What happened to Mr. Rainer? (an original story inspired by the “Noticed: Saaremaal” Facebook group)

Mr. Rainer was the best car mechanic in Saaremaa and lived a peaceful life in harmony with nature and his neighbors. He was a local celebrity for his golden hands and unwavering work ethic.

One stormy autumn evening, Mr. Rainer was again alone in the workshop tinkering with an old scrap. The problem, which had been passed down from generation to generation, had been bothering Rainer for several weeks, and somehow he couldn’t get the car to start. However, the customer was persistent, because the car was a rarity in the family and it is said that he actually had one "hing" inside. Mr. Rainer, of course, did not believe this nonsense and simply considered the car a hopeless case.

On that fateful autumn evening, our mechanic was tightening a stubborn bolt when there was a blinding flash of light and suddenly something supernatural was in the air. Suddenly, Mr. Rainer’s skilled hands became clumsy, and no tool wanted to obey him anymore.

In the following days, our mechanic couldn’t handle even the simplest jobs, and the former handyman didn’t even stink anymore. It took a few weeks and six hopelessly damaged cars when Mr. Rainer was let go.

Confused and with a broken heart, the ex-mechanic went to the city in search of answers and found himself at Kodulinna Lokal. After countless drinks, which still did not fill the humming void in the man, he was pinched by hunger and decided to satisfy his despair with a Döner kebab. It was already 4 o’clock, but Mr. Rainer still couldn’t find peace and limped to the unemployment office with his head grunting, not even knowing what he was looking for there.

The ex-mechanic sat down exhausted on the curb, placed the phone next to him and drifted off into a depressing night’s sleep. The morning arrived unnoticed, but to the narrator’s surprise, Mr. Rainer had disappeared.

Since then, no one has seen him again, but the people of Kuressaare know how to tell that his golden hands were too powerful for earthly life, and higher forces decided to send him to the car heaven to solve more complex issues.