Chapter 1
The next morning I woke up in the hospital. Why for God's sake was I in the hospital? It slowly dawned on me. The movie I was watching was over and I was about to go to bed when the doorbell rang. I looked through the spy and saw that a policeman was standing in front of the door. You know from Hollywood films that the police can only bring bad news when he comes at the most ungodly times. I opened the door and asked him to come in.
"Are you Mayra Lübeck?" asked he.
"Yes, what can I do for you?"
"I have bad news to bring you. Your parents were killed in a car accident ..."
I didn't hear anything else, he probably wanted to say more, but I guess I broke down.
And now I'm lying in the hospital, heartbroken with tearful eyes. A colleague of my mother's, named Michael, and a policeman, I think it was yesterday's one who had won the lottery and informed me about the death of my parents, came into the room in which I was lying now."Say, Mayra, do you have any relatives you could go to?" the policeman asked me.
"Nope." I lied, because I already had some. Namely my aunt and uncle, but I didn't want to go to them. They treat me like a baby and get upset about every speck of dust. I would be crazy to go there voluntarily.
"Then you have to go to a home." said the policeman.
I was close to crying again, but could still pull myself together.
"We'll leave you alone for now, okay?" asked Michael.
I nodded, but had made a decision. Ten horses wouldn't get me into the home!
I wanted to run away. Immediately. I grabbed the things I thought I needed most and ran out of the window.
Michael had been smart enough to let me move to the bottom floor. I left the hospital compound without being seen and ran down the street. Then, out of sight of the hospital, I hid in an alley.There I took a breather first. I was crying again and this time I really howled. I must have fallen asleep because when I woke up it was early in the morning. I hid my things in a cardboard box that were lying around here and went to explore the area. When I went into a side street, I was surrounded by teenagers. They didn't say they laughed at me for that. I was afraid that one of them would pull out his knife and kill me.
Suddenly one of them pointed behind me. The biggest of them cursed and they all disappeared. I didn't dare to turn around, who knows what to expect. But finally I turned around. I couldn't stand like this all my life. And what it said wasn't that bad. It was a dog and a sweet one at that. He looked like a wolf, but he stood there like a puppy who wants to play. Head tilted and tail wagging.I didn't know what to do, but then the decision was made for me. A boy came around the corner and behind him a horse. I recognized the boy immediately, it was Charly who came around the corner and grinned at me.
He recognized me too.
"What are you doing here?" asked he.
I told him that my parents were in a fatal car accident and that I should go to the home.
"I just ran away."
"Without knowing where to go?" he wanted to know
“I haven't thought about that,” I said guiltily.
"You should have done it. If you want, you can stay with me for a while." "But how, you're a street boy, or am I wrong?" I asked astonished.
"Yes, I am, so what. Do you think that street children can't have a roof over their heads. Not as you know it with television and such, but at least."
I accepted his offer and so we ran side by side, followed by horse and wolf, towards the outskirts.I felt good around him, very good indeed. I think I fell in love with Charly. I don't just think I know.

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I'm always happy about your clerks, of course, the more the better.

Your Marika