The Wind Machine
Actually, as far as Heinrich was concerned, nothing had really changed. At least not yet. Their parents had simply gotten too old to let Max sleep on the couch for months at a time and so he had found the easiest way out. Norway was basically paying anyone willing to work out on the North Sea to come and spend six months out there. The payoff was a huge chunk of cash and six months off. So, thought Heinrich, it was the same old story. Max was just being lazy.
But something did change when Max got there. Heinrich has only gotten messages and letters, but it seems that despite the picturesque little town--Max's neighborhood is called Paradis--Max was immediately taken out to the wind machine and spent only a single night in the little wooden house the company had rented for him. Then, when Max's six months were up and he was meant to come back to that little house, perhaps send some time on the beaches of Thailand, and possibly even come home for a visit, Heinrich got a letter saying that he had signed up for another six months directly. All the message said was this:
The machine is incredible. I am staying on. In three years, if I don't leave, I have a chance of getting a permanent credential in design. This means I could start my own company, build my own wind machine. I thought it was just a big wind farm out on the water. That seems laughably simple to me now. You wouldn't believe what we can do. I can't tell you everything, but soon we will be able to-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The machine is incredible. I am staying on. In three years, if I don't leave, I have a chance of getting a permanent credential in design. This means I could start my own company, build my own wind machine. I thought it was just a big wind farm out on the water. That seems laughably simple to me now. You wouldn't believe what we can do. I can't tell you everything, but soon we will be able to-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The rest of the message was struck out. Three years went by and no one heard anything from Max. Heinrich wrote and called but got nothing. Every few months an envelope of cash came from the company for five thousand Norwegian Kroners. Max called and wrote about this but also got nothing except recorded messages stating that payment was up to date on the account. What was even stranger was that the company was MENTRA, the place he had just started working.