Midnight, Rain, and Remembering

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It was close to midnight as I stepped out onto the street. I had just finished one of my last training sessions before my run on Sunday in Munich. The cool air hit my face. The weather had been on the wetter side this evening, though there was no heavy rain. The wet asphalt reflected the streetlights, multiplying their glow in the quiet night, which held a calm atmosphere as everything and everyone was winding down.

The last patrons of Saints 'n' Scholars were still finishing their conversations and cigarettes outside as I walked by. Continuing down Wilhelmsstraße, a bittersweet feeling of nostalgia gave me company with every step. Directly behind me was the Brecht Bau, where I spent hours sitting in seminars as a young student. Across the road stood Unckel, where, on countless occasions, pizza, pasta, and beer happily settled into my belly amidst good company.

Passing by the library, some students were exiting the building, and I could still spot heads inside, probably deep in some material and not realizing that closing time was fast approaching. The last times I sat in there were already past my student days; I used to go on Monday nights after work, getting some grown-up paperwork done. Then it would be time to cross the road, descend the stairs behind the Mensa, and enter the Bierkeller for its Pub Quiz Night, along with my usual order of Chili con Carne and the beer of the month. Now, after years of renovation, the Mensa is finally done, and the Bierkeller is no more.

A soft drizzle of light rain all around me hit the leaves and the ground. The further I walked, the sound of the fountains in front of the Neue Aula started to join this audible landscape. In the Clubhaus to the left, I could still see students in the very room where I had made some of my first friends in Tübingen during our faculty's student meetings. Standing at the bus stop, I joined a few others looking down the road towards Lustnauer Tor, hoping to soon spot the bus that would be bringing us home. Just like so many times before.



Location: Tübingen

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