Chapter I
The wind rushed through the leaves of the old oak that stood in front of an old, almost crumbled house. Nobody had lived here for a long time. As a result, the old beauty of the house faded and it looked sad and lonely.
Once upon a time, many children gave the house its splendor and beauty; the little ones' laughter filled the surroundings with a touch of freedom and peace. But now, 120 years after this time, the house should regain its old splendor and beauty.

~
The moving van stood in front of the splendid, old door, which was decorated with old paintings and carvings. She had never seen anything like it before. She had never been so enchanted. It ran down her spine as cold as ice. This beauty - this freedom - this calm. A faint but friendly smile spread across her face.
Just a few days ago she was tired of moving to a new city, a new environment.Her father kept thinking about something new. Because of his work he was forced to move frequently. New orders meant a new change of location.
She was fed up with it, but now - finally - this should be the place where they wanted to stay - an idyllic old house on the edge of the forest and only a few hundred meters from the village center. She loved it.
After a moment she put her hand on the handle of the old door and gently pushed it down after turning the key in the lock. With little strength she pushed the door open and was fascinated. The house looked beautiful to her from the outside, but that?
She entered. Gently put one foot in front of the other and let her gaze wander. The windows looked a lot nicer from the inside than they were from the outside. This art must have come from the baroque period. Her gaze began to continue observing. There were murals on the ceiling in the great corridor. By taking a closer look she recognized an angel who stretched out his hand to a person, but this person did not seem to react."Fascinating!"
She put both hands on the back of her neck.
She walked slowly further into the house and took a few steps up the stairs. Every step on one of the steps cracked, as the stairs were already quite rotten and old. But that didn't deter them. She was already caught up in the magic of this house.
"Hall?"
A voice pierced her absence and she turned around in a flash.
"Yes father?"
She looked at an older man in his 40s. It was her father - a "weirdo" as everyone called him. To this day he was convinced that there would be a parallel world to ours. But nobody wanted to believe that he was right. No, for everyone it was just a madman's madness who had tragically lost his wife.
Halle went up to her father and gave him a delighted look. It had been a long time since her father had seen that smile. Since her mother's disappearance, Halle had been withdrawn, avoided any contact with the outside world and was almost silent.Every conversation that her father wanted to start with her, she dropped with a few words. There was only one means of communication to which she remained faithful - "Cans", her diary.
She got it shortly before her mother disappeared. Halle had never really taken the fact that she was suddenly no longer there; that part of her life was lost.
"Let's bring the things to the room, then we can explore the area together."
Her father gave her a friendly look that Halle did not take. Her head was bowed, her arms clasped around her body as if she wanted to protect herself from someone or something.
A quick nod was the answer to her father's suggestion.
With a jerk she took her backpack on her back, took her suitcase in one hand and the sleeping bag in the other.
Fully laden and with heavy steps, she went up the stairs, each step a new squeeze. Once at the top, she strolled down the long corridor that lay in front of her.She had no idea what was hidden in all the rooms, she only knew that she wanted to go to the room at the end of the hall; of the one that had a narrow door that gleamed with freedom. When she got to the door, she dropped her suitcase and sleeping bag and looked at the carvings in the door. She had never seen anything like it in her entire life. This picture resembled a fairy tale that her mother had told her as a small child.
She was amazed at the magnificence of this picture - an elf, playing with a grape, sitting high on a thin branch of an old tree. She let the picture soak for a few minutes until she decided to open the door to the room.
The room in which she was now was not particularly large, rather small, dusty and quite filthy. But she didn't mind. She threw her things next to the bed in it and then picked up her sleeping bag.She opened it and laid it on the bed before throwing herself on it and daydreaming.
"And did you find a nice room?"
Her father looked through the crack in the door and then entered. Halle gave him a satisfied nod.
"I like it here, father. Everything is so peaceful here and when you look out the window you can see the old oak in front of the house."
She sighed briefly.
"If only Mum were here. She would surely like it here too. After all, she loved nature and freedom so much. She loved it when the birds sang her out of her sleep in the morning and the wind caressed her hair. . "
Gavin, that was her father's name, sat down next to his daughter on the bed and put his arms around her. He knew full well that he would never find the right words to comfort her now, but that didn't stop him.
"Your mum would be very proud of you now too." he said in a gentle tone as he gently stroked her hair."Take a rest now, we'll talk more later. If you want you can also get some fresh air; unfortunately I still have something to do!"
He gave Halle a gentle kiss on the forehead before leaving the room. Halle sank back on her bed with a big sigh, folded his arms behind her head and thought about it. So many thoughts went through her head; so many that after a few minutes of thought she fell asleep.

The next morning she was awakened by the chirping of birds that sat on the ledge of her window. She rubbed her eyes, crawled a little unsteadily out of bed, and then began to make her way down to the kitchen of the house. With a map of the house given by her father, she knew exactly where all the rooms in the house were. The kitchen had to be downstairs.
When she reached the large corridor, she picked up the map.
"Right along and the third door on the left." she mumbled softly to herself as she began to go there."Good Morning"
Her father met her in a good mood in the morning. Put an arm around her shoulder and smiled happily.
"What are you up to today, my darling?" he asked his daughter and she looked at him somewhat depressed.
"I'll take a closer look at the area."
She grabbed the bun that her father had in his hand and took a hearty bite.
"Thank you father and see you later!"
Before her father could say anything, she ran back down the path, opened the door of the house, and disappeared. Gavin just shook his head slightly and then made his way into his newly furnished study.