April, 17, 1974.
An early spring sunshine brought light and warmth in the heart of Beringen. At the home Ferduchi it was a little hectic. Antonio was awakened that night by his wife Maria, who had her first contractions in the middle of the night. In a panic she had immediately awakened her husband and now they were on their way to the hospital.
When they arrived, Maria was immediately taken to the redemption quarter. As Antonio had to wait outside. He sat down in the waiting room with a coffee that was offered to him by the nurse. After waiting for hours, until it was almost annoying Antonio, finally came the moment he had been waiting for.
One of the Nurses came up to him and said he was allowed to enter the room. There he found a beautiful scene. The most expensive work of art could not even be as beautiful as what he saw now. His wife and newborn daughter were lying on the bed. He sat down beside her, and when he saw his daughter for the first time he got tears in his eyes. So sweet, so pure and so beautiful. He dreamed away at this. Maria gave her to Antonio and he took her over with huge caution.
He kissed her on her forehead and said: "Welcome to the family dear Hannah." What a beautiful name. The nurse said. She took the three of them to Maria's room. There, Hannah was placed in an incubator and she fell asleep. Antonio could not keep his eyes.
Hours, or at least that's how it felt, as he was sitting in the seat next to his wife watching his daughter, who was sleeping.
A few days later, mother and daughter were home. Once there, Maria saw that Antonio had decorated the house a little. He had a wooden stork with a sign named: "Hannah" hung on it and above the door he had placed a sign with the inscription: Welcome home, dear angel.
In the days that followed they received many visitors. Maria's brother came along, and Antonio's sister. Both of them were hit by a similar gift with an additional question that they both consented along with glistening eyes. So Hannah immediately had godparents. Every time everyone was gone and there fell a silence in the house, the little Hannah fell asleep quickly and Antonio and Maria then could enjoy the picture of their little miracle sleeping.
Even when she grew up she was a sweet girl. She grew up quickly, and Antonio sometimes found it a little disturbing to see how fast his little girl became bigger. Most of all he wished that she would always be his little princess. "Oh well, that's something what every father wants." He said
laughing to himself one day when she was dressed as a princess because the carnival was on school.
She made many friends. It soon became clear that she had the artistic talents of her father but combined with the acumen of her mother. That made her very quickly a popular student. Everyone was always kind to her. Best of all, found Antonio, was that she was very kind and polite to everyone too. It was Antonio's major goal in the beginning. He always said: "My daughter does not need to be smart, or an artist like Picasso." Even an athlete is not her purpose, he thought, as long as she
is nice to everyone that is nice to her. He was enormously pleased that she, at this young age, already had that natural strength.
Antonio opened his eyes and looked straight into those of his daughter. Apparently she was staring at him for a while and was awakened by her presence. He smiled at her and said: "Good morning darling, sleep well?" "I slept like a baby in the arms of my guardian angel." Hannah replied and smiled sweetly back at him. He raised his head slightly and pulled a surprised face. Seeing this, Hannah laughed very hard. "I have slept here with you dad." She said laughing. "There was a very hard storm tonight and because of the heavy thunder and frightening lightning, I decided to sleep here with you." Antonio opened his mouth for a second, then closed it again and raised his head to look outside. "Was there a storm?" He asked, surprised. "Have you not noticed that?" Hannah asked. "Well, it doesn't surprise me really, you snored so loudly that it seemed you were cutting down the entire Amazon forrest." She added with a grimace. By this remark, Antonio
Was now laughing. "You little pig!" He said and went roughly through her hair with his hand.
Together they stood up. Antonio went to the kitchen and set the table ready, while Hannah locked herself up in the bathroom. When she entered the kitchen almost half an hour later, her dad had already prepared breakfast including fresh eggs, freshly baked breads and spreads. "Well that took a long time, I've already been to the village." Antonio said with a wink. "Yes, of course, which you definitely did in your pajamas and your slippers." Hannah replied as she took place at the table and prepared a sandwich with cheese and ham. Antonio could not help laughing at this remark. "You are truly incalculable, you little miss sunshine." Antonio said and prepared himself a sandwich too, with eggs.
For a while they sat quietly at the table and ate their breakfast. After breakfast, Antonio got dressed and picked up the mail from the mailbox. When he came in he sorted it. The advertising brochures he placed on a stack and the letters in a different stack. He saw a letter with his name and the sender was the brigade of the goats riders. He opened the letter and was surprised by what he read.
The brigade had invited him to a celebration of the bucks riders where he could come to receive a prize for his drawing. He gained enormous satisfaction. the first official recognition as a draftsman. "Perhaps the springboard to your success!" Had Hannah responded also visibly proud of her daddy.
That celebration continued on Saturday at the Cultural Center of Hasselt. He and Hannah went together to it and there they met some famous artists and writers including Marc Sleen, Ernest Claes and others.
The ceremony began with a film about the goats riders, then were handed out prizes. When it was Antonio's turn, he gained a briefly special feeling. A sense of honor and recognition and he was very
happy. Hannah also was visibly proud of her dad. After the ceremony they enjoyed a snack and a drink and Antonio spoke to a few other artists. He loved it. But the most honorable, he found the time Willy Vandersteen and Jef Nys congratulated him on his win. More Antonio could not wish for, he felt as if he was the king that night and that he had visible marked out. Even when, at the end of the evening, they returned home and both were in bed, they both had a smile on their face before falling asleep and dreaming about the events of that memorable day.
YOU ARE READING
Fellow Compatriots
Historical Fiction.In honor of a noble king, who died way too early, I have written a short novel about his life. The novel is partly written as seen through the eyes of a fictional character; Antonio, who knew king Baudouin personally.
