Aliou came out of his apartment building running – wool scarf trailing behind him – and almost didn’t see the car coming at him because the sun was shining right into his eyes.

Luckily, the driver slammed the brakes before anything tragic happened, but Aliu didn’t even stop to look at the driver because his focus was on the tram that he had to catch.

In five minutes, he needs to get to the cafe at the end of the street. Then cross the road, wave to Emmanuel – Cameroonian guy selling flowers by the station who always wants to chat – and then quickly go down the stairs. If he executes all of those perfectly – and if the BVG app is accurate – then by the time he gets to the platform, the tram should just be arriving.

He needs to be on this tram to make his S-bahn connection. And he has to make his S-bahn connection to make it to his interview on time. And he needs this job to remain legal in the country.

He’d already been late to the first interview, and the panel didn’t seem keen. If he doesn’t make it on time for this, he knows – for a fact – that he is not going to get an offer. Punctuality is one of the top three things Germans pride themselves on.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the tram arrive as he waved at Emmanuel. The doors hadn’t opened yet. He could see the driver bringing the vehicle to a stop. He’s going to make it.

He ran down the stairs, and as soon as his right foot touched the bottom, he made a sharp turn towards the platform.

But beneath his shoes, there was no friction. For a split second, he was gliding, then he was floating, and by the time he realised what was happening and tried to steady himself, it was too late. The back of his head hit the ice-covered concrete. His thick beanie took some of the impact.

Because despite the blinding sun, it was still winter in Berlin. February. Most of the ground was ice.

Lying there, on the ice-covered platform, the world looked upside down from his vantage point. But even upside down, the sun still blinded him. And it’s from this tilted perspective that he watched the doors slide shut, and the tram slowly pull away without him.

---

This was written as part of the Short Fiction Writing Workshop by Chimeka Garricks organised by Savvy Contemporary. The prompt for this piece was “write a story that takes place in Berlin during winter.”