6

It all went smoothly: After the nurse´s last check I managed to escape through the window of the bathroom. A taxi picked me up and brought me to the airport. A few hours later I was in Paris, standing once more in front of the opera house. All the time I heard my angel, guiding me. He showed me the way through the endless passages till I could see the underground lake. Though I had been quite calm throughout the journey my nerves fluttered, now that I was there. Any minute I would meet him.

"Christine." I turned around and saw who had spoken my name as lovingly as no one else before. He stood right in front of me, mere inches away. "Is that really you, my angel?", I whispered. "Who else could have brought you to this place, child?" It was strange to watch the man whose voice had started my life. "This is my world." His arm drew a semi-circle in midair, including the lake and what lay beyond. "We´ll be so happy here."

He pulled me into his arms. Although it was the first time we did this he seemed to be closer to me than anybody else. Our lips met quite naturally, and I felt a tingling all over my body. After some endless moments I broke the kiss. I looked deep into his beautiful eyes. "I love you, my Angel of Music." He smiled brightly and placed a light kiss on my forehead. "I love you, Christine." His voice sounded strangely subdued, and I could actually see tears gliding down his face. "I´ve waited for this so long, and now you´re finally here with me. Please promise me you´ll stay forever!" He seized my hand and brought it to his lips. My heart seemed to burst with joy. Without even knowing it I had waited for this moment, maybe my entire life. "Forever", I whispered.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………...

"Gone? What do you mean: She´s gone?" Mr.Bailey´s yells made several patients jump. He stood with his wife at the door of Maria´s dormitory, one arm wrapped protectively around Katherine´s waist. "Can´t your staff even keep a young girl from leaving? Can people here just come and go as they please?" Dr.Monroe ran a hand though his hair. Since his first encounter with the Baileys he had been the bearer of bad news, and they kept becoming worse every time. The only consolation he had was that this piece of information simply couldn´t be exceeded. "When I said on the phone that your daughter was gone, I didn´t mean it literally. Let me show you something."

He guided the parents to a smaller room with a single bed in it. On the bed lay Maria, as beautiful as Snow-white in her coffin of glass. "She isn´t dead.", Dr.Monroe said hastily before they could even ask. "What happened to her?", Alfred Bailey wanted to know. "We cannot be sure.", the doctor replied. "She reacts neither to pain nor to sudden noises. Something made her withdraw entirely. She now lives in her own world, and …" He swallowed hard. "… and there is almost no chance of pulling her out again. I´m sorry."

With hesitant steps Katherine Bailey went to her daughter´s bed. Her eyes were closed, but her lips formed a word. To her mother it looked like "forever".

The end