Eyes Wide Dreaming

I understand now why the Grimm Brothers are from Germany. In a town like this the stories write themselves. Every building looks like what I imagine the witch’s candied house from Hansel and Gretel would look like. I want to take a bite out of them and even the air has a sweetness to it. The smell of freshly baked bread and eisbein surround me and I imagine that if Rothenburg were a woman she would be a sturdy housewife named Brigitte. Always a smile on her lips, dimples in her flushed cheeks and flour on her apron. She gossips about the neighbors and dotes on her children; she wants them plump you see so everyone knows their mother loves them. The romance of this city is infectious.

As I walk with my best friend through the cobbled streets and into the main square I suddenly believe in happy endings. In a town where even the beggars are singing and smiling how can you not? We walk passed vendors pedaling everything from gold watches to gherkins, passed shops selling swords and helmets and jewelry, passed children riding bikes in a line and lovers walking hand in hand sharing jokes and smiles as though passing notes in secrecy. The town must be in on their secret. I look to my friend and my heart quickens at the sight of his golden hair in the sun and his blue, blue eyes. He smiles at me, his eyes crinkling in the corners. I feel as though I too am in on the secret of this town. Finally we stop after having rested a while on an old wooden bench on the sidewalk. We find ourselves sitting on the edge of a bridge contemplating the houses below us as though they are trees that may have sprouted from the stone streets. The beauty of the moment overcomes me and I tell him I love him. He is silent. Stunned. And I suddenly feel like that old witch Hansel and Gretel pushed into the oven. He doesn’t meet my gaze. He says we should head back to our youth hostel. I am so afraid I’ve broken us.

As we walk he says, “I love you too. But as a friend.” He looks at me for understanding. I smile, he smiles and we are somehow better even than before. This town has made me fall in love all over again but I vow to leave that love here. Like a secret time capsule I leave my love ensconced in between the cobbled streets and the candy houses. I know it’s safe in the town’s keeping. These cobblestones look like they know how to keep secrets.