Burkhard Blitgen

Returning to his home port after years of wandering, Burkhard Blitgen stood on the deck of the Twilight Gull, gazing with awe at the shore. His heart beat faster when he saw a familiar, slender figure push through the crowd and run toward the ship.

They met at the gangway—a mighty pirate with a scarred face and a woman in a simple dress that smelled of bread. Without speaking, they embraced tightly, as if trying to overcome the years of separation.

That evening, at her tavern, the Will-o'-the-Wisp, he drank a special rum and talked about turquoise lagoons and fierce storms. She listened, polishing her glass, and then said with a smile:

"A wild wind drives away the fog
Your thoughts, oh, hooligan
A cunning fox rushes after the thunderstorm
He, like you, is an adventurer."

Burkhard took a sip of rum and replied with a satisfied smile:

"Freedom for the free, somewhere in two fields
They met in the vast expanses of Russian lands
The wind fell in love with the thunderstorm unwittingly
What I sang about all the way home
Somewhere a strong sky attracts
Somewhere, somewhere, my beloved remembers and waits."

In the silence of the tavern, his words hung between them, removing the humorous mask from the dialogue and revealing the very truth that he had been afraid to speak out loud for so long.