The Statue
By Alex Barton
I had been in Berlin on holiday for three days in the week and Friday was my last afternoon. Of course such a short time was nowhere near enough with so much to see and do, but I had already decided to go back later in the year and that consoled me when I looked at my checklist and realized I had done only a fraction of what I intended.
Walk down the Wilhelmstrasse and locate the site of the Chancellery and FΓΌhrerbunker, check. Well the former at least, the latter is now buried under a car park. Look at what was left of Gestapo headquarters, blown up by the Russians, and shudder at what memories are contained in all that's left, the shattered tiled pillars that had once held up the cellars, check. Find what used to be Checkpoint Charlie and marvel at the economic and architectural revival of the city, check. See a Mozart opera, 'Don Giovanni' at the Komische Oper, check, although the guy who sold me a cut-price ticket at the door surely knew one of the two soprano leads had lost her voice and would be miming while another soprano, clearly visible, sang her rΓ΄le off to the side. Check and damn the bloody man for ruining a treasurable experience.
And go shopping. Bloody hell, check. I was going home a great deal poorer than I was when my plane landed. Not only is Berlin fearsomely expensive but the pound to euro exchange rate is ludicrous. A pound to an Englishman is a significant amount where a euro to the Germans, who have a much higher cost of living but also a higher income, is worth very little. The two books on the composer Richard Strauss and five classical CDs I bought from Dussmann der KulturKaufhaus on the Friedrichstrasse left me extremely glad I
was
only staying for three days.
I had to catch the train and be at Schoenefeld Airport by 5pm and knew the journey there would take an hour. I had checked out of the three-star hotel included in the package as late as I could which meant I had a couple of hours to kill before catching the train so I hoisted my rucksack on my back, figuring I would go for a walk and end up in front of the Brandenburg Gate where I could buy a postcard and some chocolates to take home to my mum. She needed cheering up after her divorce from Dad and, while I knew she was pleased I had elected to live with her until I graduated from university and would then get a job to help support us both, I also knew that she blamed herself for the breakdown of the marriage even though it had been Dad who out of the blue suddenly announced that he was leaving Mum, myself and the happy family home to go and live in Bangkok because he was in love with a Thai ladyboy named Bambam. I wish I could say I was surprised but Dad and I had never been close.
The hotel was in a residential area and there were streets leading off in all directions. I got my map out and started walking, glancing in the shop windows as I walked, regretting I could afford little more than a bottle of water and a sandwich when I reached the airport. But then I suddenly stopped, entranced.
The display of Asian artifacts and curios in the window of a shop called Ypsilon-Asiatika in Wittenbergplatz was breathtaking. Not those big ugly porcelain buddhas you know are mass-produced in a factory in Hong Kong but delicate Japanese porcelain pottery in gorgeous colors, tiny Chinese watercolors of mountains, fields and rivers that made you feel as if they were there in front of you, all sorts of intriguing and colorful jewelry and decorative objects. And there, just off to the right, almost hidden, was something I had never seen before in my life. A tiny statuette of a penis, only about three inches high and made of either bone or ivory, decorated with strange inscriptions that resembled no script I recognized. The price tag, handwritten in black ink, said
Burma, β¬ 30
and I knew, just knew in my heart and soul, I had to have it.
I opened the door of the shop. Before the woman behind the counter could ask what I wanted I said, "Hello," so she would know I was English and, with luck, we could sort out what I wanted without resorting to my almost non-existent German.
"Yes?" she said coolly. The Germans are quite formal in social situations with strangers.
"In the window, the little statuette from Burma?"
"Nicht verstanden,
" she said and I knew enough German to know that meant she did not know what I was talking about.
I mimed going outside and pointing through the window and smiled. The woman nodded but did not smile back. I went back through the door and pointed and she picked up the tiny statuette.
Back inside I brandished my credit card, hoping my overdraft limit had not been breached, and attempted polite conversation while the transaction completed.
"From B-errr-ma?" I asked, pronouncing the name the English way.
The woman looked confused.
"Bitte?"
she said.
"It is from Burma?"
"Ach ja, 'B-ooor-ma',"
she said, giving me the impression she thought I was retarded.
Danke, Deutschland,
I thought but remembered my manners and smiled my thanks when she handed me the receipt and my precious little statuette, wrapped in tissue paper and slipped into a very small plastic bag.
*
The flight back to London Stansted was uneventful and I reached home just before midnight. My mum had gone to bed but she left me a plate of chicken drumsticks in the fridge together with a nice note that said, 'Welcome home - I missed you!' which put a smile on my face all the way through having a quick wash and falling into bed.
I would have gone right off to sleep but I heard a soft moan from the adjoining bedroom followed by another. That did it: I turned over, flipped the covers back from my naked body and took my immediately erect cock in my hand, incredibly turned on by listening to my mother masturbating. At least I figured that was what was happening because I didn't hear any masculine gasps or moans and I knew if I was the guy making love to my mum I sure as hell would be.
My mother is a total babe. She had me when she was 18 and I'm 19 now so she's still in her thirties. Her silky black hair which she wears pulled back into a ponytail, high cheekbones, soft green eyes and full lips have made many a man's heart swoon and that includes me, especially if you factor in she has
really