Summer holidays were supposed to last six weeks, according to standard rules. Rosalie had vehemently opposed this.

She had no time for holidays, she wanted to get on! There was a huge urge in her to write longer stories. Until now, her stories had been short, two pages at most. And everyone liked them, and she liked them herself, but she wanted more.

On the last day before the holidays, Bea had taken her aside about it and told her that she could also just continue at home, that it was no problem at all if she sat typing for hours every day, because Bea knew very well that this was Rosalie's inner urge.

Rosalie had said it was like that was no longer right, continuing at home. She hadn't been able to get over it, had continued to sulk about it, until Ineke had said, she could continue exploring anywhere. And if she wanted to discover her way with writing longer stories, she would do so wherever she was.

"If you feel like it, you can also come and type at my house sometime," she said.

Rosalie had responded enthusiastically.

"But how do I get to your place? I don't know where your house is."

"You'll have to discover that then, won't you? How can you discover that?"

Rosalie had tilted her head, as she usually did when she was thinking hard about something.

"I need your address, the street and the number, and then I have to look it up..."

"How can you look it up, do you know?"

Rosalie had shaken her head at first, but had suddenly remembered that Patrick sometimes used such a map on his mobile when driving, a routing thing, she didn't remember the name exactly.

"Do you mean a route planner?" had asked Ineke.

"Yes, that's it, a route planner!"

"We can also look it up on your laptop. May I have a moment?"

Rosalie slid her laptop to Ineke, who looked up the Google Maps page.

"Look, this is one of those route planners. Just type in our hometown here..."

Then Ineke had mentioned her address and after Rosalie had typed everything in, she had clicked Enter. She had immediately understood that the little red ball with its dot indicated Ineke and Ilse's house.

"That's where you live, but I don't understand it at all. I can see all the streets, but... oh look, there's the library!"

Ineke had pointed out the icon that would make her see everything much more real, no longer as a drawn map, but as a photographed map.

Rosalie had been enthusiastic. "I see, that really is the library! There's the front door!"

With her index finger she had searched, and found Pension Bloemenhof.

"That's where Gloria lives, in that house over there! How funny, I see her house on the computer!"

She had searched further, discovered her own house, and had been momentarily surprised because the discovery centre was not on it.

"Is this an old photo?" she had asked.

"A bit old, I think. The discovery centre is only just there hey. But can you figure out how to walk to my house now?"

Rosalie had pointed out with her finger how she always went to the library herself and had suddenly asked, "They don't have holidays, do they?"

"No way, they're open throughout the holidays, just a bit fewer hours each day. We can look that up later. Look for my house first."

"Yes, I know where your house is, here by that little red dot. If I walk this way, from the library, this way, I'll get to the shops in the centre, the thrift shop. Yes, here, here is the thrift store, and there that little shop of Huib's. And you live in that street of Huib's shop? Then it's very easy, I'll walk past the library to Huib's little shop and then a little bit further until number 25. It's not difficult, I can do that!"

"I think so too, but I'd like you to talk to Patrick and Bea about it first."

"I'll get Bea, then I can ask straight away. Oh, here comes Patrick. Patrick, can I type at Ineke's house during the holidays too? We checked on the route planner how to walk, very easy, past the library and Huib's shop, and then to number 25. Can I do that myself?"

"For me it's fine if she comes once in a while, we just want to make sure that Bea and you are okay with it too." Ineke had said.

Patrick had looked at Rosalie, with a bit of a mischievous, goofy face.

"This lady does get very independent! I think, for the first time, we should arrange it so that I walk a bit behind you. Then you can do it all by yourself, but I'll be around if you do start to hesitate. And when you come back home, I'd like you to give us a call so we know what time you can be home."

Rosalie had been all happy, had jumped on her father's neck and given him a couple of big slap kisses.

"Maybe the holidays will be fun after all!"

.

And now the holidays have been going on for two weeks. Rosalie typed at home, walked herself to Ineke by herself with her laptop in a bag, typed whole stories there and walked back by herself. And of course she went to Gloria every day!

Today, while typing at Ineke's place, it suddenly occurred to her that she could also go straight to Gloria from Ineke's house. Her first long story was finished, and she wanted to read her story to Gloria.

"That's a nice idea!" thought Ineke, "but wouldn't Gloria start pressing the keys with her little fingers?"

"I don't think so, she's a dreamer. And if she does, I'll keep the laptop a bit further away from her."

"Just call Patrick and Bea to tell them your plan, just ask if they're OK with it."

Rosalie took Ineke's mobile and looked for Bea's number. She waited a moment...

"Hi Bea, it's Rosalie. My story is ready. Can I go from here to Gloria to read my story to her?"

"What a nice idea! Go ahead and do that. What do you think, should Ineke then send a message to Margreet?"

"So she knows I'm coming? And so she knows something is up if it takes too long?"

"Yes, I was thinking about that," Bea said.

"Is good, I'll ask Ineke. The moment I leave here huh? All right mum, I will! See you later!"

"Bye girl, I love you!"

A wide smile appeared on Rosalia's face: "I love you too, and Daddy! Bye!"

Ineke smiled as Rosalie handed her back her mobile phone. "Did I understand correctly that I need to send a message to Margreet as soon as you go out?"

"Yes, then she'll know what time I can be at their place."

"Good idea! I'll do that."

Rosalie stood up to fill her glass with water.

"Can I have another cheese sandwich? I'm a bit hungry."

"Yes, that doesn't surprise me, that you're starting to get a bit hungry. You had hardly eaten anything at twelve because you were so busy with your story."

"Yes, crazy hey, but my story was almost done too! I just wanted to move on, you understand?"

"Oh yes, I understand that very well! So how many pages did it turn out to be?"

"More than fifty."

Meanwhile, Rosalie was spreading her sandwich in Ineke and Ilse's kitchen. While she was busy cutting off a few slices of cheese, Ilse entered the kitchen.

"Hey Rosa! Are you going to have lunch only now?" asked Ilse.

"Yes, I was too busy, I had to finish my story, it was almost ready."

"I understand, that's why you didn't have time in between to eat properly, I get that. And now, is it finished now?"

"Completely finished! I'm so happy with it!"

Ilse smiled at her, "You're a topper, a real writer! Have a nice meal, I'm going back to work."

Ilse winked at Ineke and walked to her bedroom which was simultaneously her office. Meanwhile, Rosalie brought her plate and glass of water into the room. She put the glass on the coffee table and plopped down on the sofa with her plate.

"Pfff, I feel empty, tired and drained! Like I typed out everything I had in me!"

"Are you going to take a day off tomorrow to recharge your batteries?"

"Maybe so..."

.

Half an hour later, Rosalie walked into Margreet's house through the scullery. She took her laptop out of her bag and went to the living room. Gloria was sitting there in the playpen. She looked up, recognised Rosalie and pulled herself up on the bars, shouting "Osa!" enthusiastically.

Margreet came into the room and laughed. "That sweet rascal does everything differently. She doesn't start with papa and mama, but with Osa! And me she calls Eet, and her father Uip. That's so funny, like a fish mouth when she says Uip a few times in a row. Shall I take her out?"

"Can we sit in the cushion corner? Then I will read to her, because my first long story is done!"

"Fine, can I listen in?"

"Yes, will you, Margreet?"

"Of course, I'm so curious about your first long story!"

"Nice! It's about a squirrel, Squirry."

"Cool, that fits him perfectly!"

"Her, it's a female..."

"Oh yes, that' s possible too, of course. Does she also find a male to match her?"

"No, it's a bit special, she finds another female. She's very happy with her, with Kee, but they both regret that they can't have offspring. And then they go and help other animals together, they can do that very well."

"Sit down there, I'll put Gloria comfortably with you, and I'll sit on the sofa."

Margreet had made a cosy corner out of old sofa cushions. Rosalie loved sitting there with Gloria. Margreet did always stay nearby, but by now she realised that was hardly necessary. Rosalie was so good to Gloria, gentle, sweet, and delightfully stubborn as if she were her big sister.

There they sat together. Gloria looked up at Rosalie, seemed to be expecting something. Rosalie opened her laptop and opened her story. She started reading...

Margreet marvelled at the amazing writing style. Rosa had been so able to empathise with a squirrel female who meets not a male but a female as a partner. She watched, seeing Rosalie struggling to continue reading, struggling to stay awake. Rosalie closed her laptop and put it on the sofa. She pulled Gloria, who was still following her wide-eyed, slightly against her and leaned against the cushions behind her back. Her eyes closed, she fell asleep. And it didn't take long, or Gloria was sleeping against her...

To chapter 61. A new discoverer

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