Moritz woke up drenched in sweat, startled by a reoccurring dream. He let out a groan as he threw the covers off and sat up in bed. Images of a girl in a sheer dress and blue stockings flashed through his racing mind. "Why does she haunt me whenever I try to rest?" He wondered aloud, something he had caught himself doing a lot over the course of the past few months. " I need to clear my mind". Moritz lightly hopped off his bed and grabbed a jacket. He slowly crept out of the house, making sure to be especially quiet as to not wake his parents. Lord knows what his father would think! As soon as the cool air and the pure white moonlight hit his skin he felt at ease. He began to wander towards the back of his house, where the tall grass stood near the forest. This was one of his favorite spots. It reminded him of a simpler time when he was younger. He and Melchi used to hide in the grass like some kind of untamed animals. Crawling around, growling and howling at the sunshine. But, they were growing up now. Becoming young men. There was no time for play. Only equations, papers, and unending Latin phrases. Suddenly, Moritz came to a stop. At the edge of the land near the tall oak trees stood a girl. "Am I still asleep?" he whispered to himself as a pinched the inside of his palm."Ow! no, no. You are not asleep. She, she must be some kind of phantom! " Suddenly the girl turned and looked right at him.
"Oh, Moritz! What have you gotten yourself into?"
When Julia turned around she came face to face with a boy she had never seen before. Which was not saying much since she was new in the little community and many of the townsfolk overlooked her family. He had a good amount of messy light brown hair, blue eyes with dark circles underneath that she could just make out in the moonlight, and pale skin stretched out over a lanky frame. He looked frozen where he stood, muttering to himself. There was something very sweet about him. Like a small, sick puppy. She knew nothing about him, but she knew she wanted to take care of him. "Hello. Sorry to frighten you. I don't know what I was thinking sneaking into your yard like this. The grass is just so beautiful in this light and I just needed a spot to think for a moment." She took a step toward him, and he took a step back.
"Wh-Who are you?" He choked out after a moment of silence.
"My name is Julia. I am new in town. I get overlooked a lot." She replied in almost a whisper.
"I know the feeling. My name is Moritz."
She took another step forward and this time he did not move. He was startled by her face, or rather her legs covered in a pair of sky blue stockings. She was the girl from his dreams.
Moritz stood facing the girl. She had said her name was Julia. Julia. Julia. Julia, He played around with her name inside of his head. He looked her up and down. he knew it was impolite and he quickly stopped himself. Her crisp white nightgown barely touched her knees and her brilliant blonde hair floated in wisps on the midnight breeze. She had the kindest eyes and the faintest hint of a natural blush on her cheeks. Moritz squeezed his eyes shut. "You're just dreaming,Moritz. Do not look at her in that way. She is a phantasm!" he murmured to himself lightly tying to convince himself she was not real. No way could the haunting beauty before him be real!
He heard a small giggle. Now she was taunting him. Of course she would, he thought. All of the girls in the village did. He slowly opened his eyes and sighed.
"Are you alright?" Julia asked, reaching her arm out to touch him lightly. Moritz jerked back like he did whenever his teacher reprimanded him for answering questions wrong.
Moritz unashamedly shook his head and turned hastily to sprint back to his house. For the first time in his life he would rather be trapped in that cage, than face this mystery of a girl. He was thinking, Feeling, too many things he did not understand. Things he didn't know if he wanted to understand.
"Moritz! Wait! I did not mean to frighten you. Please come back? I just want a friend. One friend!" Julia plead.
Julia stayed in place with her arm still outstretched towards the boy with the unruly hair. "Wait..." She said to no one in particular, her voice laden with sadness. She slowly brought her arm down and her head slumped forward. Her whole body began to shake with sobs. Julia placed her frail hands on her cheeks to wipe the salty stains away. When she brought her head up,the girl took one last look at the Stiefel home, and walked slowly back to her own. When Julia had successfully snuck back into the house and climbed into bed the only thing she could think about were Moritz's sad blue eyes. Eyes full of pain and rejection beyond his years. Julia huffed and rolled onto her side so she could see the silver moon through her tiny bedroom window. It was not long until her mind floated to the boy. Moritz was long gone, tucked away into his bed fast asleep. Dreaming of whatever it was boys thought about. Possibly...her? "No!" Julia scolded herself, sitting up in bed. "Not you, silly girl. Why would he? You scared him off." She pulled her knees up to her chest and let out a long, shaky sigh. She tried everything that night. She counted sheep, but the curly fur reminded her of Moritz's hair. She tried to make up little stories in her mind, but they were all about a sad young man who she longed to take into her arms and heal for reasons unknown to her. She even got up and walked in circles, but it made her think of standing in the meadow face to face with the nervous boy. Exasperated, she fell onto her bed and threw her arms over head."Sleep! Sleep sleep sleep!" She yelled out loud, not caring of her parents could hear her. The whole night, no matter what ridiculous antic she tried, She could not shake the feeling of being pulled to him, as if he were the one thing that connected her to the earth. The one thing that kept her from floating up into the purple night sky and disappearing forever.
The following morning was a rough one for Moritz. Much worse than usual. He overslept, plagued again by slender legs in sky blue stockings, except now the girl had a face. A stunning one at that. He swore all night he could hear her calling "Moritz! Wait!". Before he had left for school , he took one last look out his kitchen window expecting to see her. Body shaking form the force of a wave of tears, much like she was last night when he stole one last glance at the beauty before climbing the stairs to his room. No, this morning all he could see were the trees and the green grass. He blew air out of his mouth, up into his hair, which he noticed was not combed...again. "Moritz! You are late, child!" his Mother called from the other room. "Yes, mama." He picked up his satchel and headed for the door, praying that he would not run into her on the way to school. He contemplated all night what he would do if he saw her again so soon. What would he say? How would he act? He was feeling the strangest things. Terrifying things that he had never faced before. Worse than the sticky dreams and the failing grades. He felt as if Julia had placed a chain around his heart and was pulling it. Pulling him towards her. Moritz did not know what to make of it. He knew as soon as he woke up with a start that morning what he needed to do. He needed to talk to the only person he could believe and trust. Melchior Gabor.
Melchior was already waiting outside the Stiefel household when Moritz stepped out. He was leaning against a tree, tossing an apple up in the air and catching it in his hearty hand. He wore his signature playful smirk and his curls fell softly on his forehead. "Melchi! What are you doing waiting for me? You are going to be late! You should have gone on without me."
"Oh Moritz! Calm down. I'll be fine." Melchi smiled and tossed his friend the apple. Moritz missed it and it fell to the dusty ground. He picked the apple up curtly and dusted it off on his blue uniform jacket. He held it out to his mischievous ally "I do not want it, Melchi. I can not even dream of eating anything right now. I think that I am dying. I-I've been put under a spell and I am dying!" He threw is long arms up before the curly headed boy could grab the apple. It flew out of Moritz's hand and fell to the ground with a
splat!. The whole scene was too much for Melchior and he burst into a fit of laughter. One would think he was used to Moritz and his over the top dramatics.
"My dear friend. Did you not listen to me or read the essay? The dreams are natural! They are not a "Spell"-Melchior scoffed and used his fingers to make quotations around the word-" and you are most certainly not dying." He turned swiftly to signal it was time they better get moving.
"No, Melchi. I...I uh...I met a girl last night-wait, no. Not a girl. She could not have been a girl! How could a girl cause me so much distress? I feel as if she has tied a Rope around my insides. Oh, it's horrible Melchi!" Moritz had his pale face in his bony hands and was shaking it fervently. Melchior placed a strong hand on his friends back and bit his lip to stifle the laugh that was fighting to escape his throat.
But, wait. Moritz met a girl?
Melchior cleared his throat and removed his hand. "You met a girl?" he asked, genuinely interested.
"Y-yes. You'll never believe it,Melchi! She was in my backyard. You know how I like to go back there sometimes at night? Well, she was there! She said that she thought the grass was beautiful and she needed a place to think. She also said that she was new." Melchior could not help but notice the red splotches growing on Moritz's cheeks, like the sunset spreading through the dawn sky. "You need to help me! What do I do to stop this...this...this feeling!"
"Ahh!" Melchi announced with a bright smile.
"What?" Moritz looked up at his companion. "What is it? You must tell me what to do." He grabbed Melchi by the arms and stopped them in the path.
Melchior looked down at the awkward boy. He shrugged so that Moritz would let go of his arms, or at least loosen his vice like grip. Moritz dropped his hands, took a step back, and cleared his throat. "Sorry. I just need to know. This is worse than any dream. Worse than any latin test even!"
Melchior folded his arms, his face bright. "You like her Moritz!"
"What? That's silly Melchi. I don't even-"
"You like her. You do. It's all over you. Look at you! Even now you are blushing. You are more red than that apple I brought you this morning."
Moritz looked down at the grown. His face and body heating up. He was sure he was a brilliant shade of red.
"Moritz, really, it's nothing. Just a crush. If you like her, talk to her again."
Moritz turned and continued walking on his way. Melchi caught up to him quicker than Moritz would have liked. "What is it?"
"I don't think she will ever want to speak to me again." he kicked at a rock in his way and missed.
"Why is that? Moritz, You are an outstanding young man. Surely she would-"
"No, Melchi. I do not want to speak of it anymore."
Melchi let out an aggravated sigh, but obliged his best friend. "We better hurry on our way. We do not want to anger Herr Sonnenstich." Melchi gave his most devlish grin while Moritz let out a tortured groan.