(For Aefener)

  "Have you packed everything?" Peter stood in Julia's room and looked at her skeptically. "You're still in your pajamas!"

  "And you're wearing a dress!" Julia stuck out her to her brother. "I already packed yesterday. I just o get dressed quickly!"

  Peter, earing a dark blue knitted dress with bck leggings, shook his head. "At least hop into the shower quickly. Not that my car smells like an unwashed teenager! Hop, hop little skunk! Uhe shower with you!"

  "I don't stink!" Julia rolled her eyes and disappeared towards the bathroom. She passed the terrarium of her two lizards. Fiete crept uhe heat mp and Josef looked at her invitingly. He loved to be petted. And she couldn't help but ply before scurrying into the shower.

  She had been living with her brother for a year now. Her parents had divorced two years ago because her mother had found out that her father had a sed family in Cologne, with which he now lived. Julia couldn't stand it in the vil, aloh her mathe was just pining about her. She wanted Julia, just like her mother, to bee a politi... To achieve this goal, she should write top grades at school and volu her mother's party. Julia was a mediocre student and preferred to advocate for human rights with online videos rather than apany her mother to her dusty party, where she would only copy dots, send mail, and serve coffee. No. Julia wao make a differenow!

  Luckily, Peter had rescued her and taken her into his small, expensive loft in Berlier was an artist. A successful artist with his owigious art gallery. Julia roud of him.

  When Julia was washed and dressed, Peter was already shooio his small car. One of his friends would take care of Fiete and Josef over Christmas. He had already loaded the luggage into the trunk. Peter loved luxury, but when it came to cars, he always bought cheap used cars, which he decorated with crazy stickers. (Unis, elves, ducks, and pugs. A strange bination.) His dog, a small pug named Hercules, was enthroned in the passenger seat as usual.

  All Peter was ied in cars was that they had four wheels and a roof.

  "Hercules refuses to sit in the back", Peter said apologetically. "I tried. Holy! But he would bark and howl the whole ride."

  "That's ok. So? Where are we going? Over Christmas? All you've told me is that it's going to be a sibliing!" Amused, she sat at the bad buckled up while her brother started the car.

  "Unfortunately without Paul and Valentina. The journey is too long for Amaury. He is only two months old and they live in the Bck Forest. And to my great joy, without Mom. She is on a cruise with her friends. Champagne and seasiess Ahoy!"

  Julia ughed. "And where are we going?"

  "You'll see."

  The jourook a long time. Especially sihey had to put in a lora break because of a puking Hercules. Julia stood with the whimpering pug o the car at the small rest stop, while her brother was slightly hysterical and tried to his car.

  When they were finally able to tinue, Julia fell asleep.

  "Wake up, little sister! We're here!" Peter stroked her hair.

  Julia yawned and blihe air smelled of salt. "Where are we?"

  "At e holiday home en. With a small private beach, which we have to share with the residents of the other holiday homes!", Peter solemnly announced. Hercules barked as if to firm.

  The holiday home was not a house, it was a vil. A vil that should be their home over Christmas. Julia got out of the car, an ice-cold wind blew in her fad she looked at the sand-colored building. "Wow. That's awesome!"

  In addition to the vil, she saw two e holiday homes. Through one of the windows of the left vil, she saw several people talking in a kit. The windows of the right vil were decorated with rainbow fgs and loud musid ughter could be heard through one of the open windows.

  "And we have neighbors too!" Peter nodded. "It's going to be fun."

  The door of their own vil ened and Lea came running towards them. She was wearing a silly Christmas sweater and freezing in the cold air. "There you are at st. Everyone else is already here! Charlotte and Cleo try to cook dinner. I fear terrible things." Lea was an indepeax sultant and still lived in Cologne. She was the only one who hadn't moved away. Cleo, a professional soldier, had married a few months ago and moved to a small vilge with her wife. Julia liked Charlotte. She was very funny, which was not surprising. She worked as a hospital . However, her Charlotte nor Cleo could cook.

  "Is there a pizza service?", asked Julia.

  "I haven't figured that out yet", Lea replied. "Let's go i's freezing!"

  The moment she said this, one of the windows of the rainbow fg house ened and a half-naked Santa Cus with an inftable uni sang a Christmas carol loud and crooked, waving wildly at them. Lea smiled and pushed Julia into the cottage, while Peter cpped ughing and demanded an encore. Hercules howled indignantly and ran after Julia.

  "Santa Cus is here too! Will he bring us presents?", said Peter as he followed them into the house in a very good mood. Lea led them into the kit where the rest of the family was. Fritz and his wife Pau were emptying a bottle of red wine and greeted the newers with screaming 'Cheers!'.

  "Julia! Peter!" Cleo walked up to them and hugged the two stormily, while her wife burhe food, whatever it should be. "o see you!", called Charlotte to them blithely.

  "Charlotte? The pan is smoking", eter's reply. In fact, dark smoke rose from the pan.

  "It doesn't matter. We put ketchup over it, then you don't taste it!" Charlotte pulled the pan aside. "You e just at the right time! The food is ready."

  "More red wine!", grumbled Pau dryly. She was a nurse on the ward where Fritz worked as chief physi. The two had met there three years ago and married two years ago. Cleo had met Charlotte at the same hospital.

  "When are Ingried and Adam ing?", asked Julia. "Or are they not ing?"

  "They won't e until tomorrow. Suitable for Christmas Eve! Ingried has a difficult case and is still in her w firm today. "

  "The's look for rooms, e to Julia! We also have to get the luggage out of the trunk!", reminded Peter. Meanwhile, Hercules demanded cuddles from Fritz.

  "I'll help you!" Cleo apahem to the car and carried some of the luggage while she showed them the rooms that were still avaible. Shortly afterward they sat at a rge dining table and ate indefinable, burables with ketchup, salty rice, and a lumpy sauce.

  There izza service, but it was on Christmas break and therefore did not deliver. Lea poked dissatisfied in her rid looked at Julia. "Christmas break", Lea murmured softly. "Why?"

  Julia replied with a shrug.

  "Paul sent us a photo of little Amaury as a Christmas greeting! It arrived this m", Lea. said. She had already arrived four days ago and now passed around a festive family photo. Paul grinned and put his arm around his wife's shoulders. Valentina held a tiny baby in her arms, who was screaming angrily. The small family stood in front of a colorfully decorated Christmas tree. "Amaury es after Paul. He always yelled when Dad wao take a picture of him!" Then she read the short Christmas card. Paul and Valentina wished them a happy feast ated not being able to e.

  "Cheers!", shouted Fritz and opehe sed bottle of red wine.

  "I hope you won’t be hanging over the toilet bowl tomorrow!", grumbled Lea.

  After dihe adults went into the spacious living room. They wao watch a Christmas movie and drink hot cocoa. Julia put ohick jacket ao the beach with her cocoa. It was dark, but thanks to the brightly lit windows of the cottages, she could still see something. Three boys were on the beach, waving curiously at her.

  "Hello neighbor!", shouted one. He had dark, frizzy curls, as far as Julia could tell. The other boys waved at her cheerfully.

  "Hello", Julia greeted them when she arrived. "Do you live in the house door? My name is Julia."

  "I'm Marko!" said the boy with the dark curls. "And that is Finn and Leopold."

  Finn was smaller than Marko and Leopold. Leopold was the tallest of them. He wore a Christmas hat equipped with glowing LEDs. A few bright curls peeked out from uhe hat.

  "We live there!" Finn poio the house where Julia had seen the people i. "We are here every year. Our mothers are childhood friends. They were also here as children!"

  "You don't have to tell her everything!", protested Leopold. "But don't go to the other house, Julia! The oh the fgs! The people there are weird!"

  "Hey!", Marko and Finn scolded immediately. Marko had put his arm around the smaller boy. "That's rude!"

  "Yesterday they ran naked into the sea!", Leopold said, defending his statement. "That's strange!"

  "But we had something to watch!" Marko grinned.

  "You, maybe!" Leopold snorted.

  Finn ughed and leaned against Marko. "And you? Is this your first time here? Julia?"

  "Yes. With my siblings. Over Christmas." She pulled the hood over her head. It was terribly cold. “Someone did go swimming in that weather?"

  "No. They were just ier with their feet, screaming wildly, and the bato the house!" Marko was clearly amused. "They all had water floaties, and Christmas hats on!"

  Julia had to ugh and clutched her cocoa. "I'll go ba. It's cold. It was o meet you!"

  "Maybe we'll see each ain!" Leopold smiled.

  To be tinued.