Chapter One: A Loss Worth Seeking
Our story takes place up in Northern Germany, a quite normal, modern place today. But hundreds of years ago in this undeveloped land there was a large open prairie of flowing grasses. It had always been a perfectly peaceful prairie covered in long fresh grass that was actually getting drier and drier by the season. By the middle of summer time, the prairie was completely yellowed and impoverished.
However, no matter how dry this parched field got, it would always remain inhabited by its only real citizens - Rats. Obviously these rats could hardly survive in such a desolate valley, so their appearance was very thin and scarred from fighting with other rats purely out of boredom. Each rat looked exactly the same, besides their varieties of different old injuries from being involved in so many conflicts. They were all light gray in color, most with short and balding fur. Their ribs clearly poked out of their thin tissues of skin, and many had overgrown teeth from lack of food. Although they rarely ate, that didn't keep them from reproducing.
Many miles away stood a tiny schoolhouse in the middle of an equally tiny village. A class of only eight children lived and attended there. These eight children were brought up without any parents, and were schooled and tended to by the only adult around, Ms. Weigand. The children ranged between ages five and ten, but Ms. Weigand was actually sixteen years old. Two of these children were named Holger and Timo. These two boys were quite opposite from each other in many ways. Holger was very large and bossy, the teacher's pet, and always outdid the competition in any event that took place at the schoolhouse. He had orange hair in a bowl cut, blue eyes, and many freckles.
Timo, however, was very short and scrawny. He was a pushover and never seemed to want to participate in any activities. He was never envious of Holger, however. He always seemed to be off in his own mind and secretly admired the only girl who attended the schoolhouse, Ute. She was nine years old with long, straight blond hair down to her waist with brilliantly blue eyes and an infectious smile.
Timo and Holger were the only ten-year-old children in the schoolhouse, so they were the oldest. Holger always sat in the front of the room close to Ms. Weigand, because he was the teacher's pet. Timo, however, sat in the very back corner of the room, as far away from everybody else as possible. Nobody really liked Timo because of his strange way of dressing. The other school children called him a warlock. Since none of these children had parents anymore, no one was able to tell if Timo had a witch for a mother or not.
Three years later, Ms. Weigand was nineteen years of age, Timo and Holger were thirteen, and the beautiful Ute was twelve. Ms. Weigand, who once had the longest brown and curly hair imaginable, had cut it down to shoulder length. Timo had gotten quite a bit taller, and was now catching up to Holger's average height. Holger's freckles were finally beginning to fade from being in the sun every day possible. Ute's once white-blond hair was now a light brown.
This was also Timo and Holger's age of maturity, and they began to feel real attraction towards Ute and even Ms. Weigand, the only two women they had ever laid eyes upon. Sometimes after school, Holger would take a walk with Ute through the forest, where they both eventually had their first kisses and the athletic Holger began to demand more.
One day, however, Ms. Weigand seduced Holger after school in the schoolhouse, and with that, Holger completely lost interest in the young and undeveloped Ute. She was experiencing her first heartbreak, and she didn't like it. She didn't even completely get over Holger for another six months, even though he was an abusive bully. But a year later, when Ute was thirteen and Holger and Timo were fourteen, Ute began taking a real interest in boys. Surprisingly, she ended up falling for none other than Timo. She admired the way he always dressed in black, and she found his long black hair beautiful. In her opinion, the fact that his appearance was mysterious was very attractive and it made her wonder more and more each day.
Eventually she did find the courage to start talking to him and doing her best to flirt. In time, her long awaited efforts finally paid off, and Timo did respond with his own style of flirting. He wrote her cryptic poetry, which was very different from what Ute was used to from the simple-minded and straightforward Holger, but she appreciated it nonetheless. They began hanging out after school as well, just as she had done with Holger only a year earlier. This, however, felt like a completely new experience to her because they would usually just take long walks along a cobblestone path and talk about how they felt. Nobody would have guessed they were together because they showed no signs of liking each other during school hours. Deep down, Ute was afraid that if she were caught with Timo, she would be punished and made fun of by her peers as well.
After a while, the relationship between Holger and Ms. Weigand became sickeningly obvious and equally unbearable to everyone attending class. It was getting in the way of the usual teaching and learning methods they were so used to; you could always get a sense of bad karma in the room. Ute and Timo agreed they just couldn't stand for it any longer. About a year after they started being secretly together, the two of them decided to skip school, just for a day to get away from the awkward vibes of the schoolhouse. Their intentions were entirely innocent. Together they traveled along their familiar cobblestone path for hours and hours, gradually stretching into a full day. Just as the sun was setting, they reached a pleasant destination.
It was a field, the same dried up prairie mentioned earlier, although the rats weren't out in the open because it was nearing dark and they were buried in holes underground that went unnoticed. This was where Ute and Timo finally shared their first lip-to-lip kiss after a full year of patience, and they both felt a strong sensation within.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Ute's eyes glowed with happiness. She turned sideways and reached into the back pocket of her new black dress, pulling out something very shiny and beautiful. "This is for you, Timo. To show how much I care for you, and as a promise that I'll always be there for you."
She handed it over and Timo observed it, rather confused. He shook it a bit and Ute giggled. "It's an ocarina, silly! You play it like an instrument by blowing into the tube there, and the music comes from the little holes. You can make tunes by covering the holes with your fingers, see?"
Without saying a word, Timo tried it out. Immediately he played a soothing tune. His eyes grew wide with amazement. In a few hours, he had learned an entire song he made up by himself, one dedicated to Ute. By the end of the song, she had fallen asleep on the stale grass, and he did the same. They held each other close that night, although it was a warm one.
When Timo woke up the next morning, the golden ocarina still in the palm of his pale hand, Ute was gone. He sat up and looked around in a quick panic, then stood on his feet and called out to her, but she was nowhere to be found. He spent hours that morning foraging through the tall grass in hopes he'd find her wandering around innocently in search of him as well, but he didn't even catch sight of her.
He took out the golden ocarina and began to play it with his eyes shut, in the desperate hope that the song would summon her. He titled the song "Ute's Tune" in his mind. He could hear faint rustling as he played, but he was too engrossed in the tune to open his eyes just yet. Soon, though, he did open them after the song ended, only to be so shocked he recoiled in fright. There must have been hundreds upon hundreds of ugly rats surrounding him! He gasped as he looked back at them in fear. They were all staring at him awkwardly, as if in hope that he had food on him they could eat.
"What do you want from me?" he daringly spoke to the rats. "I don't have any food. You can't have this ocarina, either! It was given to me by someone who means a lot to me."
His face went white as the rats began to look at each other, as if thinking together, communicating. Their crooked whiskers twitched and their round ears perked up. Timo had never seen so many rats before in his life, rarely even one, and to see them all acting this way simultaneously was something miraculous and unheard of.
"Her name is Ute," Timo continued, feeling slightly less afraid. "She was here in this same spot last night and I need to find her. Can you help me find her? Please help me..."
But the rats offered no help, and hours of frustration and searching alone turned into days. The rats refused to acknowledge Timo unless he was playing his ocarina. These endless days slowly formed into weeks, and after that, months. Timo had lost track of time. He had gotten thinner than the rats and he was covered in nasty scratch marks from the tall grass. Time seemed meaningless to him now, and after a year of eating only grass and rats, Timo finally realized it was probably time he headed back to where he used to live, although he knew no one would miss him and he probably wouldn't find Ute there. Nonetheless, he made his way out of the field and onto the cobblestone street.
Along the way, he played "Ute's Tune" on the ocarina, even though he knew many, many different tunes now. He had become an expert ocarina player, although he hadn't realized it. As he played the ocarina, the rats followed him. By now there were over two million rats, all starved to near death, but they all followed Timo eagerly at the harmonious sound of the ocarina.
Our story takes place up in Northern Germany, a quite normal, modern place today. But hundreds of years ago in this undeveloped land there was a large open prairie of flowing grasses. It had always been a perfectly peaceful prairie covered in long fresh grass that was actually getting drier and drier by the season. By the middle of summer time, the prairie was completely yellowed and impoverished.
However, no matter how dry this parched field got, it would always remain inhabited by its only real citizens - Rats. Obviously these rats could hardly survive in such a desolate valley, so their appearance was very thin and scarred from fighting with other rats purely out of boredom. Each rat looked exactly the same, besides their varieties of different old injuries from being involved in so many conflicts. They were all light gray in color, most with short and balding fur. Their ribs clearly poked out of their thin tissues of skin, and many had overgrown teeth from lack of food. Although they rarely ate, that didn't keep them from reproducing.
Many miles away stood a tiny schoolhouse in the middle of an equally tiny village. A class of only eight children lived and attended there. These eight children were brought up without any parents, and were schooled and tended to by the only adult around, Ms. Weigand. The children ranged between ages five and ten, but Ms. Weigand was actually sixteen years old. Two of these children were named Holger and Timo. These two boys were quite opposite from each other in many ways. Holger was very large and bossy, the teacher's pet, and always outdid the competition in any event that took place at the schoolhouse. He had orange hair in a bowl cut, blue eyes, and many freckles.
Timo, however, was very short and scrawny. He was a pushover and never seemed to want to participate in any activities. He was never envious of Holger, however. He always seemed to be off in his own mind and secretly admired the only girl who attended the schoolhouse, Ute. She was nine years old with long, straight blond hair down to her waist with brilliantly blue eyes and an infectious smile.
Timo and Holger were the only ten-year-old children in the schoolhouse, so they were the oldest. Holger always sat in the front of the room close to Ms. Weigand, because he was the teacher's pet. Timo, however, sat in the very back corner of the room, as far away from everybody else as possible. Nobody really liked Timo because of his strange way of dressing. The other school children called him a warlock. Since none of these children had parents anymore, no one was able to tell if Timo had a witch for a mother or not.
Three years later, Ms. Weigand was nineteen years of age, Timo and Holger were thirteen, and the beautiful Ute was twelve. Ms. Weigand, who once had the longest brown and curly hair imaginable, had cut it down to shoulder length. Timo had gotten quite a bit taller, and was now catching up to Holger's average height. Holger's freckles were finally beginning to fade from being in the sun every day possible. Ute's once white-blond hair was now a light brown.
This was also Timo and Holger's age of maturity, and they began to feel real attraction towards Ute and even Ms. Weigand, the only two women they had ever laid eyes upon. Sometimes after school, Holger would take a walk with Ute through the forest, where they both eventually had their first kisses and the athletic Holger began to demand more.
One day, however, Ms. Weigand seduced Holger after school in the schoolhouse, and with that, Holger completely lost interest in the young and undeveloped Ute. She was experiencing her first heartbreak, and she didn't like it. She didn't even completely get over Holger for another six months, even though he was an abusive bully. But a year later, when Ute was thirteen and Holger and Timo were fourteen, Ute began taking a real interest in boys. Surprisingly, she ended up falling for none other than Timo. She admired the way he always dressed in black, and she found his long black hair beautiful. In her opinion, the fact that his appearance was mysterious was very attractive and it made her wonder more and more each day.
Eventually she did find the courage to start talking to him and doing her best to flirt. In time, her long awaited efforts finally paid off, and Timo did respond with his own style of flirting. He wrote her cryptic poetry, which was very different from what Ute was used to from the simple-minded and straightforward Holger, but she appreciated it nonetheless. They began hanging out after school as well, just as she had done with Holger only a year earlier. This, however, felt like a completely new experience to her because they would usually just take long walks along a cobblestone path and talk about how they felt. Nobody would have guessed they were together because they showed no signs of liking each other during school hours. Deep down, Ute was afraid that if she were caught with Timo, she would be punished and made fun of by her peers as well.
After a while, the relationship between Holger and Ms. Weigand became sickeningly obvious and equally unbearable to everyone attending class. It was getting in the way of the usual teaching and learning methods they were so used to; you could always get a sense of bad karma in the room. Ute and Timo agreed they just couldn't stand for it any longer. About a year after they started being secretly together, the two of them decided to skip school, just for a day to get away from the awkward vibes of the schoolhouse. Their intentions were entirely innocent. Together they traveled along their familiar cobblestone path for hours and hours, gradually stretching into a full day. Just as the sun was setting, they reached a pleasant destination.
It was a field, the same dried up prairie mentioned earlier, although the rats weren't out in the open because it was nearing dark and they were buried in holes underground that went unnoticed. This was where Ute and Timo finally shared their first lip-to-lip kiss after a full year of patience, and they both felt a strong sensation within.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Ute's eyes glowed with happiness. She turned sideways and reached into the back pocket of her new black dress, pulling out something very shiny and beautiful. "This is for you, Timo. To show how much I care for you, and as a promise that I'll always be there for you."
She handed it over and Timo observed it, rather confused. He shook it a bit and Ute giggled. "It's an ocarina, silly! You play it like an instrument by blowing into the tube there, and the music comes from the little holes. You can make tunes by covering the holes with your fingers, see?"
Without saying a word, Timo tried it out. Immediately he played a soothing tune. His eyes grew wide with amazement. In a few hours, he had learned an entire song he made up by himself, one dedicated to Ute. By the end of the song, she had fallen asleep on the stale grass, and he did the same. They held each other close that night, although it was a warm one.
When Timo woke up the next morning, the golden ocarina still in the palm of his pale hand, Ute was gone. He sat up and looked around in a quick panic, then stood on his feet and called out to her, but she was nowhere to be found. He spent hours that morning foraging through the tall grass in hopes he'd find her wandering around innocently in search of him as well, but he didn't even catch sight of her.
He took out the golden ocarina and began to play it with his eyes shut, in the desperate hope that the song would summon her. He titled the song "Ute's Tune" in his mind. He could hear faint rustling as he played, but he was too engrossed in the tune to open his eyes just yet. Soon, though, he did open them after the song ended, only to be so shocked he recoiled in fright. There must have been hundreds upon hundreds of ugly rats surrounding him! He gasped as he looked back at them in fear. They were all staring at him awkwardly, as if in hope that he had food on him they could eat.
"What do you want from me?" he daringly spoke to the rats. "I don't have any food. You can't have this ocarina, either! It was given to me by someone who means a lot to me."
His face went white as the rats began to look at each other, as if thinking together, communicating. Their crooked whiskers twitched and their round ears perked up. Timo had never seen so many rats before in his life, rarely even one, and to see them all acting this way simultaneously was something miraculous and unheard of.
"Her name is Ute," Timo continued, feeling slightly less afraid. "She was here in this same spot last night and I need to find her. Can you help me find her? Please help me..."
But the rats offered no help, and hours of frustration and searching alone turned into days. The rats refused to acknowledge Timo unless he was playing his ocarina. These endless days slowly formed into weeks, and after that, months. Timo had lost track of time. He had gotten thinner than the rats and he was covered in nasty scratch marks from the tall grass. Time seemed meaningless to him now, and after a year of eating only grass and rats, Timo finally realized it was probably time he headed back to where he used to live, although he knew no one would miss him and he probably wouldn't find Ute there. Nonetheless, he made his way out of the field and onto the cobblestone street.
Along the way, he played "Ute's Tune" on the ocarina, even though he knew many, many different tunes now. He had become an expert ocarina player, although he hadn't realized it. As he played the ocarina, the rats followed him. By now there were over two million rats, all starved to near death, but they all followed Timo eagerly at the harmonious sound of the ocarina.