Forest

Amelie seized the opportunity and told him in detail about her encounter with the stranger. Niels facial expressions changed from reproachful, over disturbed, to skeptical.

"And what do you think?"

Niels raised his floured left finger to his temple and let it circling in the air.

Amelie pouted.

“I know it sounds totally crazy, but it really was like that. Just really scary. "

She shrugged her shoulders and shook herself as if to drive away the memories.

“I even dreamed of him. Not a nice dream, mind you. "

Niels let out a kind of sigh and shook his head.

“Actually, I don't even know why I'm so concerned with it. But I just can't turn it off. "

Amelie brought the next tray to the ovens and pulled out two finished ones.

“But what really irritated me - and that actually confuses me the most - is not even that he obviously killed a cat, but the way he stared at me. As if he couldn't believe that I spoke to him. "  

Niels knitted his eyebrows and gave her a skeptical look.

"Yes, honestly. Maybe he's a lonely Satanist who has taken up residence in the church, carries out animal sacrifices and simply hasn't talked to anyone for a while, "Amelie speculated, which elicited a soundless giggle from Niels.

“I think I'll pass the church again quite by chance on the way home ... Although he probably only comes out at night when there is really nothing going on on the streets and he is not seen. In any case, his pale complexion doesn’t suggest that he’s getting a lot of sunlight, ”she mused on.

Niels put a hand on her arm and shook his head with a pleading expression on his face.

"Do not worry. I'm just darting by quickly. Nothing will happen. I'm careful, I promise. "

With a reassuring smile, she put her hand briefly on his before they continued with their work. The subject was over for the time being anyway, as Herr Otte had also returned to the bakery and Amelie found it uncomfortable to talk about the stranger in his presence.

In the early morning, Amelie finished her shift after two additional hours in sales and got on her bike. A tense tingling sensation in her stomach accompanied her on her detour towards the church. After a ten-minute ride, she leaned her bike against the old wall and looked around. In the cemetery, a handful of old people paid the deceased a visit and / or tended their graves. 

Amelie steered purposefully towards the place on the hedge where she had met the stranger yesterday. She ran around the bushes onto the piece of grass and looked around. But what was she looking for? After footprints? After blood residue? Probably just for proof that she hadn't just fantasized about meeting him. Step by step she moved on the grass along the hedge, but there was nothing to suggest that anyone had been there. Let alone that a severely bleeding animal had died here a few hours ago. She could only make out her own footprints through the flattened grass.

Unsatisfied, she walked around the church and even looked inside. But even there there was no sign that he had been here, or perhaps even stayed here more often. Whatever these possible signs were.

A veil of disappointment fell over her. She didn't know what she had hoped for by a possible reunion, but it still bothered her that he seemed to have been swallowed up by the earth.

As she cycled home in a disgruntled state, she resolved to get the stranger out of her mind for good.

After Amelie had had breakfast with Denise, she crawled into her bed again and tried to sleep. It felt like she had just closed her eyes when the doorbell rang. Since Denise had just left for work, she had no choice but to answer the door herself. She could have safely ignored the ringing, of course, but if Denise had forgotten her key and she didn't open it, all hell would be going on.

She blinked in surprise when Sven and his dimples gave her a friendly smile.

"Oh dear, did I get you out of bed?"

Amelie looked down at her pajamas and smiled back sheepishly.

“Yes, but that doesn't matter. What's up?"

"Well, you said yesterday if I needed help ..."

"What should I do?"

“To be honest, I'm a little embarrassed. I think it wasn't such a good idea after all. "

Sven half turned to go, but Amelie got hold of the hem of his shirt.

“I'm awake now anyway. So tell me. "

"You don't happen to ... cook?"

Amelie grinned.

Less than five minutes later she found herself in Sven's kitchen and helped him prepare various salads, meatballs and skewers.

“Every newcomer has to go really big for his debut. And I guess I underestimated that a little bit, ”Sven admitted, embarrassed.

He would start his new job at the local travel agency at the beginning of next week and make himself popular with his new colleagues in advance in time for the weekend. At least that was the plan in theory.

“I really should have hired a catering service better. Sorry, Amelie, really. "

"Iwo," waved Amelie off, "I like to cook when I have enough time."

Sven showed a surprising amount of interest in her handles and seasoning mixes, or else was damn good at making the same believable.

“You really are a piece of gold! I don't know what I would have done without you. "

Sven gratefully pulled her into his arms and pressed a kiss on her cheek. A little taken by surprise, she stiffened briefly in his embrace. And again she felt his body heat pass too clearly through her clothes.

"If there is any way I can return the favor, please let me know, okay?"

He caressed her upper arms and looked her in the eye waiting until Amelie nodded with a smile.

She helped him load the food into his car and decided without further ado to use the friendly weather for a long walk with Idefix.

On the way to the park, of course, she passed the church again. She squinted across the forecourt as she walked, but couldn't see anything unusual. Of course not. Amelie found a suitable stick for Idefix in the forest by the Wasserburg and kept having it fetched. She enjoyed the clear forest air, the scent of leaves, bark and resin. Autumn was without a doubt her favorite season. Somehow she liked the melancholy undertone of the mostly dreary and uncomfortable November days. As long as you kept moving, the damp cold usually couldn't harm you. Perhaps, therefore, she should have been surprised that a sudden significant drop in temperature seemed to be taking place around her. Her expelled breath suddenly appeared clearly visible in front of her face.