The Nightly Visitor

When she heard the soft tapping from the other side of the old hidden gate, her heart skipped a beat. Excitedly, she pulled back the massive iron bolt to allow the visitor in. The bolt looked heavy and rusty, but she had taken great pains to oil it thoroughly some time ago so that it now slid easily and almost noiselessly to the side. The narrow door swung open and there he was: Angelo.

Sister Sabina held her breath as a shadowy figure stepped into the doorway, like a silhouette against the silver starlight that shrouded the world around the convent in a fairytale glow. But she would recognize his young, striking face even in complete darkness. His eyes, dark and deep like the night sky, immediately sought the nun's gaze and for a brief moment time seemed to stand still.

Angelo was tall and slender, with a strong, if still youthful, physique that had been sculpted by hard work in the fields. His clothes were simple, coarse linen trousers and a worn shirt that hung loosely unbuttoned across his chest despite the cool night air. A scarf of dark blue cotton was wrapped loosely around his neck, half to protect him from the cold, half to hide his face in case anyone saw him on the way to the monastery.

His long hair, dark and slightly disheveled, fell into his forehead, and he brushed it back nervously as he stepped into the garden. The smell of earth and fresh green still clung to him, a soothing aroma that reminded Sabina of the outside world she so rarely saw.

“Sister Sabina, how glad I am to meet you again,” he whispered, his voice low and a little raspy. “I made it without anyone seeing me.”

A slight tremor ran through Sabina's body. She was well aware that it wasn't just the secrecy that made her feel uncomfortable. She was struggling with her boiling emotions - excitement, fear and something else she couldn't quite put her finger on. She had been waiting for this moment for days, thinking through every step in advance, and yet now she felt unprepared as she looked into his eyes.

“Angelo,” she replied quietly. Her voice sounded shakier than she had hoped. “You came.”

“How could I not have come? From the moment I saw you for the first time, I knew we had so much to give each other.”

Sabina grinned as she thought back to their first encounter. Angelo was the new assistant to the vegetable farmer, who took the small surplus from the monastery garden and supplied fruit that didn't grow there. Despite his youth, Angelo had proved that he was not only able to work hard, but also had a clever head. So the farmer let him do the deliveries on his own. Sister Sabina, on the other hand, had the task of checking the quality of the goods and paying out any difference in value between the products delivered and those purchased. So one day they stood opposite each other at the gate where Angelo was unloading his cart.

Although they didn't know each other beforehand, there was immediately a strange, sizzling atmosphere between them. And instead of reprimanding him and forbidding his cheeky tone, Sabina had giggled immaturely as he cradled a magnificent specimen of cucumber in his hands and said: “That would certainly be something for you, sister. I imagine you like them hard and thick.”

He then handed her the long vegetable with the tip pointing forwards. At the same time, he fished a fig out of a basket and began to nibble and suck on it provocatively.

Since then, they had become more and more familiar with each other at each of his daily deliveries. To anyone overhearing, it would have sounded strange but innocuous if Angelo had offered Sabina the chance to plow her field, or if he had suggested showing her where she could find particularly large root vegetables and nuts.

She had hinted to him just as veiledly that she wanted to meet him here alone. Until the very end, she had been unsure whether he had understood her message correctly. And now he was here!