PROLOGUE
At the time I am writing these memories, around the turn of October/November 2024, it is exactly 40 years since the following incident happened. Jana and I had completed the first quarter of our marriage and we were working in Prague: Jana at the Institute of Microbiology of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in Krč and I at the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences in Dejvice.
We lived in a small rented room in a small village outside Prague – Jinočany. At that time, it was difficult to find a room to sublet in the city and we could not afford it. Every day we commuted by train from Jinočany to the railway station Prague – Smíchov, where we split up and each of us took the tram or bus to work and back the same way in the afternoon. Back then, in October 1984, we had special plans: after work, we wanted to go to a jewelry store to buy a special necklace for my mother-in-law for her fiftieth birthday, and then go to a theater to see the evening performance. Everything went according to plan, the right piece of jewelry was selected and purchased, and we later enjoyed the theater as well. When we took the tram back to the railway station to catch the last train to Jinočany, we had to change at the Strossmayerovo náměstí stop.
When we got off here, the doors closed and the tram pulled away, I realized that I had forgotten a bag with all the essentials in it: documents, money, keys and a newly purchased necklace. At that moment, a police patrol in a classic yellow car drove past, and we had a glimmer of hope: I waved, stopped them and quickly explained the situation. If the policemen were kind enough to take me to the tram, which was still in sight, I could get my forgotten bag back at the next stop. But I had miscalculated the fact that back then the police patrols were not tasked with „helping and protecting“ as they are today. Yes, they invited us into their car and took us, but not to the tram, but to the police office, where they wrote a protocol with us. And after half an hour they released us again. The bag had been lost and we did not know what would happen to us. We had neither money nor tickets for the tram, so we walked to the Prague – Smichov station.
It was already late at night and the last train to Jinočany had long since left. We had the choice of either spending the night on a station bench and taking the first train the next morning as stowaways or walking. The village of Jinočany is not very far from the Prague – Smichov railway station. Today the train ride takes about 20 minutes. We opted for the second option. We did not know the way by road (we did not have a car at the time), so we simply followed the tracks. The whole situation was extremely bizarre: two young people in formal theater attire, me in a dark suit and polished black shoes, Jana in a festive dress and high-heeled shoes, slowly moving through the forbidden area along the tracks in the dark night, stumbling over sleepers, rails and rocks in between. We were aware of the dangerous situation and kept a careful lookout for any approaching trains. Luckily, there was not much traffic and when a train approached, we could see it from afar thanks to the lights and therefore move to a safe distance from the tracks.
Then Jana ran out of power and could not go any further. I carried her the rest of the way on my back. Completely exhausted, we reached our home sometime between two and three o’clock in the morning. At this point, we had rented a room with a bathroom in the villa where the owners of the house lived. We had two keys for the house and one for our room. This one had been lost in my forgotten bag. So, we got into the house with Jana’s key, but not into the apartment. We spent the rest of the night in the bathroom, in a bathtub with warm water, physically and mentally exhausted. I have to say that Jana was great. Not even a hint of remorse for the trouble I caused with my forgetfulness. On the contrary, she helped me out of my own depression.
And how did it end?
Wait for the next episode of Fragments of Life. To be continued…