Margreet woke up with a slight headache. She threw a splash of cold water in her face. It did wake her up well, but the headache remained. Apparently the beer hadn't gone down well after all....

She got dressed, put her hair back into a ponytail, easy for work, and wanted to go downstairs, but changed her mind. She took the elastic out of her hair, brushed it again thoroughly and then took two strands of hair above her ears and tied them together at the back of her head with a small elastic. This way she had her hair loose, the way Huib thought it looked so nice on her (and she herself actually as well), and it would probably not bother her at work anyway. As she walked downstairs, she remembered that Emma and Martin would be leaving today. After their departure she would change their beds and clean the room. Tomorrow there would be new guests here, people who had been here before. She knew that Annerieke was already looking forward to it, she had had a nice click with this couple last time. She had told her that they were a couple with a good dose of humor and that they had laughed so much with each other.

"Good morning Annerieke," she greeted, stepping into the kitchen, "are you baking some goodies already?"

"Ha Margreet, yes of course, that fresh air here makes our guests hungry, right? I'm baking French toast, as a little extra, a little farewell for Emma and Martin."

"Sweet of you, I'll miss Emma, she really is a sweetheart."

"Yeah she is, we're lucky, we generally have no complaints about our guests. Even with people like Henk. I won't encourage him to make contact, but I don't experience a need to avoid him either. And Lisa is such a nice woman, just pretty broken. I have a tendency to mother her, but of course that doesn't fit in with my position here."

Margreet chuckled, "That falls under the heading of rules, which Huib is so fond of."

"Oh yes," laughed Annerieke, "he loves that! Not so... I don't like it either, but those rules are there. I try to swim between them a little."

"If you're just being who you are, to Lisa I mean, then it's okay, right? And if you feel something rising in your heart for something more, then surely you're allowed to do that? Aren't you?"

"Yes, I suppose so, depends on what's on my mind of course. And what I get on my heart right now is the question of whether you are doing well. It doesn't look like you're feeling fit."

"That's right, I have a bit of a headache. Not serious, but annoying. I think of the beer I drank last night with Huib. I drank it too fast, like lemonade."

"Hmmm," Annerieke hummed, "I don't think it's from that. I think it's more because of all those things you experienced yesterday. I think you had a bit of an emotional rollercoaster yesterday. Did you have a good time last night?"

"Oh yes, definitely! Huib gave me a tour of his house. It immediately felt like home, it's a great place... so beautiful and so big!"

"Oh yeah, it doesn't look that way when you walk up to it, it looks pretty small, but it stretches out to the back."

Annerieke knew of the impressions Erik had received at the time and she was sure, that he had had Margreet in mind. She had come... And she had clicked with Huib on a soul level. You couldn't get any deeper than that! But she held off on questioning Margreet further. She expected Margreet to start talking about it herself as soon as she was ready.

"By the way, how nice your hair is like that, practical and pretty! I love my own hair, but I can't really do much with it, all those curls.... Brushing it, and getting it cut every now and then. Variation isn't really in it for me."

"And if you would let it grow long? Would you then have a huge bunch of hair?”

"Yes, really not nice, so I just get it cut every now and then. Erik used to cut it, now I'll have to go to the hairdresser for it soon."

"How did he do that then? That seems pretty hard to me."

"He thought it was simple, he would take a tuft of hair with a brush, pull it straight and then cut a piece off, usually about two inches, and then he would let it go again. He'd go around my whole curly head and when he'd gone through all the sides, he'd brush it all again to see if there were any curls sticking out or what, and then he'd take some off. Because it curls so much, it's not so tight. It jumps back together anyway. And sometimes it happened that the next day I brushed my hair and he suddenly saw that there was still a piece too long, then he cut it off. We were very easy about that. What is it? You look like you're trying to see it for yourself. Do you want to play hairdresser?"

Margreet nodded thoughtfully. "It seems difficult, but the way you tell it, it sounds very easy, so if you dare, I'd like to try. This afternoon?"

"Really, this afternoon? Hahaha, forging the iron while it's hot! Don't feel obligated though, if you want to come back to it, I won't hold it against you."

"I do like the challenge, let's try it this afternoon!"

"Well, I'll wash my hair before then, then it will be nice and loose, that's easier to brush and cut, Erik always said."

"I can imagine how that would make a difference. Oh, those French toast, how they smell, my stomach starts growling!"

Annerieke laughed. "I'll take the last one next door and then the rest is for us. By the way, Huib is late..."

"Huib is already here," he hummed as he entered.

While Annerieke left through the other door to the dining room, Huib walked over to Margreet and kissed her on the cheek. "And how is my brave beer drinker?"

Margreet kissed him back, "Still brave, I'm going to cut Annerieke's hair this afternoon! But I do have a bit of a headache. I thought from the beer, a bit of a little hangover or something, but according to Annerieke it's more from yesterday's emotional rollercoaster."

Huib plopped down on a chair next to her and nodded, "I think she's right. Where did you get that headache?"

Margreet pointed out: "Actually the whole top of my head, but especially my forehead."

Huib put his hand on top of her head, and then on her forehead, just for a moment, and then asked her how it was now.

Margreet looked at him with wide eyes: "Almost over, how did you do that?"

He didn't answer, but put his hand on her head and forehead again. "And now?"

Margreet moved the muscles of her forehead, rolled her eyes. "Just testing, because I actually can't believe it, it's completely gone! How did you do that? How is that possible?"

"It also has to do something with the power in our souls, but I don't know exactly how it works, I just know that Erik used to do it to me and my pain almost always went away. As a child I also hoped that my scraped knees would get all better when he put his hands on them, but it didn't. The pain did go away for the most part, but the skin only changed in the way we are used to, so it took a few days. I would love it if the touch of my hand could give healing in that way as well."

As he spoke, Annerieke had come back in.

"Good morning Huib! I would say, dream on about it. Nothing surprises me anymore, so it wouldn't surprise me if that would happen once either."

"Ha mom, I would really like it. But most of all I would like to help people heal emotionally. Imagine people coming here, and going back healed!"

"That would be super Huib," Margreet responded, "but I don't think it's possible. Getting emotionally wounded takes years, so that probably won't heal in a holiday week. But we can help them a bit with it, I think."

"That’s true," Huib said, "we already do, but I long for more! I loathe to see people so broken inside, I'm angry at what's been done to them. Damn, I just want to be able to do something about it! And in addition to what already happens naturally from our souls, I want to bring healing with my words and with my hands, with what I do. I just don't know how!"

With his fist he banged on the table in frustration. Annerieke smiled, with tears in her eyes. "Really, you are just like Erik! He had this exact same thing, he wanted more too. And he was already doing so much..."

They began to eat, their heads full of thoughts, full of longing for a better world.

To chapter 46. Emma helps Margreet in her choice

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