Christine Harecker

 

Click here for YouTube   Christine Harecker - Tales From Her Viennese Childhood 

Christine Harecker grew up in Vienna and her summers were spent with her aunty and uncle. They had a small wooden house. And, this small wooden house, with its very small garden, was surrounded by many other small houses and gardens. It was the 60s and 70s. Summers were fun and summers were long.

And, Christine had many good summer time friends. There were many other children to play with, and everyone's home was everyone else's as well. Fun every day. Fun from morning till night. But, it's a monkey Christine remembers the most.

Just a few houses away stayed a young couple and they had a pet monkey. And, this little monkey named Rico was free. He used to run from garden to garden and everyone loved him. Rico was never too much. He was everyone's friend. But then, something changed.

Rico discovered the taste of good flowers and gave up having time for his friends. Rico started jumping from flower to flower; eating each one as he went. Rico was no longer welcome. People were angry. Something had to be done.

Rico was locked in his cage. He became very unhappy. He was missing his freedom. Rico was sad. His owners had an idea. A glass of wine at the end of each day. Ricoo tasted wine for the very first time. He was happy, but not for too long. Rico started wanting more than one glass. One glass of wine had stopped being enough. And, when he didn't get what he wanted, Rico became very aggressive. His screaming was terrible. It was bad. It was heard all around. This once happy monkey was now alcoholic in a very bad way and everyone knew it.

The next summer, Christine came back again. Her aunty and uncle and her summer time friends were waiting for her. Rico was gone. He had gone far away and was happy. Maybe heaven? But, one thing was clear. Rico had not gone to hell. Hell had come out of a bottle. An idea to cheer Rico up. But, sadly, an idea that had killed him.

The years moved on and Christine moved on as well. But, her summer time fun is still there where it was in a time that has gone. And, Rico the monkey was part of this time. He made people happy but sadly loved flowers. The flowers came back.  Rico stayed gone. Rico was never forgotten.

Christine Harecker – Tales from Her Viennese Childhood.