On a warm Sunday – 25 degrees, the sun half-hearted, the clouds half-bored – the farmers’ market in Bad Salzhausen lay as if in a deep slumber. A few stalls stood there bravely, as though they had resolved to present their wares with dignity, no matter how many visitors turned up.
But hardly any visitors came. Perhaps it was down to the light rain, which kept appearing on the scene like an unmotivated actor, briefly delivering its lines and then disappearing again. Perhaps it was down to the atmosphere, which was so thin you could have overlooked it.
A woman selling homemade jams was rearranging her jars for the fifth time, even though they were already perfectly arranged.
Then something happened. Something small. Something black.
A black cat crept across the square as if she were the only one who knew how to save a dull day. She moved with the elegance of a queen inspecting her court. The rain did not bother her. The sun seemed to follow her. The clouds made way for her.
The cat stopped behind the wicker stall, looked at the stallholder, and meowed – not loudly, but with a certain air of authority. The basket weaver smiled for the first time that day.
The cat sat down at our feet, groomed itself, and then looked around with such contentment, as if it had decided that this farmers’ market was quite all right after all.
And suddenly, everything seemed less dull. The rain eased off. The sun gained the upper hand. A few visitors did come by after all – perhaps drawn by the cat, perhaps by the new atmosphere that settled over the square like a warm breeze.
By the end of the day, the farmers’ market was still small, still quiet, but no longer dreary. Because sometimes a single black cat is enough to remind an entire town that even the most unremarkable days deserve a story.
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