately saw a barman behind the counter, who was quite impressive in size. He was about two meters tall, with long blond hair that touched his shoulders. He also had a thick gray beard.
He appeared to be about thirty-five. The barman looked straight at Mark and said:
«Hello, boy.»
«Hello.»
«Is it cold outside?» he asked, nodding his head towards the front door.
«Yes, it’s pretty cold.»
«It’s warm in here,» he said thoughtfully. «Have you decided what you want?»
«I would like a coffee.»
«What kind of coffee do you prefer?»
«I think I’ll have a cappuccino.»
«Good choice.»
Mark stood at the counter waiting impatiently for His coffee. He was already looking forward to the moments of joy when he would be drinking it.
«It’s two francs, my young friend,» the barman drew attention to himself.
Mark slowly began to look for his coin purse in a pocket of his jacket. However, in an instant, he realized that today he had left his purse at home.
He was a little taken aback, but continued searching the pockets hoping to find some change. In one of the pockets, he discovered a coin. He immediately grabbed it and took it out of his pocket.
He glanced at the coin hoping that this would be enough to pay for his coffee. However, to his surprise and disappointment it was only one franc.
He remembered all too well that coffee cost two francs. He squeezed the coin in his hand and looked at the barman with eyes full of confusion and despair. The barman understood everything by the expression on the boy’s face and asked him a question himself.
«Well, boy, don’t you have enough money to pay off?!»
«No,» Mark answered sadly. «I have only one franc.»
«Only one franc? It’s funny, but coffee costs two francs!» remarked the barman with a slight smirk on his face.
«I know. I just thought I took my wallet with me, but it turns out that today I left it at home,» the boy said with anguish in his voice.
«Hah, that’s funny! Okay, you don’t have to worry about that. You can take your coffee.
«But I owe you another franc, don’t I?» Mark was a little taken aback by what he heard.
«That’s right. So, bring it in next time. Now, take your coffee before I change my mind.»
«Thank you very much!»
«You’re welcome, young man!» the barman replied kindly.
Joyful and pleased, Mark took his coffee and ran to the building of the National Museum of Art. He reached the exit and waited for his mother and his younger sister to come out. As he stood and waited, he slowly took sip after sip. Coffee indeed turned out quite tasty and flavorful. But most importantly it was hot. At the moment it was all he needed. About five minutes later, he saw his little sister running out of the building. Once on the street, she began to jump joyfully and make snowballs out of the wet snow with her hands. By this time, Mark was already finishing his coffee. Looking at his sister he approached her.
«Here, Mark!» she shouted and threw a snowball at him.
He managed to dodge the snowball flying right at him and approached her closer.
«Stop it, Greta. Where is Mom?»
«She’s coming out now.»
And indeed, a couple of minutes later their mother came out of the building. Her name was Martha and she was thirty-eight years old. She was tall, with long blond hair.
All her life she worked at a local bank called Credit Suisse. She started her career as a bank employee and at the moment she was in charge of a department.
As to Greta, she was ten years old. A cheerful and mischievous girl with a penchant for the exact sciences. She was also quite tall for her age. She had blond hair, often braided. They had a rather friendly and supportive family all the members of which loved and respected each other. However, the kids had never seen their father.
They didn’t know who he was or where he was now. When they asked their mother about him, she usually tried to change the subject of the conversation. The children loved their mother a lot, but also wanted to know something about their dad.
«Mark, where have you been? Greta and I walked around the first floor of the building looking for you. Where did you go again?!» she said with slight indignation in her voice.
«Don’t be angry, Mom. I went out for a breath of fresh air,» he replied calmly.
«Well, we were looking for you. All right, guys, take my hands and follow me!» she commanded in a decisive tone.
In fact, she was a born leader, both at work and at home. And now they were heading towards their car all together, hand in hand.
Silver color Volkswagen Jetta stood in the parking lot for the second hour and, it seemed, was already beginning to miss his owner. When all of them got into the car, Martha turned the ignition key and pressed the gas pedal. Mark started telling her how he went to buy his coffee today and he didn’t have enough money to pay. When Martha heard this story, she immediately had a few questions for him.
«You gave him only one franc, and he still sold you coffee?» she asked in a surprised tone.
«Yes, that’s exactly what happened, Mom!» he answered in a joyful voice.
«Hmm, that sounds pretty weird.»
«Why?!»
«Because coffee costs just twice as much as you paid him. In terms of business, it was not profitable.»
«But he turned out to be a rather kind man and still gave me the coffee. So, he is a good person.»
«Yes, he is. But why did you take the coffee if you didn’t have enough money?»
«He told me to pay him back next time. Moreover, it was quite cold outside so I needed badly a glass of hot coffee.»
«I see. Next time we will be somewhere around that place, you should go there and pay him back.»
«Okay, Mom. That’s exactly what I’ll do.»
«Don’t forget. Do you promise me?!»
«Promise.»
«Great.»
Greta was sitting in the back seat next to her brother and looked out the window. On one hand, it might have seemed that she was not at all interested in what her mother and brother were talking about. In fact, she was listening attentively and absorbed all the information. For a while she sat silently, staring out the window, and then suddenly remarked:
«I also think that you should definitely pay off your debt.»
«I’ll do it another time. I told him I’d pay him back next time,» Mark answered with some irritation in his voice.
«Now you owe him.»
«So what?!»
«You owe him. You owe him.»
«Enough, Greta, stop it! I said I’d pay him back another time!» he replied with obvious indignation in his voice.
«All right, kids, calm down! We are almost home,» Martha said in a decisive tone.
A couple of minutes later they arrived at their house. It was not very large, but it had everything you need for living. There were two floors, a parking garage, basement and five rooms. Near the house they also had a small lawn and, of course, a dog house for the family’s favorite dog named Max. Seeing a car approaching and Mark and Greta coming out of it, Max immediately ran out of his kennel and ran in their direction. He tried to make it to them, but a chain attached to his neck prevented him from doing so.
Max himself was a purebred German. Both of his parents were German shepherds. As soon as Mark got out of the car, the first thing he did was go to his beloved pet.
Max happily wagged his tail and jumped into his master’s arms, looking straight into his eyes. Martha and Greta also greeted their pet and then went into the house. Mark, on the contrary, stayed outside to play with his pet a little more. Mark and Max immediately fell in love with each other right from the first day they met.
So far, Max has been living with the Rosenbergs for several years and has become a full member of the family. Having played enough with Max, Mark finally decided to go into the house.
At this point, Martha was already finishing the preparations for dinner.
«What are we having for dinner tonight, Mom?» Greta asked.
«Today we have fried potatoes with meat for dinner.»
«Mom, what about salads?»
«Good question, son. How about one with fresh tomatoes and cucumbers?»
«Great. I just got hungry.»
«That’s good. Now go wash your hands. Don’t even come near the table until you do it,» she said decisively.
The children obediently got up and went to wash their hands. In fact, Martha was pretty good at cooking and the kids loved eating homemade food.
After dinner they thanked their mother for this wonderful meal. Greta then left the table and went to her room. Mark took the bowl of his beloved pet and filled it with dog food. He put on his coat and hat, grabbed the bowl and left the house. When he approached the dog house, Max immediately ran out to greet him.
Seeing his master, he started jumping around him all at once. He barked loudly and wagged his tail happily. Mark patted him with his hand and put a bowl of food near his kennel.
Apparently, Max was very hungry, so he began to absorb the contents of the bowl right away. Mark got back into the house with a sense of accomplishment. When he entered the house, he saw his mother washing the dishes in the kitchen. The moment he walked into the living room, she suddenly turned around and looked straight at him.
«Did you want to remain unseen?»
«I was just passing by,» he replied calmly.
«Have you fed Max yet?»
«Yes, Mom.»
«Well done. Now, it’s time for your homework.»
«All right,» he replied, but remained standing beside her as before. «Mom, tell me, where is our dad?!»
Martha stopped washing the dishes and froze for a moment. She just stood there in silence. It lasted for about ten seconds, after which she turned back to her son and said:
«Son, we have decided not to return to this subject, haven’t we?»
«But this question still haunts me,» he said angrily. «Besides, I still haven’t received any answer to it.»
«Not everything is so simple in this life, son,» she said and sighed heavily. «You are old enough and should understand this.»
«I understand everything, mom. But I still want to know where my dad is.»
«Mark, I’m not ready to answer this question right now.»
«But why?!» he asked again.
«The time will come when you will find out for yourself.»
«When will it come?»
«For now, this subject remains closed,» she said in a confident voice. «Later you will find out the answers to all your questions.»
«If you say so,» he said in an unhappy voice.
He still wanted badly to get an answer to his question. He stood a little longer in the kitchen next to his mother, then turned around and went to his room.
«Son, you better think about your school subjects. Don’t forget to do all your homework for tomorrow,» she shouted after him.
Washing dishes in the kitchen she continued thinking about sore. The children were growing up. Greta was already ten, and Mark was twelve years old. Sooner or later, she would have to tell all the truth to her children. Sooner or later, but not today. Now her head was just full of different thoughts. Tomorrow a new day will come and she will be occupied with her work as a head of a department of one of the largest in Switzerland. She really liked her job, and she sought this position for many years. However, her position required high responsibility and sometimes took away a lot of strength from her. It was with these thoughts in her head that she lay down on her bed.
Today, all her strength was gone. She only had time to put her head on the pillow realizing that she would immediately fall asleep. Well, blessed are the sleepy and tired, whose eyelids grow heavy every moment, for now they will close them and plunge into the world of sleep.
CHAPTER 2
MONDAY – A TOUGH DAY
Morning came. Martha opened her eyes and reluctantly began to get out of bed. She took a hot shower and brushed her teeth, then immediately went downstairs to the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, she began to prepare breakfast for herself and her children. She was just about to go into Greta’s room to wake her up, but suddenly she saw that her daughter is already downstairs.
«Good morning, sweetheart.»
«Good morning, Mom.»
«How did you sleep, dear?»
«Well.»
«Good. Where is your brother?»
«Probably still sleeping in his room.»
«Then head upstairs right away! Wake him up and tell him to hurry up, breakfast is almost ready.»
«Okay, Mom.»
So, Greta went upstairs again. Walking into her brother’s room she saw him fast asleep in bed.
«Mark, wake up! Get up!» she said in a loud voice.
He reluctantly opened his eyes and stared at her as if seeing her for the first time in his life.
«Wake up, breakfast is almost ready,» she repeated.
«All right, all right,» he replied in a sleepy voice.
«Did you forget to set your alarm again?»
«I did,» he admitted honestly.
Mark slowly got out of bed and slowly went to the bathroom. When he came down to the kitchen, he saw Greta and his mother already waiting for him at the table.
«Good morning, Mark.»
«Good morning, Mom.»
«I see you almost overslept again,» she stated.
«Yes, Mom. For some reason the alarm didn’t work.»
«I guess you forgot to put it back on?»
«Maybe.»
There were three plates of food on the table along with three cups of morning coffee.
«Bacon and eggs,» he said in a slumbrous voice.
«Exactly. I did it for you,» Martha answered with a smile on her face.
«It’s very tasty, Mom,» Greta said.
«Thank you, sweetie.»
In fact, kids really loved their mother’s cooking. It seemed that even ordinary coffee that she made in the morning always turned out to be tasty and fragrant.
«Mom, did you feed Max today?»
«No, son, I haven’t yet.»
«Okay. Then I’ll feed him myself.»
«Yes, sure, just don’t forget. Wait for me near the car all ready. And don’t forget your schoolbag,» she showed concern.
«Okay, Mom.»
After breakfast, he returned upstairs, took his schoolbag and went down to the kitchen. In the kitchen, he found dog food and filled his pet’s bowl to the brim with it. After that, he hurried up to his friend to feed him breakfast. When Max saw his master, he ran out to greet him right away.
He began to bark loudly and jump for joy. Mark stroked his beloved pet and placed a full bowl of food in front of him.
Max was very happy about it and began to absorb the contents of the bowl without hesitation. Mark stood and watched his friend having breakfast, but at one moment he heard a familiar voice.
«Son, hurry up! It’s time for us to leave!» Mom called for him.
He turned around and saw his mother near the car opening the front door.
«Coming, Mom.»
He took his schoolbag and went to the car.
«Get in, guys. And don’t forget to fasten your seat belts.»
«Okay, Mom,» they answered in unison.
«Now I will take you to school and then will head straight to work myself. I hope everything goes smoothly today.»
Mark still looked rather sleepy and occasionally yawned while looking out the window. The drive from the Rosenberg’s house to the school took about fifteen minutes. Today this time flew by quite quickly and imperceptibly.
«Well, here we are. Now, hurry up, let’s get out of the car,» she commanded.
The children obediently got out of the car, followed by Martha herself.
«Mark, Greta, I love you. Go to school and take care of yourself. I expect good grades from you.»
«We love you too, Mom,» the children answered in unison.
Martha walked up to them and hugged them one by one, then got back into the car. Silver-colored Volkswagen Jetta was picking up speed carried away somewhere into the distance, beyond the horizon. She pressed on the gas pedal not wanting to be late for work.
Mere twelve minutes later, she was parking her car in the Credit Suisse parking lot. There was still one minute left before the start of the working day. At precisely 8:30 in the morning Martha Rosenberg entered the building.
«Good morning, Martha,» the bank employees greeted her literally at the same time.
«Good morning, everyone!» she answered politely and went to her workplace.
She had been working at this bank for about fifteen years. She started her career as an ordinary bank employee. However, for the past five years, she had worked in a leadership position.
She liked her job in general and this position in particular. Sometimes it even seemed that she was just made for managing the branch of this bank.
She graduated with honors from high school, and then entered the local university in Zurich, the Faculty of Economics, Management and Law.
Studying was easy for her and she was able to pass all the exams and get a bachelor’s degree without any problems. At that time, she already knew what she wanted to do in her life.
She was interviewed for this job and was immediately enrolled in the staff of the bank.
She could conduct new job interviews herself now. At the same time, she could also fire workers, of course, if there was a good reason for that. Greta also had a penchant for the exact sciences. She must have inherited it from her mother. Her favorite subject at school was, of course, algebra.
She also liked such subjects as physics and geometry. As to Mark, he was a pure humanist. His favorite subjects at school were history and geography. He also liked subjects such as biology and physical education. He did not have any special inclinations for the exact sciences, and such subjects as algebra and geometry were given to him with difficulty. And he did not understand chemistry at all and even, one might say, hated it with all his heart. All these formulas, Latin designations and a table with chemical elements were not clear to him and did not interest him at all. He sincerely did not understand why he needed to know and study this at all. Neither did he understand why someone even had come up with such a science as chemistry. What a difference were history and geography. He read school textbooks on these subjects from beginning to end, from cover to cover.
The first half of the working day passed quietly and calmly. Martha was in her natural habitat and knew her job inside and out. When it was time for lunch break, her phone rang. She answered the incoming call and heard the voice of a close friend.
«Hello.»
«Hey, Martha.»
«Hello, Peter. How are you?»
«I’m good. How are you?»
«I’m fine too. It’s time for my lunch break.»
«I remember all too well what time you have lunch. How about going out for lunch together?»
«Why not? I will be glad to see you again!» she answered in a rather joyful tone.
«Grunwald restaurant on Zürchenstrasse sounds good to you?»
«Perfect. Wait for me there, I’m on my way.»
«I’m already there. I’m waiting.»
She hung up the phone and broke into a smile. The last time she saw Peter was last week. In total, they had been dating for about two years. True, she could not call their relationship full-fledged. They usually saw each other twice a week. And the dates themselves were not always long in time. Of course, she wanted them to see each other more often. However, the reality was different. It is not so easy to build a private life when you already have children. Peter, like Martha, had children. That year he was to be forty-two years old. There was a lot in common between them. They both raised their children alone. Peter’s wife died in a car accident a few years ago.
Martha, in turn, did not have a husband. To that day, she hadn’t told anyone much about her ex-husband. The children didn’t even know anything about him.
And yet, despite this, they both had their own families. Each of them gave his all to the children. At the same time, they also tried to earn good money so that their children would not need anything.
They both understood that they would hardly ever live together, in a house under the same roof. They were adults and intelligent people and quite soberly assessed their chances for happiness in personal life.
But, despite this, they quickly managed to find a common language with each other. There was a lot in common between them. However, in professional terms, there were slightly different.
Peter never liked being an employee. He always wanted to have his own business. By the age of thirty-five he managed to open his own restaurant. It was called Grunwald and was located on Zürchenstrasse. It was an excellent Swiss cuisine restaurant that needed no introduction in the entire Zurich. That was where Martha was heading now.
According to the good old tradition, he invited her again to his own restaurant. By the way, it was in this restaurant that they first met. Martha really liked the place and enjoyed going there especially in the company of Peter.
Meanwhile, the silver-colored Volkswagen Jetta was already pulling up to the Grunwald restaurant. Martha found a free space in the parking lot and parked the car.
She was in a bit of a hurry as her lunch break was limited. In total, she had forty minutes for lunch. She hurried out of the car and walked towards the entrance to the restaurant. As soon as she entered, she started looking around for Peter. He appeared standing in the very center of the hall and, seeing Martha, went straight towards her.