Chapter 3
Old Anna
Felix struggled valiantly not to slouch in the pews of his Church. Once again he'd had a nightmare which had disturbed his sleep and rattled him more than he liked to admit. Add exhaustion to his sleep deprivation and put him in a dull Saturday Mass and it became nearly impossible to keep conscious. Father Hermann, the older and duller of the priests of this Church, droned on and on about a passage from the book of Revelations, his favorite topic. Why that old man liked this particular book of the Bible so much was a mystery to Felix. With bleary eyes he tried to focus on the withered old man and his dry flat voice, but found that his mind kept drifting back to his recurring nightmare. So far the first scene had come true, did that mean that the rest would? And what about that premonition of 'death'?
Sudden he was pulled back to the present by all the people around him standing up. He quickly stood along with them and joined in the final prayer. After Father Hermann gave his final blessing and dismissed them all Felix followed everyone out into the bright sunlight. He told both his mother and his father that he was going to be with Wolfgang all day and gained their permission to leave. Now that he had done that he scampered off to find Wolfgang as he promised he would the day before. Felix jogging along the wide well-worn dirt path that lead the quarter mile from the Church to the edge of town. All around him were aged pines and thorny rose bushes planted by a long-absent order of monks who once lived in the now half-collapsed dormitories around the Church. As he crested a small hill the trees opened up to reveal his isolated hometown of Winzeldorf.
After catching his breath Felix continued on down the path into Winzeldorf itself. Most of the buildings were old. Most had been around since before World War II and since the Nazis never had much important things here none of the buildings had been bombed or damaged. All the buildings were covered in decorative wood carvings and old designs that had their origins in the middle ages. All the windows had elaborately carved shutters and flower boxes hanging from the sills. The window panes were covered in iron patterns that broke the rectangles of glass into tens of diamond shapes. Wooden signs that identified businesses were fancifully carved with flowing letters in the old local dialect.
The street that he was walking along was probably ten times as old as the buildings if not even older than that. They twisted and turned in odd confusing patterns formed when ancient Winzeldorf was first born. The streets were made of cracked bricks and cobblestones worn smooth by many generations of feet, wheels, and hooves pounding against their surfaces. The narrow streets were barely wide enough for a single lane of cars to pass through and only the main street that bisected the town was wide enough for two different lanes. The streets were lined by ancient black metal streetlamps that had only a few decades before been switched over to run on electricity. Some tourists might fine this place charming or fascinating. Felix just found it old and backward.
Felix finally arrived at Herr Grimm's bakery shop on the main street. It was easily identifiable by its sign, a giant wooden pretzel that hung out over the door. The display window's edges were handsomely decorated with swirls of white and black paint. Herr Grimm's name was written in the center of the large glass window in swirling black and gold letters. On the other side of the glass were freshly baked examples of Herr Grimm's various products. There were all kinds of pastries, breads, buns, cakes, cookies, and, of course, pretzels. Just looking at those fresh baked goods and smelling the scents that emanated from the shop make his mouth water and his stomach growl loudly. Despite the large breakfast that he had consumed just before leaving for Church he found himself starving once again.
"Felix!" Wolfie's voice broke his little daydream about giant soft pretzels and sweet muffins. He turned away from the display window to see Wolfie running up to him at top speed.
"Guten Morgen Wolfie. Wie geht's?" Felix asked casually leaning up against a nearby light pole.
"Gut, I'm good. And you?" Wolfie asked breathlessly.
"I'm alright; better than I was last night." Felix replied.
"How did things go after I left?" Wolfie asked curiously.
"I got by fine. I just ate some dinner and took some pills and I was fine." Felix answered.
"Well that's good to hear." Wolfie replied cheerfully. "So, what do you want to do today?"
"The same thing that we do everyday." Felix sighed rolling his eyes skyward. "Walk around aimlessly until lunchtime then go out and do it again."
"Are you sure you're all right?" Wolfie asked suddenly.
"Yes, of course I am." Felix snorted. "Why do you ask?"
"When I say 'so what do you want to do today?' you say something silly like 'climb a mountain!' or 'jump from roof to roof'. You never say what we actually end up doing." Wolfie explained. Felix frowned and sighed.
"Well I'm still tired so I'm just not in the mood for making silly things up this time Wolfie." Felix replied.
"Oh, alright then." Wolfie mumbled though he didn't look the least bit convinced. Felix decided to ignore Wolfie's reaction.
Without a word he pushed off the light pole and started walking while Wolfie followed. Together they wandered the twisted streets with no particular destination in mind. Time slowly crept by as the two boys wandered around. Occasionally they would cross paths with another group of young people who were doing basically the same thing that they were. Some others talked, some sang, and some were just as quiet as they were. They all wandered the streets because they had nothing to do. Those who had jobs didn't work on weekends and their parents didn't want them staying indoors watching TV all day so the only thing left to do was wander around. It was all so dull sometimes that Felix was actually tempted to cry.
Then something mildly interesting happened. As he and Wolfie rounded a bend they came across one of the few interesting residents of Winzeldorf. Anna Gartner, crazy old Anna, was an eccentric old spinster of 61 years. She was one of the few people who only went to Church once a week. She lived alone on the outer fringe of town in her crumbling cottage with only a small horde of cats for company. Her hair was pure white and pulled into a frizzy ponytail. Behind one ear she always tucked a flower of some kind, during the spring and summer it was a real blossom and during the fall and winter it was a fake silk flower. Where ever she went she carried one of her cats on her shoulder and would always speak lovingly to it. The only time she was cat-less was in the Church. Because of her odd eccentricities most of the adults indulged in rumors of her witchcraft though no one ever openly accused her of anything.
"Hallo Jungen!" She called out to them cheerfully.
"Hallo Frau Gartner." Both boys greeted in return.
"What a beautiful day." She declared as she closed the distance between them. She had a black cat with her today and it stared at the two of them with calculating emerald eyes.
"Yes it is." Wolfie guardedly agreed.
"I suppose." Felix replied. Anna and the cat suddenly fixed their gazes upon him.
"Are you not well Felix?" She asked him. Felix blinked, what was it with people not thinking that he was in his right mind today?
"I am fine Frau Gartner, just a little tired." He answered.
"Please, call me Anna. Now why are you so tired Felix? Not sleeping well?" She asked him kindly.
"Yes, I've had some trouble sleeping." Felix reluctantly admitted.
"Why?" She asked curiously.
"I've had some weird nightmare a lot recently." Felix muttered hesitantly. Anna's gaze grew intense and nearby he could see Wolfie grow restless.
"What do you see in it?" She asked in a slightly sharper tone.
"Just flashes of places. I don't even know what's so scary about it, but it always wakes me up and won't let me sleep after it." Felix sighed in frustration. Anna and her black cat studied him for a long moment.
"That's very interesting Felix. How about you come over to my house sometime and we'll discuss this further. Perhaps we could figure how to make the dream stop so you can sleep. Maxi and my other friends would love it if you came to visit." Anna suggested, petting the green-eyed cat on her shoulder. The black cat, Maxi he guessed, purred and snuggled against Anna's slightly wrinkled cheek. Then the odd pair walked off and left the boys standing by the street corner.
"So are you going to visit her Felix?" Wolfie asked after a few minutes.
"I don't know Wolfie." Felix muttered. "I don't know."
