A collection of short stories E-Book

Sissy Harnack

• Herausgeber: novum publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 121

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Anti-feminism and discrimination against disabled people are still part of our society. With her own biography in the background, wheelchair user Sissy Harnack deals with these issues and calls on politicians and society to do more in the fight against the oppression of people with disabilities. Both in her own words and from the perspective of fictional characters who tell her story, the book deals with topics such as social media, sexualized violence, child and youth policy, the benefits of the welfare state and right-wing radicalism. An all-round attack on today's social and societal shortcomings and an appeal to politicians to take action for more inclusion and against discrimination!

Leseprobe

Author description

Sissy Harnack is a German trained author. She wants to turn her hobby into a profession. Sissy Harnack has been running a blog since March 19, 2007. It is called: http://www.sissys-ziel.de. She publishes short stories and poems on it. As * Sissy Harnack is a wheelchair user, the aim of her literature is to encourage other people with disabilities and a queer lifestyle, with a history of migration, to place themselves in the center of society and not on the margins. She successfully completed the Creative Writing course in 2012.

Wedding plans

Author: Sissy Harnack

The year is 1905 and welcome to Welvihn. Well, what's going on? There was a terrible scream coming from the little castle. Come on, let's go and see what's going on! A young woman with long, brown curls was sitting at the table in the middle of the dining room. She hid her face in her hands. An old woman stood in front of her. She looked morose. Then she hissed angrily:

"Marry Johann? That swineherd." I think I'd better enlighten you now: The woman sitting at the table was called Laura Marie de Klod. Her ancestors were noble. But her father, the heir to the throne of Welvihn, had flatly refused to live in a gilded cage. He preferred to keep his passion for distant lands, as he loved to travel. While exploring Italy, he fell in love with a street artist. They eloped and later he became a father. Adelheid's mother was annoyed by his decision. So she ascended the throne. But as she was old, she toyed with the idea of marrying Laura off well. But she refused to enter into the bond of matrimony.

So now you know: "I don't have to put up with this," shouted Laura Marie. She stormed up the stairs to her room. There she put on her traveling cloak. She quickly locked the door so that her grandma wouldn't get any ideas. Without thinking, she climbed out of the window. Thank goodness she didn't break anything, as the windows were low and she was standing with her feet on the grass. She hurried to the pigsty, where Laura found Johann at work. "I was already longing for you," he said. "I'm sorry, but Grandma was in a triangle. I had to sneak out," she replied. "Well, the main thing is that you're here," he replied and kissed her. The candle he was holding fell to the floor. Seconds later, the pigsty was ablaze. Coughing, they tried to save the pigs. But it was too late. They were dead. They quickly fetched buckets of water and extinguished the fire. "Well, this used to be a pigsty," sighed Johann. "We'll get it sorted," she comforted him. The door opened and the lord of the manor entered. His angry expression and bald head made his face look like a marzipan potato. "Johann Mischberger, who else?" and he stared at Laura as if she were a witch. He was obviously completely taken aback by her presence. When he regained his composure, he bowed to her. "Oh, Your Highness, I didn't think you were here. Frankly, this is a downright impertinence. I'll send for the night watchman to take you home. There's no need for you to cause any more commotion and I'll have a word with your grandmother too. Sneaking around at night, where is there such a thing and what's more, when you are the Countess of Welvihn," he shook his head. He pulled Johann out of the pigsty by the ear.

The next morning, the air was thick at breakfast on the Welvihn estate. "Are you mad at me somehow, Grandma?" Laura asked with great unease in her voice. "No, not at all," she said ironically. Laura promised her in all sincerity that she would no longer walk around at night. But she would not be dissuaded from her plan to hire an additional maid. The applicants for the job were all either boring as hell, too old or had too messed up an outlook. Laura must have had a knot in her tongue from the number of times she had told Aunt Adelheid "I don't like her". But then he came along ... The dream man par excellence. He was tall, slim and had curly, dark hair. He had a young, shy girl in tow who desperately needed a job as a maid. The man was her father. The two girls hit it off straight away. "Your granddaughter is of supernatural beauty. If she allows it, I would like to pay my respects," he said.

The man handed Laura a small box containing a silver bracelet. Laura accepted it gratefully. "It was a pleasure," he said and kissed her hand. Turning to Laura's grandmother, he added: "Perhaps we'll meet again sometime. A servant accompanied him out. "Nice man, this Herr von Kirschberg," she said. "He would indeed be a good match for you," said her grandmother. Annoyed, she climbed the stairs to her room. Laura's maid tidied her room at her command. Then she ordered her to leave the room. She climbed out of the window again. Laura ran down the street to the village, where she found Johann. He was sitting on a tree trunk playing the flute. Laura looked at him worriedly. Then her eyes fell on a newspaper with the headline "Touching: pig herder seeks fairytale princess." You ruined my life. I've lost my job because of you and made myself the laughing stock of the village. Wish Your Highness a pleasant day. When she arrived at the castle, she crept into her room. She threw herself on the bed and wept. The events of the previous night gnawed at her. Johann's words also bothered her greatly. Her mood sank more and more over the next few days. Mr. von Kirschberg came frequently over the next few days to pay his respects to her. This visibly annoyed her. Once she even slammed the door in his face. Her father really shocked her grandmother. "You are the countess, you mustn't behave like that, it damages our good reputation and that of our house," she said coolly. "I am sorry if you are embarrassed by my behavior, dearest grandmother," she said, acting very contrite. As she spoke, she crossed her fingers behind her back. "Mr. von Kirschberg requests permission to pay his respects," said a servant. Laura's grandmother gave him a friendly nod. He opened the door for Mr. von Kirschberg. Grandma left the room. Mr. von Kirschberg and Laura were alone. "You look charming," he said. Laura gave him a disapproving look. "Is that it?" she hissed. The beautiful ring that Mr. von Kirschberg gave her seemed to leave her cold. She put it back in the box without a word. A feeling told her that it would be unwise to throw it out. So she led him through the garden. He was very taken with the splendor of the flowers. They sat down on a felled tree trunk. Mr. von Kirschberg moved closer to her. He stroked her hair and cheeks. Then he kissed her. Out of the corner of her eye, Laura saw Johann coming up the hill. Laura would have liked to scream out loud. (But this was not appropriate for a countess.) So she invented the white lie that she had to go to Latin class. "Too bad," said Mr. von Kirschberg regretfully. Laura locked herself in her room. She looked at her face full of hatred and self-loathing in the gold mirror opposite her. Suddenly she began to cry. "Laura Maria de Klod, you are attractive and charming on the one hand, but useless and mean on the other," she screamed. She threw the mirror to the floor. Her maid anxiously asked what was wrong. She ordered her to just sweep up the broken pieces. "Do you have another wish?" she asked. "No, go and close the door," Laura shouted. Matilda, the maid, did as she was told. "Have you found out who the Countess von Welvihn's secret love is?" asked Herr von Kirschberg, who was waiting for Matilda, quietly. "No, sir, I have not been able to locate her diary or letters to friends in which she talks about him. The countess doesn't seem to think much of writing things down," Matilda said fearfully. The next morning, Laura's grandmother seemed to finally realize that the good reputation of Welvihn Manor and her dignity were going down the drain, because a servant brought her a well-sealed letter. She opened it. Suddenly she felt sick to her stomach. Her face grew pale. "What is it?" Laura asked, startled. Her grandmother held the letter in front of her. "But the bill of twelve thousand nine hundred and eighty-eight Reis Marks isn't a problem for us, is it?" Laura asked doubtfully. Her grandmother persuaded her by arguing that the servants, food and heating coal had to be paid for. Then she called out resolutely: "Dear, there's only one chance to save the estate, you have to get married."