[Author's Notes: I actually do Author's Notes, I just never had a real
reason to up until now. To answer your question, Karli, Timo is not
insane, although I suppose anyone who hasn't been in his situation would
assume he acts sort of mad. I only used the word insane to describe his
laughter, but I see where you could have been thrown off.]
Chapter Four: Exploring The Exposed
No citizen of Hamelin had been awaiting for the sun to set besides Timo, who was asleep down in the sewers. Timo was lost in his own thoughts as he slept peacefully, his bony body resting against the stone wall of the sewer, rats hidden within the green waters, crevices of the walls, and high above on pipes that went without acknowledgement. No one would know, but Timo was twitching in his sleep, his thoughts overwhelming him to no end.
He was dreaming about none other than Ute. What did she look like now, if she was still alive, years older than he had last seen her? He imagined his next encounter with her, alone together. She was wearing the same black dress she had worn the last time he had seen her. She appeared more beautiful than he had ever seen her in his whole life, and she was approaching him tantalizingly. As she glided across the room to him, she gave him a kiss, but this was a much different kiss than he'd ever received. Their mouths opened, their tongues danced, their eyes shut softly. He felt her warm hand run softly from his cheek down his smooth neck and down his bare chest, further down his stomach and beyond...
"Ute...Wha...Ugh...Agh!" Timo jolted up, awaking quickly with wide eyes. He hastily cleaned up before the rats could get up; then got dressed. A light no longer glowed from the manhole's spot, telling him it was nighttime in the city of Hamelin. With a grin on his face, he walked eagerly to the slimy ladder. The rats peeped out of their holes and other places to watch him; he didn't need to make an announcement as to what he was going to do.
Before Timo even put his hands on the cold ladder in front of him, he took out some gel from his pocket given to him weeks ago by Michael. He ran in through his hair in a way so that it looked almost as if static electricity was causing it to stick out.
[Author's Notes: Try to picture Timo's hair looking like Robert Smith's hair, the lead singer of The Cure.]
Not letting another moment pass him by, Timo climbed eagerly up the tall, freezing ladder. His flesh touched the handles like tender children's hands on ice cubes, but he didn't stop for a split-second or have any doubts of climbing to the top. After about two minutes, the manhole was just inches above his head. He lifted it up off the street and slid it over to the side, and climbed out to the world around him.
The first thing he noticed as he entered the main part of the town was that it was surprisingly much warmer than the sewers, and a lot easier to breathe. The air was fresher and you could look up at the bright white stars above. He felt the soothing wind run through his messy hair, and he took in a deep breath. Although he did feel slightly uncomfortable on the inside because of his new surroundings, he physically felt extremely refreshed and relaxed. It made him wonder why he waited so long to leave the sewer, and he no longer questioned why the town was now so populated with people who traveled from all different places of Germany to stay here.
Although it was past midnight, there was plenty of light visible within the city, which came from the light posts, stars, and moon. Timo once used to admire the beauty of the moon and its stars, but now he saw them as inept lights in the sky that didn't represent anything spiritual. The moon and stars were the only thing he seemed to have left to admire for the year he spent searching for Ute at the field, and they had seemed to encourage him to search on for her, but they had failed him. His trust and faith in the dark sky's lights had faded to nothing.
With clenched fists, Timo continued walking, making his way to the nearest sidewalk so that he could observe the buildings built aside it. He noticed the buildings built along the sidewalk weren't houses, but more or less stores. Truly, he was fascinated at how developed the town of Hamelin had become over the years, compared to what it looked like when it was just a tiny village with a population of nine. But on the outside, Timo showed no signs of amazement, only signs of hatred. Hatred for the night sky's lights, hatred for the people of Hamelin, hatred for whatever took Ute away from him, hatred for fate and hope itself.
Turning a corner, he finally found a store he could recognize. It was one of the largest buildings he had come across, and it was labeled "Library of Hamelin". A sign on the main window was marked "Owned and Processed by Town Librarian, Johann". He recalled what Michael and said about Johann when Timo first entered the new town of Hamelin. He told Timo that Johann was very smart and could answer any question. Hell, Michael made it sound like Johann was some sort of helpful guide, and maybe he was, but only to the town of Hamelin itself.
"If only they had seen him from my point of view," Timo muttered softly aloud in his dark voice, speaking about Johann. As his fingertips pressed lightly against the letters imprinted on the window, Timo thought back to a time when he was young and attending the schoolhouse with Johann.
Sure, Johann was very smart, and never seen without his large nose buried in an old thick book with large vocabulary. He was always the first to answer Ms. Weigand's questions, his hand raising eagerly, as though if not answered, his life would crumble like ashes. Even though it was already known that Johann was the smartest in the entire class, he had to always be testing and challenging everyone else's learning abilities, just to make himself feel better. He also had a crush on Ute, although he was about two years younger than her. He always tried to flirt with her by listing off some boring facts from a random book, but Ute would come off as uninterested in every time.
Timo recalled a specific day that made his hatred for Johann become must stronger. He and Ute hadn't even begun to go out when it happened, but they had been flirting for weeks. Before actual class time, when the students were in the room but Ms. Weigand wasn't, Johann was sitting in the front row reading what appeared to be an old musty dictionary. Everything seemed pretty ordinary in all cases. Timo was having a light conversation with Ute near the front of the classroom by the door, when suddenly, Johann shut the book loudly and caught a few people's attention.
Some students looked at the clock, thinking Johann closed his book because class was about to start, but they still had about 20 minutes. That's when the small 12-year-old Johann made his way toward Ute, even though she was in mid-conversation with Timo. Johann pretended not to notice Timo as he glided right between him and Ute. Ute stopped talking and looked confusingly at Johann.
"Eh, can I help you?" Ute asked politely. She was wearing a baby pink frill dress and her hair was in wide light brown curls."
"You know," Johann announced loudly, straightening his glasses. "I've been studying from a few versions of multiple encyclopedias, and you do realize that your friend Timo here is a warlock, right?"
The whole room went silent. Everyone was expecting Ute to ask for further information or at least get a shocked or embarrassed look on her face, but instead she crossed her arms and gave Johann a dirty look, something never expected to come from the dear Ute. "That was rude of you, Johann. How would you like it if I said you resembled a know-it-all, stuck-up, stubborn little boy who hasn't even gained a spurt of growth yet?"
Johann's eyes were wide with shock, and everyone else in the room was speechless. Timo gave Ute a shocked look as well, but he was thankful and surprised she was actually standing up for him. Still, he hadn't expected her to get up in Johann's face about it. Some people in the back of the room snickered at Ute's shocking yet hilariously rude comment about Johann.
"It's true, though, Ute," Johann continued, trying his best to ignore what was just said about himself. "He dresses in black and remains anti-social to the rest of us. Just look at how pale his skin is, even though he's been outside just as often as we have! And the distinct darkness of his hair and eyes. It's clearly not human. You know warlocks are much more rare than witches, right? They're said to be much more powerful than witches; he's dangerous!"
At this point, all the other students gathered around closely to where Johann, Ute, and Timo were standing to listen in and get some more information. Ute, however, was even more appalled than she had appeared to be when she first spoke back to Johann; now she was furious.
"Are you trying to tell us that Timo isn't a human being?" Ute screeched, causing a few people to back up a few steps in shock. No one had ever seen her so angry before. "Just because he doesn't dress exactly like the rest of us and his physical characteristics are unique, you think that he should be treated like a whole different species? Or are you just using this as a pathetic excuse to convince me to stop talking to him? Look at me when I'm talking to you! If one of us in this schoolhouse is queer, surely it must be you and not Timo, Johann."
Johann looked as though he was about to fill up with tears. "Ute, this isn't an excuse, I'm only concerned about you! I'm not trying to make fun of Timo or anything; I'm just saying that he resembles that of a warlock! For all we know, he couldselep a wand up his sleeve. If you make warlocks angry, they'll easily cast a spell on you before you can blink an eye."
A few people laughed at Johann's comment, and at this point, Timo had snuck out of the room. When Ute turned around, indignant with fury and anger, she realized Timo had run out the door and went out to chase him down. No way was she about to let Johann's inept theories emotionally scar Timo.
Johann forcefully grabbed Ute's hand before she could run out the door, a tear gliding down his long cheek. "Ute, don't chase after him, don't you see? That's what he wants; he's a warlock! He's going to let you chase him as far away from here as possible so he can cast a spell on you-"
"Fuck off already, Johann!" Ute barely had to struggle in order to get Johann to let go; no one in the schoolhouse ever used such language before. Everyone in class was hollering and in shock from Ute's response as she flew out the door. Holger was laughing the hardest; he couldn't believe the Ute he thought he once knew and become so different from the rest of them.
"If I didn't know any better," Holger announced, his voice louder than the rest. "I'd say Timo's already put a spell on her. I mean, look at the way she's acting! Profane language, an attitude problem, and dear god, she's standing up for him! Someone tell me this isn't happening. Ute's usually so sweet, isn't she?"
"You're right!" Johann immediately agreed. "There's no better way to explain her sudden change of personality. We have to follow her and make sure she doesn't get hurt! Everyone, grab your matches. We've got a warlock to burn!"
As everyone else in the schoolhouse made a mad rush to grab any utensils they could use to start a fire, Ute was chasing after Timo, trailing fairly far behind on a dirt path. The weather was very cold, dark and windy. She called out to him, "Timo, come back! I don't care what Johann says, I don't think you're a warlock; you're just different! Please, stop running, I can't run in these shoes much longer!"
[Another's Notes: As you picture Ute chasing after Timo, also imagine "Gets Me Through" by Ozzy Osbourne playing in the background. The song is the first track on Ozzy's "Down To Earth" album from 2001.]
Ute couldn't see it happening, but Timo had collapsed to the ground, his black clothes immediately getting covered in spreading dirt. He forcefully grabbed a very old and partially rusted shank out of his pocket, holding it up near his face. It appeared almost as if he was about to begin cutting himself up, but Ute ran up just in the nick of time, her feet aching from all the painful strides.
"Timo, don't!" Ute screamed. But before she could reach him, Timo grabbed his waist-length hair all in a fist and took the sharp end of his shank to it. It was now cut so that no strands of hair were waving. He dropped his now dead hair and ran his hands forcefully through it, giving it a very messy and spiky appearance.
[Author's Notes: Yes, this is Timo's first time getting the Robert Smith- style hair.]
"Timo..." Ute cried, rushing swiftly to his side and wrapping her arms around his front from behind him. "Why did you just cut off all your hair? It's so messy now; I really liked it the way it was before."
"Ute," Timo turned around to face her with his shorter hair. "There's no use in me holding back anything. I'm sick of having long hair like yours. Besides, if Johann did his research right, he'd know that a warlock can't cut his hair by himself. It supposedly just magically comes back to its full length in seconds. Do you see my hair growing back? May be this will be enough proof already."
"Oh, Timo," Ute sighed, her eyes watering up with tears. She held me tightly and kissed him on the cheek. "You shouldn't listen to them, no matter what they say. If they don't care about you, why should you care about them? If they're going to be immature and make fun of you like that, I don't care about them anymore either. I just care about you, Timo."
"What do you mean you just care about me?" Timo 5MRmd, confused as he held Ute back.
"I'm envious of you, Timo," Ute smiled up at him. "I want to be like you. I love the way you have such deep opinions on everything, even if they're different from everybody else. Sometimes I just wish I could be you and live your life. I want you to take me in and show me what it's like to be you. I know this sounds weird, Timo, but I get a feeling out of you that's stronger than how I felt for Holger so many months ago. I think it's love I'm feeling, Timo."
Timo was shocked, but he hugged Ute tightly back without saying a word.
Now, about 12 years later, Timo stood outside Johann's library. He felt his new shank in one pocket and the golden ocarina given to him by Ute in his other pocket.
Chapter Four: Exploring The Exposed
No citizen of Hamelin had been awaiting for the sun to set besides Timo, who was asleep down in the sewers. Timo was lost in his own thoughts as he slept peacefully, his bony body resting against the stone wall of the sewer, rats hidden within the green waters, crevices of the walls, and high above on pipes that went without acknowledgement. No one would know, but Timo was twitching in his sleep, his thoughts overwhelming him to no end.
He was dreaming about none other than Ute. What did she look like now, if she was still alive, years older than he had last seen her? He imagined his next encounter with her, alone together. She was wearing the same black dress she had worn the last time he had seen her. She appeared more beautiful than he had ever seen her in his whole life, and she was approaching him tantalizingly. As she glided across the room to him, she gave him a kiss, but this was a much different kiss than he'd ever received. Their mouths opened, their tongues danced, their eyes shut softly. He felt her warm hand run softly from his cheek down his smooth neck and down his bare chest, further down his stomach and beyond...
"Ute...Wha...Ugh...Agh!" Timo jolted up, awaking quickly with wide eyes. He hastily cleaned up before the rats could get up; then got dressed. A light no longer glowed from the manhole's spot, telling him it was nighttime in the city of Hamelin. With a grin on his face, he walked eagerly to the slimy ladder. The rats peeped out of their holes and other places to watch him; he didn't need to make an announcement as to what he was going to do.
Before Timo even put his hands on the cold ladder in front of him, he took out some gel from his pocket given to him weeks ago by Michael. He ran in through his hair in a way so that it looked almost as if static electricity was causing it to stick out.
[Author's Notes: Try to picture Timo's hair looking like Robert Smith's hair, the lead singer of The Cure.]
Not letting another moment pass him by, Timo climbed eagerly up the tall, freezing ladder. His flesh touched the handles like tender children's hands on ice cubes, but he didn't stop for a split-second or have any doubts of climbing to the top. After about two minutes, the manhole was just inches above his head. He lifted it up off the street and slid it over to the side, and climbed out to the world around him.
The first thing he noticed as he entered the main part of the town was that it was surprisingly much warmer than the sewers, and a lot easier to breathe. The air was fresher and you could look up at the bright white stars above. He felt the soothing wind run through his messy hair, and he took in a deep breath. Although he did feel slightly uncomfortable on the inside because of his new surroundings, he physically felt extremely refreshed and relaxed. It made him wonder why he waited so long to leave the sewer, and he no longer questioned why the town was now so populated with people who traveled from all different places of Germany to stay here.
Although it was past midnight, there was plenty of light visible within the city, which came from the light posts, stars, and moon. Timo once used to admire the beauty of the moon and its stars, but now he saw them as inept lights in the sky that didn't represent anything spiritual. The moon and stars were the only thing he seemed to have left to admire for the year he spent searching for Ute at the field, and they had seemed to encourage him to search on for her, but they had failed him. His trust and faith in the dark sky's lights had faded to nothing.
With clenched fists, Timo continued walking, making his way to the nearest sidewalk so that he could observe the buildings built aside it. He noticed the buildings built along the sidewalk weren't houses, but more or less stores. Truly, he was fascinated at how developed the town of Hamelin had become over the years, compared to what it looked like when it was just a tiny village with a population of nine. But on the outside, Timo showed no signs of amazement, only signs of hatred. Hatred for the night sky's lights, hatred for the people of Hamelin, hatred for whatever took Ute away from him, hatred for fate and hope itself.
Turning a corner, he finally found a store he could recognize. It was one of the largest buildings he had come across, and it was labeled "Library of Hamelin". A sign on the main window was marked "Owned and Processed by Town Librarian, Johann". He recalled what Michael and said about Johann when Timo first entered the new town of Hamelin. He told Timo that Johann was very smart and could answer any question. Hell, Michael made it sound like Johann was some sort of helpful guide, and maybe he was, but only to the town of Hamelin itself.
"If only they had seen him from my point of view," Timo muttered softly aloud in his dark voice, speaking about Johann. As his fingertips pressed lightly against the letters imprinted on the window, Timo thought back to a time when he was young and attending the schoolhouse with Johann.
Sure, Johann was very smart, and never seen without his large nose buried in an old thick book with large vocabulary. He was always the first to answer Ms. Weigand's questions, his hand raising eagerly, as though if not answered, his life would crumble like ashes. Even though it was already known that Johann was the smartest in the entire class, he had to always be testing and challenging everyone else's learning abilities, just to make himself feel better. He also had a crush on Ute, although he was about two years younger than her. He always tried to flirt with her by listing off some boring facts from a random book, but Ute would come off as uninterested in every time.
Timo recalled a specific day that made his hatred for Johann become must stronger. He and Ute hadn't even begun to go out when it happened, but they had been flirting for weeks. Before actual class time, when the students were in the room but Ms. Weigand wasn't, Johann was sitting in the front row reading what appeared to be an old musty dictionary. Everything seemed pretty ordinary in all cases. Timo was having a light conversation with Ute near the front of the classroom by the door, when suddenly, Johann shut the book loudly and caught a few people's attention.
Some students looked at the clock, thinking Johann closed his book because class was about to start, but they still had about 20 minutes. That's when the small 12-year-old Johann made his way toward Ute, even though she was in mid-conversation with Timo. Johann pretended not to notice Timo as he glided right between him and Ute. Ute stopped talking and looked confusingly at Johann.
"Eh, can I help you?" Ute asked politely. She was wearing a baby pink frill dress and her hair was in wide light brown curls."
"You know," Johann announced loudly, straightening his glasses. "I've been studying from a few versions of multiple encyclopedias, and you do realize that your friend Timo here is a warlock, right?"
The whole room went silent. Everyone was expecting Ute to ask for further information or at least get a shocked or embarrassed look on her face, but instead she crossed her arms and gave Johann a dirty look, something never expected to come from the dear Ute. "That was rude of you, Johann. How would you like it if I said you resembled a know-it-all, stuck-up, stubborn little boy who hasn't even gained a spurt of growth yet?"
Johann's eyes were wide with shock, and everyone else in the room was speechless. Timo gave Ute a shocked look as well, but he was thankful and surprised she was actually standing up for him. Still, he hadn't expected her to get up in Johann's face about it. Some people in the back of the room snickered at Ute's shocking yet hilariously rude comment about Johann.
"It's true, though, Ute," Johann continued, trying his best to ignore what was just said about himself. "He dresses in black and remains anti-social to the rest of us. Just look at how pale his skin is, even though he's been outside just as often as we have! And the distinct darkness of his hair and eyes. It's clearly not human. You know warlocks are much more rare than witches, right? They're said to be much more powerful than witches; he's dangerous!"
At this point, all the other students gathered around closely to where Johann, Ute, and Timo were standing to listen in and get some more information. Ute, however, was even more appalled than she had appeared to be when she first spoke back to Johann; now she was furious.
"Are you trying to tell us that Timo isn't a human being?" Ute screeched, causing a few people to back up a few steps in shock. No one had ever seen her so angry before. "Just because he doesn't dress exactly like the rest of us and his physical characteristics are unique, you think that he should be treated like a whole different species? Or are you just using this as a pathetic excuse to convince me to stop talking to him? Look at me when I'm talking to you! If one of us in this schoolhouse is queer, surely it must be you and not Timo, Johann."
Johann looked as though he was about to fill up with tears. "Ute, this isn't an excuse, I'm only concerned about you! I'm not trying to make fun of Timo or anything; I'm just saying that he resembles that of a warlock! For all we know, he couldselep a wand up his sleeve. If you make warlocks angry, they'll easily cast a spell on you before you can blink an eye."
A few people laughed at Johann's comment, and at this point, Timo had snuck out of the room. When Ute turned around, indignant with fury and anger, she realized Timo had run out the door and went out to chase him down. No way was she about to let Johann's inept theories emotionally scar Timo.
Johann forcefully grabbed Ute's hand before she could run out the door, a tear gliding down his long cheek. "Ute, don't chase after him, don't you see? That's what he wants; he's a warlock! He's going to let you chase him as far away from here as possible so he can cast a spell on you-"
"Fuck off already, Johann!" Ute barely had to struggle in order to get Johann to let go; no one in the schoolhouse ever used such language before. Everyone in class was hollering and in shock from Ute's response as she flew out the door. Holger was laughing the hardest; he couldn't believe the Ute he thought he once knew and become so different from the rest of them.
"If I didn't know any better," Holger announced, his voice louder than the rest. "I'd say Timo's already put a spell on her. I mean, look at the way she's acting! Profane language, an attitude problem, and dear god, she's standing up for him! Someone tell me this isn't happening. Ute's usually so sweet, isn't she?"
"You're right!" Johann immediately agreed. "There's no better way to explain her sudden change of personality. We have to follow her and make sure she doesn't get hurt! Everyone, grab your matches. We've got a warlock to burn!"
As everyone else in the schoolhouse made a mad rush to grab any utensils they could use to start a fire, Ute was chasing after Timo, trailing fairly far behind on a dirt path. The weather was very cold, dark and windy. She called out to him, "Timo, come back! I don't care what Johann says, I don't think you're a warlock; you're just different! Please, stop running, I can't run in these shoes much longer!"
[Another's Notes: As you picture Ute chasing after Timo, also imagine "Gets Me Through" by Ozzy Osbourne playing in the background. The song is the first track on Ozzy's "Down To Earth" album from 2001.]
Ute couldn't see it happening, but Timo had collapsed to the ground, his black clothes immediately getting covered in spreading dirt. He forcefully grabbed a very old and partially rusted shank out of his pocket, holding it up near his face. It appeared almost as if he was about to begin cutting himself up, but Ute ran up just in the nick of time, her feet aching from all the painful strides.
"Timo, don't!" Ute screamed. But before she could reach him, Timo grabbed his waist-length hair all in a fist and took the sharp end of his shank to it. It was now cut so that no strands of hair were waving. He dropped his now dead hair and ran his hands forcefully through it, giving it a very messy and spiky appearance.
[Author's Notes: Yes, this is Timo's first time getting the Robert Smith- style hair.]
"Timo..." Ute cried, rushing swiftly to his side and wrapping her arms around his front from behind him. "Why did you just cut off all your hair? It's so messy now; I really liked it the way it was before."
"Ute," Timo turned around to face her with his shorter hair. "There's no use in me holding back anything. I'm sick of having long hair like yours. Besides, if Johann did his research right, he'd know that a warlock can't cut his hair by himself. It supposedly just magically comes back to its full length in seconds. Do you see my hair growing back? May be this will be enough proof already."
"Oh, Timo," Ute sighed, her eyes watering up with tears. She held me tightly and kissed him on the cheek. "You shouldn't listen to them, no matter what they say. If they don't care about you, why should you care about them? If they're going to be immature and make fun of you like that, I don't care about them anymore either. I just care about you, Timo."
"What do you mean you just care about me?" Timo 5MRmd, confused as he held Ute back.
"I'm envious of you, Timo," Ute smiled up at him. "I want to be like you. I love the way you have such deep opinions on everything, even if they're different from everybody else. Sometimes I just wish I could be you and live your life. I want you to take me in and show me what it's like to be you. I know this sounds weird, Timo, but I get a feeling out of you that's stronger than how I felt for Holger so many months ago. I think it's love I'm feeling, Timo."
Timo was shocked, but he hugged Ute tightly back without saying a word.
Now, about 12 years later, Timo stood outside Johann's library. He felt his new shank in one pocket and the golden ocarina given to him by Ute in his other pocket.