Cozumel

   Every year when I came to this island in the Caribbean I saw something changed. Not

that much. But I was jealous because it happened while I was away and it was one of few

places I always felt at home. This time a very high and pompous hotel greeted me. To 

tell the truth I was not ready for a handshake. Some uneasy feeling crawled inside of me.

At first it seemed even out of place - here one could find only few one storeyed hotels

scattered on the coast. And still this island was one of the best places in the world

where people - no doubt - would like to spend their holidays. If they had only known of

its existence...


   I went there and I liked everything. It was modern and beautiful. Maybe too expensive

for these parts. But Americans and Germans thought it was the right place to spend a

couple of days having a break on their round the world tour.


   Sitting inside near a waterfall in a huge hall I enjoyed both the cool air and Scotch

on the rocks. The talk with my new acquaintance was also nice. And all of a sudden he

asked me if I had noticed the shape of the elevators...  I did. Each resembled a coffin

but at first I thought it seemed only to me.


   Then a Tropicana salad arrived. A round piece of a watermelon with deep holes in which

various exotic fruit rested. A masterpiece you would call it and think twice before

starting, not willing to destroy the beauty. But my companion didn't hesitate...  and at

the same time the explanation came... I was not mistaken as to the shape. The guests

were going up and down in transparent...  coffins.


   During my absence there was a plane crash not far from the shore right at this place.

Nobody knows what caused it. It was a small private plane and only a pilot was in it. It

was a young girl - the owner. They say she was very beautiful...


   She turned out to be the only daughter of a well known American millionaire who pre-

ferred to conceal his name. Some people say she was an illigitimate child. He came very

fast and what he could not conceal was his grief. Out of despair he spent a great sum

of money on this hotel de lux which was built in no time. She so much wanted to rest

here...


   "Would you like to see the place?" - I was asked. - "Not very deep. Good diving. And

you can see the plane - it is still there."  ... "Tourists go there every day, there is 

a boat at the pier" - he continued. I said slowly "No" trying to be polite.....