Love labyrinth E-Book

Astrid F. Schneider

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

Seitenzahl: 155

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Alina really wants to take a sailing course with Hinnerk, but she can't swim. Will she overcome her fears and win over the man of her dreams? Aurora was cheated on by her husband and sets off into the world of online dating. What experiences does this adventure have in store for her? Mia and Alex live in Lumina. What might love look like in 2040 in the city of tomorrow? And Stella takes part in a make-a-wish seminar. How will this affect her life so far? "Love Labyrinth" is a collection of short stories about the importance of love and friendship, personal challenges, courageous decisions and exciting life journeys.

Leseprobe

Notice

Names and places are fictitious, the selected

Problems are universal. All similarities with

living or dead persons are incidental and

not intended by the author.

Foreword

Dear readers,

It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to this book – and invite you into the colorful world of inspiring paths to happiness.

Short stories have always been sources of inspiration and entertainment. They have the unique ability to transport us to distant lands and times gone by, while teaching us timeless lessons about life and human nature. In this book, I have created stories that contain the essence and charm of personal development.

They tell of challenges, of special places and of courageous decisions, of the strength of the heart, of the importance of friendship and of the power of love.

As you move from story to story, you will discover life paths paved with surprises. You will find yourself in picturesque and futuristic landscapes and take part in adventurous events that will give you the opportunity to see the world with new eyes.

These short stories are designed to ignite your mind, inspire your imagination, and take you on a journey that will enrich you. Each story is its own little universe to explore - with all its secrets, wonders, and unforgettable moments.

I would be delighted if you find both relaxation and inspiration in these pages. Sink into your favorite reading chair and immerse yourself in “Love Labyrinth – Inspiring Paths of Happiness – Unforgettable Short Stories”. Enjoy reading!

Sincerely,

Astrid F. Schneider

Alina and the baby seal

I love sitting on the bench for a moment after work, breathing in the salty air and watching the small, white sailing boats on the horizon. Sometimes Sven, head of the seal station, right behind my beach chair rental, comes along. Sven is like a favorite sweater. He envelops me with his warmth and makes me feel safe, and even though after all these years I should actually discard him, I could not imagine life without him.

A sailing boat on the horizon gets bigger and bigger and I recognize Hinnerk’s funny pirate flag.

“Well, Alina, are you watching the pirate again?” a passerby asks.

I feel caught, heat slowly creeps up my cheeks and makes them glow. I have been in love with Hinnerk for ages.

"Yes, at this time of day Hinnerk has sailing beginners on board." I dreamily draw circles in the sand with a stick. "I know the Calypso's schedule." I turn back to the sailboat. I always have the same vision: Hinnerk and I sailing into the evening sun with our two children. How I would love to have a family again; I can hardly remember mine.

“And when are you going sailing with him?”

I don’t really want to answer that, but I turn to him anyway: “I would love to, but you can’t go sailing if you can’t swim!”

Suddenly a small commotion down by the water catches my attention. I stand up to get a better look.

“Alina, help, quickly, there’s a baby seal stranded.” Two neighboring girls from our town run towards me, take my hands and pull me down to the beach.

"Well then, let's go..." I turn around again, apologetic but grateful for the end of this rambling. The hoarse howl of the baby seal sounds exhausted and heartbreaking. It is lying alone on the sandbank and seems to have lost its mother. The channel is still far too full of water and I know the strong current would tear my feet away and my life with it. Terrible images from the past keep coming back to me and sometimes I still have nightmares about that day.

“Alina, please do something, otherwise it will die!” The two girls start to cry quietly.

“Why didn’t you just run to Sven?”

“He’s not there! Why can’t you just save it? It’s not far!”

"Because I can't swim," I scream. I don't want to yell at them, but now it's too late. The tears are rolling. I kneel down and try to comfort them.

"You know what, I'll run up quickly and try to reach Sven on his cell phone, then he'll probably be here as soon as possible. So, you watch what the howler does, and I'll be right back, but you have to promise me that you won't go into the water."

“Promise,” comes out in synchronicity, they hold hands, “we can’t swim either!”

They're so sweet. I quickly wipe away their tears with my sleeve, and mine too, then I run up the little hill.

“Seal station Dangast, how can I help?” Sven’s voice is velvety and immediately calms me down.

“Sven, it's Alina.”

“Keep it brief, you little beach chair Siren, we’re in the middle of a rescue operation.”

Beach chair siren! That's what he always says and somehow, I feel flattered. I know he likes me, a lot in fact, but even though I like tall men, Sven is just not my type.

“We have an abandoned baby seal on the sandbank near beach chair 19.”

"Ok, go back and keep an eye on it, I'll be there as soon as I can, but it'll be a while."

I go back to the beach, take the two girls in my arms and sit down with them in the sand.

“Sven said we should be careful.”

“Ok,” they both nod, “but we have to go home soon, it’s almost six o’clock.”

"Okay, then I'll wait for Sven alone. I can do it!" I encourage the two. They run away, reassured. I stare at the howler, all alone on the sandbank, his fate and mine somehow intertwined. The howling becomes more and more desperate, or is it my feelings? I want to help, but I can't. I go to the water. The water is still too deep. I've never asked myself why the North Sea is brown and the water in the veins of the Wadden Sea is crystal clear. But today this deceptive clarity somehow concerns me. It's like my secret love for Hinnerk, basically clear. How can you love something so much that you're also so afraid of? If I didn't have such respect for the sea, I would be sitting on Hinnerk's boat right now, holding our children in my arms and enjoying our family happiness. My helplessness makes me angry. I feel the sand beneath me. I scratch little holes into the beach with my feet, but that doesn't calm me down, on the contrary. I have uncovered cool, clammy water puddles that are seeping through my jeans and slowly up my trouser.

“Alina, there you are!”

Sven throws out his hand like an anchor. With a twist of his upper body, he swings around and bends forward. I cling to him and let him pull me up.

"If the baby seal doesn't survive, I'll never forgive myself! I have to learn to swim."

Sven takes me in his arms, brushes a strand of hair from my face:

"You should have done that a long time ago!" He looks around. "But even good swimmers can't get through there now, we're doing what we can. Just a few more minutes and we can get going."

“Then it’s too late!” I complain.

“Alina, safety comes first. I also need to get a transport basket.”

"You don't have that with you? I told you that we have to save a baby seal! We're wasting precious time that we don't have!" I can't hide my disappointment. With long strides and a:

"I 'll hurry!" Sven disappears behind the hill. His return takes far too long. When he finally reappears with the basket, the howling is already very faint.

"I'll try to bring the baby seal over like this, then we'll put it in the basket and carry it together to the seal station, OK?"

All I can manage is a resigned “OK.”

When Sven finally puts the little howler in my arms to cut away the plastic waste that he is tangled up in, I look into those sweet button eyes. They look sad and exhausted. We go to the seal station, give the little one water and take care of him as best we can. I'm cold.

“Your lips are all blue!” Sven’s worried gaze meets mine.

“You, too!” I say and watch as Sven puts a log into the stove, then puts a pot of water on top.

"You have to get out of your wet clothes! You can choose the coziest blanket. We'll hang the clothes up to dry and I'll make us a warming grog." Grinning, he hands me two faux fur blankets and turns to his special recipe.

Too tired and too cold to argue, I do what he says.

"This grog is amazing!" I close my eyes and take in the wonderful smell. "It's not just sugar water with rum and lemon, there's something else in it! What's the secret ingredient? Cinnamon? Can I have another one?"

“Not so fast! This is a pretty strong drink.”

“Sven, please!” I hand him my cup. “I’m still cold. This stuff is really good.”

“Well then, your responsibility!” Sven pours us another drink and snuggles up to me, he rubs my arms and I feel the heat of his body. I drink my grog in greedy gulps savoring the tingling down my throat, warmth spreading inside me.

“Why are you so afraid of water, what actually happened back then?” he asks.

I hold my cup out to him: “Booze against talks from the past.”

Sven's curiosity wins out over his otherwise sensible self. I can feel the alcohol taking effect on me; my ears are hot, and my head is a little foggy.

"So, once upon a time..." I pause to concentrate. The images in my mind's eye are blurry. I see my mother trying to come over to me from the sandbank to save me, but the tidal channel tears her feet away. Her cries for help, shrill and loud, ring in my ears. I want to tell Sven, but I can't get any words out. I take the last sip and start to tremble.

“I… I need another one!”

"I'll put another pot on," Sven, strokes my head, trying to calm me down, "and I'll quickly check on our little howler. I'll be right back."

Under the second blanket that he puts around my shoulders, I finally feel warm, and the tension turns to tiredness and sadness. The memories still hurt. In the distance I hear my father yelling and see his torn gaze, which alternately scans me and my mother: "Eva, don't swim against it, let yourself drift, I'll be with you in a minute!" But my mother can't hear him. She's kicking in total panic. I, on the other hand, feel a firm embrace and cling to the strong arms that are now encircling me.

“My little Alina, I love you so much.”

"Hold me tight," I beg him. Safety and security envelop me. "Please don't let go!" This strange waking dream fades, but the strong arms remain. Sven's voice becomes clearer and clearer.

“The pot is bubbling, if I don’t go now, it will boil over.”

"Sorry!" I let go of Sven, taken aback. "Sorry, I think that was all a bit much today." Embarrassed, I cling to the empty cup. "How is the baby seal?"

Sven's eyes already give away the answer. "I don't know, but it doesn’t look good."

I start to whimp, Sven tries to comfort me with another grog. His closeness feels good, he is so sweet, and he starts to touch me. Something in my brain is suddenly activated, I let myself be explored by his hands, heat rises up, I caress him back. A warm light dances through the small hatch in the stove and spreads this romantic half-darkness and flickering in the room. Our shadows on the wall merge. We make love as if it were the most natural thing in the world, tender moments and pure greed alternate. His last gasp sends waves of lust through my body. Completely exhausted, we fall asleep.

When I wake up, Sven is standing in the doorway, his forearm stretched out and leaning against the doorframe. His well-trained upper body is a feast for the eyes, although there is a long scar running across his chest. The open jeans could be intentional, but I see that a button is missing. He is looking at the floor.

“Sven, what’s going on?”

He looks up and has tears in his eyes. "The baby seal, it has, I mean, it is ..."

"No!" I stand up, "No, no, no!" I pound on his chest with all my force. He lets me do it. Suddenly he grabs my hands, lets go again and grabs my face, he wants to kiss my anger away, but I can't deal with that right now. It's his fault that the baby seal didn't survive.

"The whole rescue operation took far too long," I yell at him as I get dressed. I actually have to admit that I'm just as guilty of the death of the howler. On the way home I decide to finally take a swimming lessons, the requirement for a sailing course with Hinnerk. My cell phone rings non-stop. Apologies and messages from Sven: Please get in touch. You have every right in the world to be angry with me, and my little Alina, I love you so much.

I've heard that somewhere before. My emotions are going crazy. That was Sven's voice. Did he really say that? Sven's calls will die down over time. First swimming lessons, then sailing with Hinnerk, I made up my mind.

Weeks later, I finally venture to see Hinnerk. He is sitting in his office on the Calypso. This old boat is his everything, he works here and he lives here too.

"Alina, what a surprise! Actually, there is a strict no-entry ban for sirens here..." Laughing, he scans me up and down. Then he gets up from his chair and comes towards me. His hug lasts a moment too long and he is a little too close to me. When he lets go of the hug, he brushes my chest as if by accident and purrs like an old cat. "Hinnerk," as I take a breath, he interrupts me.

“Yes, sweetheart?” He squints his eyes slightly, his gaze going straight through me and almost leaving me speechless.

“I want to take a sailing course with you, so, it’s out.” I’m sure embarrassement has colored my cheeks bright red.

“Ok, Sweetie,” a smug grin stretches from ear to ear and that look is back on his face. “Then let’s do a little seaworthiness test.”

He pulls off the mooring lines and throws them back on land. We are at sea. Just the two of us. I have dreamed of this for so long. He teaches me untangle the lines and how to stow them properly, and he also lets me steer. "Starboard, port," Hinnerk orders me around. Like in the cheesiest movie scene, he stands right behind me and reaches over my shoulders to grab my hands and hold me tight. "We'll anchor up there and enjoy the sun," he says and gives me a hot kiss in the crook of my neck. Does he really just want to enjoy the sun? It doesn't matter! Whatever he has in mind, I’ll give in...

"Done!" With a few professional maneuvers, the Calypso is anchored near the beach. The setting sun slowly bathes everything in an unreal light. "And now to you, my darling." My heart is pounding and Hinnerk takes what he wants. He fucks hard and unromantically. Within two minutes, everything is done, and he falls asleep. I feel like a rag, dirty and used. One message after another, lights up on his cell phone. I grab it and start reading, I can only see half of it because tears are blurring my eyes:

Last night, horny, sailing into my pleasure port. Bing! A nude picture of a woman with large breasts, a kilo of make-up on her face and red-dyed hair. I feel sick.

Hinnerk is lying naked in his bunk, I look at him, for the first time in my life, I see him for what he is. My instinct screams: "Run" and "get away from here, as far as you can!" But how? I jump and swim. The water is cold, it's the end of September! I swim faster. The beach seemed so close and now I can't move. I swim against the current and against everything that is rising up inside me, anger at myself, shame and especially against being alone. I long for Sven. My strength is waning.

Someone pulls open my eyelid and shines a light inside. The white coat blinds me. I panic. "Where am I?"

"Alina, everything is fine. You little beach chair Siren, you shocked me to the core. You're in the hospital." Sven's voice is calming me down immediately. He holds my hand and is simply there, whenever I need him. A doctor leans over me, feels my forehead briefly and touches my belly: "You both just need a few days of rest to recover from your swimming adventure."

“What do you mean by both?” The man in white is gone already.

“Alina, you’re pregnant. Ninth week, he said.” Sven’s eyes are full of love, and mine are too, because one thing is clear:

“We are pregnant. We!”

The Red Rose

prolog

Do their frightened faces signal concern or is it malice?

I hear them gossiping:

"Did you see that?"

“How can this happen? Is the hole not big enough?”

"That's a sign!"

“If she had taken a white roses, they would have fallen in.”

"What is that supposed to mean?"

“She just can’t throw!”

After the third attempt, I give up. Sad and desperate, I look at the red rose that just doesn't want to fall into the grave with the urn. The hole is big enough, I stand right in front of it, stretch out my hand, and my rose lands next to the hole, again and again. I am ashamed and let my tears run freely, swelling down my cheeks through a thick layer of make-up. I can't move, can't speak, and I feel like I'm an insubstantial observer of this grotesque situation. As if from another world, increasingly loud noises echo in my ears. First the crunching of a small shovel, then the crackling of sand and stones on the urn. Crunching and crackling alternate.