He had things to do in the city, so he left the apartment. When he got back, he was hungry and wanted to go into the kitchen.
When he went to turn the door handle, he heard a horrified, frightened hissing behind him. Had he forgotten that he shouldn’t go into the kitchen today, had he already forgotten Elvira so quickly?
But he just wanted to go in very quietly, carefully get himself something to eat, and then come right out again.
That’s not possible, no!
But very carefully, just for a moment!
No, no way, Elvira would be frightened to death, there was no telling what the long-term consequences would be, it was a good thing she had managed to stop him in time, had he still not grasped what was at stake here, a lot, everything, yes, everything, it was now a matter of life and death, no less. But presumably he didn’t have a clue about how to behave properly toward Elvira; to make sure it didn’t happen again, she would, yes, on his behalf, because he was always too distracted and forgot everything right away, really it was most alarming, she would. .
Then she turned the key in the lock on the kitchen door and pocketed it. In answer to his question, where or what he was supposed to eat, she replied that he should please go to the inn today and have a bite to eat there, and in answer to his invitation that she go with him, they hadn’t gone out together in such a long time, she said, no, not that, impossible, what was he thinking, she would stay here and keep watch to see if Elvira needed anything, so she could help her right away, bring her what was needed.
He didn’t understand why he wasn’t allowed in the kitchen, but she was, and asked if her entering the kitchen was less of a disturbance to the insect than his entering the kitchen?
Of course not, she replied, there was no way she was entering the kitchen, what was he thinking, how could he attribute the same thoughtlessness to her as he had just demonstrated, she found that really alienating, outrageous.
But then how would she notice, without going into the kitchen, if Elvira needed anything?
Oh, that showed he didn’t know her very well at all, once again she was seeing that he didn’t have a clue about her, that her inner life was a complete mystery to him, it was a matter of feeling, yes indeed, one had to feel, yes, she would simply feel it if or when Elvira needed something, she felt that sort of thing right away, which he probably didn’t believe, but he would soon see, he should leave it up to her, she knew what to do, when and how, no, to simply barge into the room as he had almost done, that would never even occur to her!
After he had had a meal, he came back.
He found her crouching outside the closed kitchen door, drilling several holes into the wood at eye-level, and when he stepped closer, he saw that she had already drilled numerous holes there, enough that she could see into every corner of the kitchen behind the closed door.
Why are you doing that? he asked.
So that I can watch Elvira all the time without bothering her, so that I can see Elvira without opening the door.
What kind of things was she seeing? he asked.
Soon Elvira will have eaten the entire piece of bread, she told him, and the butter too, she wolfed it all down pretty quickly, soon there won’t be any trace left, all she could see now were a few crumbs on the windowsill, no, nothing else, and soon not even those would be left, as she could see, which made her realize that they would have to take decisive action now so that their pet wouldn’t start worrying about where her next food was coming from. Yes indeed, could he please go down to the butcher and bring back two hundred grams of salami that wasn’t too expensive, but also not too cheap?
When he came back with the salami as requested, she snatched the package from him right away, opened it, took one slice of salami after another out of the greaseproof paper, and shoved it into the kitchen through the narrow crack between the locked kitchen door and the threshold, and she did so with such care that in spite of her wide arm movements she didn’t once accidentally hit or bump up against the lower edge of the door, no, she shoved one slice of salami after another very quietly through the crack in something like a rocking motion, deep into the room, and so skillfully.
When she had shoved in the last slice of salami, one could hear a very quietly approaching friendly humming behind the kitchen door, then a buzzing, as Elvira distrustfully inspected what had come in, but this soon gave way to a satisfied silence, from which they deduced that she had settled on the slices of salami.
Burgmüller’s girlfriend stayed in her crouched position outside the kitchen door, staring through the holes, but when he wanted to put his eye to one of the bored holes to see what she found increasingly captivating, what made her not want to miss the smallest detail, she pushed him away in alarm.
Please don’t, please not you yet, the reflection from your eyes, which would presumably mirror the light from the kitchen window, could make Elvira feel as if she’d been struck by lightning!
But what about your eyes, he replied, you think she can tolerate the lightning from your eyes?
She’s used to my eyes, his girlfriend replied, because I’ve been face to face with her for a while and can look in such a manner that the kitchen window would never be mirrored by the surface of my eyes.
She kept crouching outside the kitchen door until well into the evening, didn’t let herself be distracted from her observations, seemed to go almost rigid, and gave the appearance of a figure that had been sitting there forever and was in the process of shriveling away.
Burgmüller was tired, soon went to bed and fell asleep, without waiting for her as usual or looking forward to her arrival.
In the morning, he was surprised to wake up alone, without her lying beside him, and later found her sleeping outside the kitchen door.
He woke her up very carefully. She rose up in fright, and her very first question was: Where is Elvira?
She’s probably in the kitchen, where she was before, he answered, and asked if he could perhaps go in, to look for the housefly first, and second, to make a cup of coffee. He asked her to unlock the door.
No, she cried, frightened, and held both her hands protectively around the key, as if a dangerous burglar was standing across from her who would soon use force to gain entry, and as if, regardless, she had to be prepared to defend the last thing remaining to her. She only calmed down again when she was certain that he wouldn’t absolutely insist on having his way, then she looked through the holes in the kitchen door for a long time without saying a word. At last, she called out in a whisper, there, yes, Elvira is there, at last, good morning, I haven’t seen you in such a long time. .
So could he or she finally get around to making coffee in the kitchen. .
What was he thinking of, she answered, had he already forgotten Elvira again?
No, he replied, he hadn’t forgotten her, but since the creature had already been left in peace for almost an entire day, she would by now have had a chance to recover and to adjust to her new life in her new world.
No, she replied, by no means, on the contrary, it’s been too short a time, too little time has passed, not today by any means, for today at least she needs complete rest. .
And the coffee?
Coffee? she responded. He should get dressed and go down to the café, he could have breakfast there today, or why else had the café been built downstairs especially for him if he never went there on occasions such as this? And when he came back, if he could pretty please pick up the same salami from the butcher, two hundred grams again, it had been extraordinarily good yesterday, the salami, she said.
As he did the day before, he came back with the salami, gave it to her, and she opened the package right away and shoved all the slices of salami slowly, carefully, quietly through the crack under the door, whereupon they heard a friendly, excited humming again from the depths of the room they were not allowed to enter.