StarDog

This story is part of a set of short stories, all about dogs and the
people they find themselves with. The stories have been published in
their original language -German- and are currently in print as
"HundeTraum" by Oertel und Spoerer.
With these translations I hope to attract a publisher for the English
market.

Stardog

The fog grew ever denser, until it had acquired an almost tangible,
solid form, swallowing both light and sound. Veronica stared intently
at the diminishing taillights of the cars in front of her. Why didn't
the driver turn on his fog lights in this soup? She pressed down on the
accelerator in order not to lose her only orientation in the thick fog.
Her daughter Anneli was asleep in the passenger seat, blissfully
unaware of the hazardous conditions. She held her kitten snugly to her,
a little tiger, it was asleep also. Veronica didn't enjoy these
twice-monthly trips to take Anneli to her father, because he'd had to
give up his driver's license. On the other hand at least she was spared
the worry the aggressive and reckless driving of her ex-husband
instilled in her. She sighed. Why had she given in to Anneli's
badgering and pestering, and not waited until the next morning? Anneli
had always preferred her dad. she realised again bitterly, but ever
since the divorce she had turned him into a god.
The taillights finally disappeared into the fog altogether, but she
didn't dare speed up any more to catch them. Her eyes strained for the
final orientation, the intermittent lines on the road directly in front
of the car.
Anneli woke up and yawned. "Aren't we there yet?" She then sat up
straighter and said surprised : "Mom this is not the right way! There's
got to be trees there!"
"There are trees there, but you can't see them for this pea soup. We
shouldn't be driving here at all, and I've got to drive back through
this mess as well."
"Can't you stay with dad?"
"Oh come on, you know very well I can't."
"What, because of his girlfriend? She's not at all like you think,
she's great! Eh, little Kit, you like her as well, don't you?" and
stuck her nose in the warm fur of her cat, which stretched comfortable
and upped its purring a notch.
Veronica fell into a hurt silence and tried to concentrate on the
minimal stretch of visibility in front of the car. She hated this trip,
she hated Herbert, his girlfriend, herself, she hated everything.
There.. she thought she caught a glimpse of those taillights again. Yes
she was catching them up, it's got to be a truck. She took up position
behind the truck, adjusted the car's speed, and breathed more freely.
It was a lot easier just following some other car.
"It's taking really long, today" said Anneli after a long
silence.
"That's because we're driving a lot slower than usual," replied
Veronica, but at the same time she started wondering whether they may
have missed the turnoff. They could very well have done. There were no
landmarks visible, no signs, nothing. There was nothing she could do
except continue driving and hope that sometime they might get out of
this dense fog. She pictured a nice hotel, a warm bath and a glass of
wine, and then the next day drop off Anneli and the kitten at Herbert,
well rested and in good spirits. Her eyes were burning from the strain
of staring ahead, God, she was so tired.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a cry from Anneli : "Mom, look! It's
getting lighter. We're coming to some town!"
It had indeed become lighter, it looked like the night was giving way
to morning, but the fog remained thick as ever, impenetrable it allowed
no view of anything familiar. But a few diffused rays of light gave
rise to the hope that it would not take much longer now. What was the
source of these lights? Flashlights? Searchlights? Streetlights even,
or maybe an aeroplane or helicopter? She could hear a peculiar faint
whining noise, of engines maybe? The light had an eerie, cold green
quality, but at the same time seemed to lie like a protecting blanket
over the area, as though it might tear apart this fog at any moment
now. Veronica looked up into the light. fascinated. Too late she
realised she had been following a truck, she snapped her eyes back down
to street level in time to see the taillights of the the truck seem to
jump back at her. There was just that screech of tyres, the impact and
groaning metal. Then only silence and darkness.

Slowly Anneli opened her eyes. Noises were coming at her from a
distance, sounds of metal being worked, the hum of heavy machinery, and
voices that seemed to be approaching. They sounded shrill and
threatening and became louder still. Beams of light danced to and fro.
She wondered where she was, her hands felt wet, where she was still
clutching her kitten which was jammed between her knees and the
dashboard of the car. In the passing illumination of a strafing
flashlight she saw a tiny trickle of blood flowing from the little
cat's nose. Then she saw her mother slumped over the wheel, her eyes
wide open. Anneli was suddenly gripped by panic.
She thought she cried :"---Mom!---", but no words came across her lips,
only a rattle followed by an inarticulate scream.
No, that couldn't be mom! It wasn't her mom! She'd never seen this
woman before. This is a nightmare, it's not real!
A mild breath of fresh air cooled the sweat on her forehead and she
noticed the car door was wedged half open. She squeezed herself out
through the gap, still clutching her cat, and started walking, not
daring to stop and look around her, her fear pursuing her like a
predator's hot breath. She stumbled down the bank by the road, across
wet grass and came to a halt, at a loss, as though she had lost
something. Gently, she put the body of her kitten down on the ground
and sat down next to it.
"Poor little kit", she muttered, "poor little kit".

From this place she observed the scene of the accident with complete
distance. She regarded the hectic to and fro, the floodlights and hand
torches, picked up snippets of conversation, heard screaming, sirens,
crunching of glass underfoot, the hard metallic noise of the clearing-
and rescue efforts of the police and fire brigade, mixed with cries and
moans and shouted directions from the medics. Without any idea of time
or place, without any thought and completely absentmindedly she took it
all in.
She saw someone approaching her and observed him closely. He wore a
white coverall and his silver helmet seemed to emit light. When he
opened the visor, she looked into a narrow, pale face with large dark
eyes. He carried a small dog under one arm.
"I saw you sitting here. Why are you alone?" he asked.
Anneli looked at him and tried to collect her wits.
"Did you come from over there?" he pointed in the direction of the
motorway.
She didn't remember this, but nodded in agreement anyway.
"And that is your cat?"
She looked at the dead animal and shook her head.
"Are you hurt? Do you have pain somewhere?" He carefully took her
bloody hands in his and studied them closely.
"No, that's not mine, I'm all right, that's the cat's blood."
"And why are you here? Are you waiting for someone?"
"Yes", she answered and looked at him helplessly. What was she to do?
What? What? She tried to force herself to think, but she could focus on
nothing else except what went on directly around her.
"Would you like to help me?" he asked.
His soft voice soothed her panic a little and made her feel slightly
better.
"Could you keep an eye on this dog for a while and hang on to him
closely? Here is his lead. I have to help over there. I won't be long,
I'll be back very soon."
Anneli took the little dog in her arms and pressed it close to her. It
felt very warm and woolly and gave her a comfortable feeling of
home.
"What's his name?" she asked.
"Jupiter. And what's yours?"
She looked at him blankly and bent over the dog.
"Jupiter - Jupiter", she whispered repeatedly, looking at the man in
the white coveralls who now hurried back to the road with hasty
steps.
The dog sniffed her hands attentively and licked them then, over and
over, until not a speck of blood could be found on them. Anneli pressed
her face into Jupiter's soft curly fur. It smelled good, warm and a
little moist, it smelled of farmyard, barn or simply just like country
trail? She studied him closer now. He was not much larger than the dead
cat that lay beside her. As far as she could tell in the dark, his fur
was black, only around the muzzle was it a little lighter in colour.
The very tip of its dark tail ended in a white speck.
"Jupiter!" she said, louder now and was pleased to see that he looked
up at her. He trembled, pressed himself against her and pushed his head
into her lap as if he wanted to hide. She kept a firm grip on him with
her right arm, so that he could not suddenly tear himself loose, while
with her left, she stroked him softly over his head and back.
She kept an eye on the road and tried to spot the man in the white
coveralls with the silver helmet among the bustle. But she could see
no-one who looked like him.
Only now did she begin feeling the cold and the damp, and even
Jupiter's warmth couldn't stop her from shivering.
A searchlight strafed the edge of the road, found her, and lingered.
The eyes of the dog lit up green as though somebody had flipped a
switch. Anneli was blinded at first, then felt disappointment at
discovering that these were strangers, not the man she had been
expecting to return. A woman in a white overcoat bent over to
her.
"Come on, you can't just sit here in the dark and the cold. Are you all
right? Do you have pain anywhere?" Anneli just shook her head.
"How did you get here? Where are your parents?" Parents.
Parents? Does she have parents? So where are they? She strained to
remember something, anything, to conjure up some images but her mind
only gave a blank and lifeless return. "Why was she sitting here in the
wet grass?"
"What's your name?" she heard the woman ask. And again she tried to
think in dismay. A name, she had to have a name, but she could think
all she wanted, there was nothing there, a big nothingness, a complete
blank. Only the fear returned now, a faceless, stifling fear. The only
familiar things were the dog and the man whose return she somehow
anticipated.
"His name is Jupiter" she pointed at the dog. "And your cat?" asked the
woman softly.
"I don't know. I found it. It's dead. It's dead isn't it?" She looked
at the woman for help.
"Right, first you're coming with us, you have to have a warm drink,
you're practically frozen, you're so cold." The policeman next to her
hunched his shoulders and tapped his forehead once. But Anneli saw the
gesture and her confusion mounted. "I've got to stay here and wait, I
promised!"
"That's impossible" the woman said energetically, and took her by the
hand. "We're going over there, to the First Aid, you'll probably find
your folks there. I bet they're already looking all over for
you."
So Anneli gently put the dog down on the ground and held its lead very
short to keep it close to her. She went along protesting weakly.
First Aid had set up in the dining room of a local pub that sat by a
small road just off the motorway. The doctor was finishing up, treating
some lesser injuries. The severely injured had long been taken by
ambulance to the nearest hospital. Still people arrived asking
anxiously about their family and friends. Some clung to each other
sobbing, some just sat and stared helplessly and dumbfounded, others,
relieved that they were spared great misery, were talking and laughing
nervously.
The woman brought Anneli a bowl of hot soup and a dish of water for the
dog. She noted with some satisfaction that the child was regaining some
colour. She went around the room, asking everyone present whether they
knew the girl or had seen her before, or knew with whom she was
supposed to be. But no-one knew her or had seen her before. Shaking
their heads, they couldn't even remember whether anyone had asked for
the child or the dog.
Every time the door opened, Anneli looked up, only to have her hopes
dashed. Many came in, but none was the man in the white
coveralls.

"Could you have a look at the little girl?" the woman had asked the
emergency doctor, "there's something wrong there." The doctor had just
bandaged a final patient and was lighting a cigarette. He glanced at
the girl, sitting with the dog in a corner by the door. "I just need to
sit down for a moment" he told himself, sat down and stretched his
weary legs. He took a long haul on his cigarette, blew small circles of
smoke and stared after them, rather pleased with how they turned
out.

The dog had grown restless. It paced back and forth and pulled on the
lead. Of course, thought Anneli, the little guy had to go outside. She
got up and worked her way through the throng of people to the exit and
into the fresh air. The car park was full of cars and a multitude of
people stood in the road, some were running around, others pointed.
They all looked up to a place in the Eastern sky and pointed at an
elliptic shape that emitted a harsh greenish light and was slowly
disappearing in the distance.

"I was blinded for over an hour, and my eyes are still burning" said a
young, rather fat, man. "The thing was right over me, all I could see
was this blinding light!"
"Radioactive, maybe there was radiation!" screeched a frantic woman's
voice. "Nonsense, that was a UFO, can't you see? Just look at that
shape and the strange eerie light, and the speed at which it
disappears."
"It was hovering around here all evening" another shouted, "it's what
caused this pile-up, this huge car-crash. Everyone was blinded and who
knows, maybe even stunned!"
"They've seen aliens, white men with shiny helmets", said a young woman
hesitantly, as if she found the idea rather ludicrous herself. "They?
Who they?" sneered an older man sporting an enormous beer belly. "Who
they?"
"Well, you know, people," the woman said, embarrassed. "People, the
people," the old man growled, "the weirdest tales get the most
attention!"
"No, she may be right," cried a well-dressed man. "I've read a lot
about this and I've seen programmes about UFOs and aliens on the
television. They really exist! And they're not really that different
from us, just their eyes are larger. And you can recognise them by the
their hands: they've only got four fingers on each hand." "Four
fingers? That really cracks me up! What complete rubbish!" the old man
with the beer belly shouted and spat a dismissive noise through the gap
in his teeth.

The mob now grouped itself around the man who seemed to know all about
it and bombarded him with questions. Anneli stood among them and stared
after the disappearing lights, her mouth gaping. Didn't that woman just
mention white men with shiny helmets? She remembered a man in a white
coverall with a shining helmet. She pressed Jupiter close and
whispered: "He'll be back. He'll be back. He promised, didn't he?" And
the word Alien became a magic spell, mysterious and at the same time
familiar. The dog pulled her to the curb and took an eternity to sniff
at every blade of grass and the few small, sad bushes in detail.
Finally he lifted his leg and then sat down expectantly next to her. It
was still cold outside and Anneli was tired. Slowly, they returned to
the pub.
"You will find your folks there," the woman had said. "My folks? What
folks?" Again she strained to remember something. How did she get here?
And with whom? The only image that was crystal-clear, was the man who
had entrusted Jupiter to her care. He was the only one she knew, the
only one she could ask, he would know, of course. Would he have trusted
her with his dog otherwise? So where was he? She sat down on a chair
that stood to the side in a small recess, hoisted the dog onto her lap
and buried her head in his coat. The hum of voices lulled her into a
light sleep.
Herbert walked over to the telephone for the umpteenth time. He let it
ring forever. Ilse, seated in front of the television looked at him
questioningly.
"Still no-one answers. Veronika has been on the way for hours now. They
should have been here for ages by now. She's never been this late!" He
glanced at the clock. "It's almost ten o'clock!" and he hopped
agitatedly from one leg to the other.
"Don't get all upset. Maybe she's taken a detour, stopped off at a
friend or an acquaintance and simply stayed longer than she thought she
would."
"Veronika? She doesn't have friends. And even if she did, she wouldn't
be this late!"
Ilse threw him a sarcastic and critical look. Suddenly Herbert froze in
his pacing and stared transfixed at the television screen.
"Oh my God! Look! Do you see that?"
They were looking at a huge jumble of wrecked cars and rescue attempts.
The news reader reported a major traffic accident on the E4, probably
caused by fog and an as yet unexplained bright, blinding light. He gave
a telephone number of the crisis centre for those with reason to fear
for the safety and wellbeing of their relatives and friends.
"Write that down!", rasped Herbert pale as a sheet. A superfluous
command, for Ilse had already jotted down the number.
"You'd better sit down first", and she pressed a glass of wine into his
hand, "and don't tempt fate with wild scenarios, I'll make the call and
get some information."
He gave her a grateful look and emptied his glass in one long
draught.
She finally got through and was given another number that was equally
busy for an endless time. Finally, after much dialling of various
numbers and endless waiting, she found out that Veronika had been taken
to hospital, still unconscious but out of danger.
"And Anneli? What about Anneli?"
"They couldn't tell me anything about her. But don't worry, no news is
good news! Come on, let's get to that hospital."
It was getting late as they arrived at the hospital, inquiring at the
information booth. They were received with professional, if somewhat
cool, friendliness and told that, yes, Veronika was here in hospital,
and that they had, as far as anyone could see, no reason to worry.
They'd best return the next morning around ten to speak with the chief
medical officer, after he'd finished his rounds.
"But that's totally unacceptable!" struggled Herbert, "I must talk with
my wife! I have to know what happened to my daughter, whether she's all
right, where I can find her. Don't you understand!"
"I'm afraid that's utterly impossible", retorted the information lady,
"but if you would take a seat over there, I'll call the nurse on night
shift of that ward, she might have heard something."
Herbert couldn't sit. He paced back and forth and again and again, and
it seemed to take forever for the lady to put the receiver down and
come over to them.
"I'm sorry, but the nurse hasn't spoken with your wife. She was already
asleep as she came in." Yes, she had been conscious, had been given
tranquillisers and painkillers, for she had been suffering from a total
nervous breakdown, not surprising after experiencing an accident like
this. But he could rest assured, apart from shock, a broken arm,
concussion and a few bruises, she'd come through this ordeal remarkably
well.
Herbert seized her by the shoulders. "And what about my daughter? What
had she said? What? What?"
"I really don't know anything about your daughter, but if you would be
patient for a little while, I'll try and find out. What is her name,
age and address?"
And again it took forever. Ilse wanted to console him and put an arm
around his shoulder, but he shoved it away roughly.
"Don't do that!" he hissed.
She said nothing and went over to the information booth, where she now
learned that there was no patient of that name and age at the
hospital.
"Your best bet would be to enquire with the police", the lady opined,
and asked: "Shall I call them for you?"
Ilse nodded and spoke with the duty sergeant, who couldn't help, other
than give her the crisis centre's number again. But there too no-one
had heard of a girl of that name and age. But maybe she could find out
something at first aid, closest to the scene of the accident. They gave
her yet another telephone number and an address. Herbert had been
watching the proceedings for some while, getting more restless and
angrier all the while.
"No more 'phone calls!" he ordered. "We're going over there."
They set off, still very hopeful, but also very concerned.

Anneli felt a hand on her shoulder. Even before she had opened her
eyes, she could feel a blinding light, of an incredible intensity. The
dog jumped from her lap and wagged its tail hard against her
legs.
"Jupiter! Jupiter, stay!" she cried in alarm and rubbed her eyes, but
everything around her was bathed in the intense light so she could see
nothing.
"Give me your hand", said a voice, the only voice in the world she
could recognise, the voice she had been waiting for all the time. A
sense of wellbeing flowed through her, safety and protection covered
her. She stretched out her hand and laid it in the hand of the man in
the white coveralls, whom she could sense, even if she could not see
him. And while she held that hand, never to let go again, she counted:
one, two, three, four fingers. She counted again, and once more. Each
time she counted four fingers.
She asked: "Where are we going?"
"Home", he answered in his soft voice, lifted her up and walked with
long floating strides towards an eerie incandescent form that opened
and enveloped them in a silky darkness. She hung on to Jupiter, sitting
in her lap again, for they were grasped by a whistling sense of speed
that seemed to draw her away every solidity she had ever known.

Ilse and Herbert parked the car. Their feeling of hope grew, as there
was still a lot of activity. Other people, too, arrived with them,
looking as worried as they felt. They entered the restaurant and looked
about. The air inside was spent and sticky. People were huddled
together in groups, small and larger, drinking, smoking, talking,
relating their tales, asking questions, giving information, or simply
watching the door closely as though they expected to be picked up at
any moment. Others simply sat, staring ahead, tired and miserable, and
still a few others had collapsed in their chair and were snoring.
Herbert moved from one table to the next, asking whether anyone had
seen a little girl with a cat.
"With a cat? No."
"There was a little girl with a black dog", one called. "I've seen her
outside, about an hour ago."
In that instant, in a corner in the back of the room, apart from
everyone else, Ilse saw someone sitting, all she could see were a few
blond strands of hair falling over black fur. She grabbed Herbert's
hand.
"Look there! Look! It's her! Isn't it?" Herbert didn't answer. He
squinted keenly through the smoky room and moved hesitantly toward the
child with the black dog, as though he was reluctant to find another
disappointment.
"Anneli", he said, almost inaudibly as he reached her, and once more,
louder "Anneli!", and laid his hand softly on her shoulder. The dog
reared up and growled. Groggy with sleep, Anneli grabbed his fur, her
arms held their grip around him, and she squeezed her eyes shut, where
just before they had been wide open in terror and disbelief.
"It's me, Anneli, it's me, your daddy. We're going home now, there's no
need to be afraid anymore."
He was on his knees before her now, and made to put his arms around
her, but the dog reared up again and growled again, more aggressively
this time. The child blinked, as though blinded by a light, then looked
at him with a sadness and disappointment like her world had just
collapsed, then buried her head in the dog's fur, sobbing.
Herbert looked helplessly up at Ilse.
"Come on", she said, "let's take her with us now. She's probably in
shock. We'll call a doctor when we get home."
Herbert took one of Anneli's arms, Ilse took the other. The dog jumped
off her lap and started snapping at anything near it, Anneli struggled
and started screaming. All of a sudden, the room fell quiet and all
eyes were fixed upon them.
A woman in a white coat approached them.
"Leave this child alone, right now!", she ordered them.
A group had gathered around them, observing the proceedings
noiselessly.
Herbert and Ilse had let go of Anneli and stood there, taken aback,
completely surprised and speechless. Finally Herbert managed to blurt
out angrily: "You mind your own business! This happens to be my
daughter!"
"Anyone could say that", a young woman at the front of the crowd
mocked, "Your own daughter doesn't even recognise you!" The others
murmured their agreement. Ilse meanwhile had gathered her wits
together, taken the woman in the white coat aside and was talking hard,
trying to explain the situation. Herbert, still beside himself, had
followed them.
"I don't understand where my daughter got the dog from! She used to
have a cat", he interrupted the two. Suddenly the woman
remembered:
"Yes, there was a cat. It was dead, lying there beside her, when we
found her, all alone by the side of the road. She was holding the dog
in her arms and she didn't seem interested at all in the cat, she said
she'd found it. She also mentioned she was supposed to wait for
someone.
I couldn't get more out of her, but she gave a completely normal and
independent impression."
Herbert had turned white as a sheet. "My God! - Oh my God!" he
whispered to himself.
To reassure her, they showed the lady in white their identification and
agreed that they could take Anneli with them. They left their address
and telephone number. The bystanders breathed easier, now that the
situation had been resolved.
But a small group still lingered around Anneli, when they returned. The
lady in the white coat addressed them:
"Please get back to your places, everyone. We can all be pleased that
this father has found his little girl. It's likely, even to be expected
that the child is suffering from shock after the accident and has
temporarily lost her memory. It happens, you know."
Most of them returned to their seats and tables but stopped and glanced
back when one of the bystanders shouted:
"Shock? Memory loss? Haven't we all seen the UFO? And we all heard that
woman who had seen the aliens, white people with huge dark eyes in a
pale face, wearing shiny silver helmets of some weird metal. It
wouldn't be the first time they took things, people, animals, memory.
They are more powerful than we are. They even perform experiments on
us!"
Voices now rang out everywhere at once and an excited argument
ensued.
"Come on, let's get out of here", said Ilse, "this is getting too weird
for my taste!"
But leaving the inn turned out to be not that easy. Anneli refused to
go along, repeating over and over that she had promised to wait there,
she had to wait.
"Well, whom did you promise to wait to, then?" asked Ilse.
"To the man who handed me the dog. I know he's coming back!"
"And who is this man?"
"He's the only one I know and I'm going to go home with him."
"And what does he look like?"
"He had a white coat on, coveralls, had big dark eyes and wore a silver
helmet."
"And the dog belongs to him?"
She nodded.
Finally, and with much effort, they managed to persuade Anneli to come
with them, as the inn was about to close and the dog had to have a
place to stay. Of course they would leave their address, so that the
man in white could come and collect his dog. Hesitantly, Anneli got
into the car, clutching the dog close to her.
Nobody said a word.
Herbert called the doctor that same evening. Anneli just sat like a
stranger in the small apartment and had recognised nothing. She moved
to the window every now and then and looked out, as though she was
looking for something distant in the sky. The dog never left her side.
Anywhere she went, sat or stood, the animal pressed itself to
her.
The doctor gave the child a thorough examination, checked every
possible reflex, but could find nothing out of the ordinary. He was
convinced that the memory loss was of a temporary nature and ascribed
it to extreme psychic shock due to the accident. But he did want to
make sure and arranged to have a scan made at the hospital and to run
several checks again.
Herbert was still extremely upset, and although he found it slightly
embarrassing, he couldn't refrain from asking the doctor whether the
UFO or its radiation could have anything to do with Anneli's condition.
After all, several people had seen it and they had discussed it
endlessly.
The doctor looked at him in amazement. The corners of his mouth
twitched with a pitying smile.
"Well, I really wouldn't worry about that! It's more likely that some
sort of fata morgana or even the landing lights of an aeroplane,
distorted by the fog, combined with the nervous conditions brought on
by a massive traffic accident, triggered a kind of mass
hysteria."
"But you know as well as I do, doctor, that serious scientists assume
that our planet is not the only one supporting life. Or do disagree you
with them as well?"
"No, no, of course not. But the theory that they might be visiting us,
in my opinion, is utter superstition."
The tests in the hospital did not yield any physical complications, and
all doctors present were in agreement that the memory loss was of a
temporary nature.
Herbert had taken some days off work and was now waiting around, from
one hour to the next, for some change to manifest itself.
He would have liked to get rid of the dog as quickly as possible,
because Anneli paid only it any attention. On top of which it was a
very demanding animal that wanted to get out all the time. So he walked
the streets haphazardly countless times, following his daughter and
that damned mutt. Both of them seemed to be on a tireless lookout for
something.
"That dog is looking for its master. We should put an ad in the
papers", said Herbert and was surprised to see that Anneli unexpectedly
agreed immediately.
A photograph was made of Jupiter and a text for the ad submitted. And
although nobody ever called about the dog, the ad did have its
advantage in that the endless walks stopped. The dog was now quickly
walked just outside the house, for they could not afford to miss a
possible 'phone call from the owner.
Herbert had visited Veronika several times in hospital and had told her
that Anneli was with him and in good health. Her many questions, why he
hadn't brought her along, he answered with countless excuses. He'd
decided it was far too early to tell her that the past was still a
blank for Anneli. He believed that the situation could reverse itself
any day, any hour, indeed any minute.
But then Veronica was released from the hospital. Although she was
still weak and in need of assistance, she was overjoyed to be back at
home. The time that the subject had to be dealt with drew ever closer.
But still he could not bring himself to tell her. Instead, he offered
to bring her home and take care of her for the first couple of days, an
offer she gratefully accepted.
He had arranged a taxi for the long trip home, so as not to have to
confront her with Ilse.
"And where is Anneli?", was her first question.
He explained haltingly that Ilse would bring her over one of the
following days, when everything had returned to something resembling
daily routine. She would take him back then. Although Veronika was
disappointed, she could see after a while that this was the most
practical solution.
That evening, as they were enjoying a glass of wine on the terrace,
just like they always used to, he'd finally mustered enough courage to
tell her.
"Don't be alarmed!", he began after a long pause, "The doctors have all
assured me that it can only be temporary." But she looked at him in
alarm and waited for him to continue. He didn't know where to begin,
but slowly one word followed the other, and suddenly out came the whole
story. He had stored it for such a long time that it now came out from
the very beginning, complete with minute details.
Veronika just stared at him, pale and uncomprehending. She didn't say a
word for a long time. Then, softly but intensely: "Please, stay with us
a while longer. I don't know how I could deal with this on my
own."
Meanwhile, Anneli was almost relieved to be left alone with Ilse.
Herbert had taken with him the almost unbearable tension, that
persistent feeling that he was expecting something from her. Jupiter
too was a good deal less fearful.
The evening before she was supposed to bring Anneli home to her
parents, Ilse said:
"I'm taking you and your dog home tomorrow".
"Home?" Anneli's face lit up and suddenly it became clear to Ilse that
Anneli understood something quite different under 'home'.
"Yes," she repeated, "home, to Herbert and your mother."
The hope and beaming happiness fled instantly from Anneli's face and
were replaced by a crestfallen expression. Ilse put her arm around
her.
"Let me show you something", she said, rummaging among some papers in a
drawer and extracting a photograph, "Here, look!"
Anneli took the photograph in her hand. It had been taken on Ilse's
balcony and showed Herbert and a little girl that looked a lot like
her, sitting side by side, laughing and playing with a yellow-brown
cat. She rubbed her eyes. Wasn't that the cat, that poor, dead, bloody
animal she had put down next to her in the grass? Where had the cat
come from? She jumped up and ran into the bathroom to look at herself
in the mirror, comparing what she saw there with the photograph. Could
she be that girl? No, that was out of the question, she would know
that. You can't just forget something like that, you've got to remember
something like that.
Ilse had followed her and was now standing behind her, kicking herself.
Why had she shown her the photograph? What had she done?
Anneli had turned around and gave Ilse a desolate look. Jupiter had
followed her as well, and jumped up at her and licked her hands.
"I've seen that cat, but I don't know it! I only know Jupiter!"
She took Jupiter in her arms and hung on to him for dear life.
When Anneli had calmed down a little, Ilse tried to explain to her that
a car accident was what had caused her memory loss, but that she
needn't worry because she would soon start remembering things, the
doctors had said. She also mentioned that her parents were very upset
by her condition.
The child listened to her attentively and stared with lost, unbelieving
eyes at an unknown point in the distance.
It was only when Ilse had dropped Anneli off at home, that she heard
that Herbert wanted to stay a few days longer. She agreed of course,
but couldn't quite understand why Herbert wouldn't even give her a
goodbye kiss. Veronika shook both her hands with real warmth and
gratitude.
"For the first time she is a bit more confident around me", Ilse
realised, pensively.
Anneli suffered the welcome, complete with hugs and kisses. Thankfully
it didn't take too long, for Jupiter started snarling and baring his
teeth, and Herbert said:
"Leave those two alone for now, Veronika, so they can have a look
around and get used to the surroundings."
It was better here than in the city. The dog had the small garden to
run around in freely and Anneli lay stretched out in the grass, looking
up through the trees at the sky and dreaming of far away places.
Herbert had informed the neighbours and friends about his daughter's
condition, hoping that they would leave her alone, but it had the
opposite effect. Curiosity and sensationalism but also pity and
assistance motivated all of them to talk to Anneli, to invite her over
and to constantly observe her, whether she was playing in the garden or
doing the shopping with Veronika.
Of course they kept running into friends and neighbours and Veronika
tried her best to avoid the prying eyes and sympathetic conversations.
Today the evasive manoeuvres didn't work. They ran into the neighbour
at the super store, who invited Anneli to come over again to play.
"That would be nice", Veronika answered, thinking: "We'll get out of
that somehow."
But that afternoon, as Anneli was brushing Jupiter's curly coat, the
neighbour's children were hanging over the garden fence and
cried:
"Are you coming over? Mom's baked a cake, especially for you!"
"That would be nice", Anneli answered, just like her mother had, and
put the brush down.
"Can I bring him?", pointing at Jupiter.
"Better not. We've got a cat, you know, and it doesn't like
dogs."
She really didn't feel like going at all, but how could she tell
them.
"I'll be right over!", she called and took Jupiter inside.
But it was such a beautiful and sunny autumn day, still warm, and
Cindy's and Peter's mother had placed a wonderful table full of cakes
and cookies under a bright red parasol.
"Hmm", said Anneli, "I've never had a cake this good before."
"Of course you have!", Cindy laughed. "Mom's baked this cake a million
times before..." but stopped abruptly as her mother kicked her under
the table.
Later, when she had gone inside to do the cleaning up, Peter suddenly
wanted to know:
"Why have you got a dog now? And where is your Kit?"
"Kit? What kind of kit?"
"Well, your cat of course!"
What was all that about a cat? Why did it keep turning up?
"Did it die in the accident?", Cindy asked, as she noticed Anneli's
unhappy expression.
The word accident made a penny drop in Peter's head. He ran inside and
returned with a newspaper.
"Here! Look at this! Did you see anything like this around the
accident?" He spread the newspaper out on the lawn, licking his finger
to make each page turn quicker. Anneli knelt down by the paper and
looked spellbound at a full-page photograph.
It was exactly like she had seen it, the vaguely elliptical shape,
emitting light. A UFO, the people had called it. Excited now, she
started to read.
"So say something!" Peter poked her and both of them stared expectingly
at her.
"Yes. Yes, that's the UFO, that's exactly what it looked like. But let
me read this first!" and she was so engrossed in the newspaper article
that she didn't even hear Cindy and Peter shout at her: "So tell us!
Will you please tell us!", and louder: "Did you see any
extra-terrestrials?"
Anneli reacted with a start, but somehow she felt relieved, very
relieved that she could talk to someone about it. The children hung on
her every word, and finally she could get it all off her chest, and
talk about what she knew, the only thing of importance to her. She
described the UFO with its blinding brilliance that made it impossible
to see anything clearly, the peculiar whistling noise and the sensation
of incredible speed. She pictured in detail the man in the white
coveralls with the shining helmet and the huge dark eyes, how he'd been
so friendly and had given his dog Jupiter into her care, to look after
until his return. And he would return, she was certain of that. He had
promised. Peter interrupted her at this point and asked with bated
breath:
"Was he an alien?"
"He really looked just like us, except his eyes were bigger and really
beautiful, and later, when he took my hand, I counted his fingers, not
just once, but several times, and he had only four, I swear, only four
fingers."
She suddenly pricked her ears, listening. It was Jupiter howling. "I've
got to see to my dog now. Can I take that newspaper?"
"Sure, but you'd have to bring it back."
Cindy and Peter pestered their mother with the tales they had just
heard.
"Oh my!" she said, "you don't really believe in all that nonsense, do
you?"
"And why not? We also read about it in the newspaper."
The story went around quickly. Even though the neighbour thought it was
all nonsense, she told the tale to her friend anyway. Who immediately
reproduced it with much mystique and importance at the hairdresser's.
And from there it spread like wildfire around the community and became
the preferred topic of conversation, to which everyone added
embellishments according to their own fantasies. The dog became a
fierce monster with supernatural powers and Anneli turned into an alien
who had taken the place of Herbert's and Veronika's little girl. It was
obvious, wasn't it, she didn't know anyone, remembered nothing, not
even her own parents, and she'd never even heard of her own little
cat.
Herbert and Veronika were the only ones who had no idea all this was
going on.
In her room, Anneli had read the newspaper article again and again,
until she knew the text by heart. She had then given it back, as
promised.
Cindy and Peter scrutinised her and looked ill at ease, and after a
while Peter asked:
"They say you're an extra-terrestrial. Are you?"
"A what? I'm a what?"
"It's called an alien." and gave her an expecting look.
Anneli was not really taken aback, as she had thought about it herself.
It was the easiest explanation for the fact that she knew nobody and
that only the man in the white coveralls and his dog were so familiar
to her.
"I don't know, but I guess I could be", she answered pensively after a
long pause.
The idea took a hold in her mind. It was beautiful and exciting at the
same time to dream of her home that should be up there somewhere among
the countless stars, a world completely different from this one. What
was it like? What did it look like? And why couldn't she remember even
that? She looked affectionately at Jupiter who had curled up into a
ball next to her and slept contentedly. He seemed to be a dog just like
any other. Had he always looked like this or had he only adapted? And
what about herself? She thought hard. She decided also that she and
Jupiter had landed pretty well here; Veronika and Herbert were sweet
people, the sort of parents anyone would wish for.
That afternoon she went with Veronika to the library. She wanted to
borrow a book on UFOs. The librarian checked the computer and
opined:
"There's a real craze about UFOs at the moment, all the books are gone,
we haven't got a single one left on this subject. Maybe if you try
again in two or three weeks time."
They got the same answer at the bookstore.
On the way home Veronika asked: "Why are you so interested in that kind
of books anyway?" Anneli looked at her and confided:
"I so want to find out where I come from, where my home really
is."
She was shocked to see big tears rolling down Veronika's cheeks.
"Please don't cry, Veronika, please! I like being with you. I really
love the both of you!" But to her dismay Veronika was now wracked by
what seemed severe convulsions.
"Oh, I'm sorry Veronika, I'm so sorry!" she repeated, panicking now,
although she didn't really know what she was panicking about. She
didn't want to hurt anybody, especially not Veronika, who had given her
a home. In a flush of pity she threw her arms around her and kissed her
wet cheeks.
Veronika's convulsive crying subsided. Hesitatingly, a hopeful happy
gleam returned to her eyes.
"Anneli, - baby! Please call us Mom and Dad again!", and stroked her
hair tenderly.
But Anneli froze and said nothing more. In silence, they returned to
the house together.
The people in the neighbourhood still followed Anneli with their
glances and spied on her secretly, but now they avoided contact
wherever possible. They forbade to let their children play with Anneli,
after all, one could never know what kind of creature one was dealing
with. At best, she was ill, not responsible for her own actions, or
insane. Clearly her parents knew this, for they had her tutored
privately and kept her away from school.
The children in the village found her even more intriguing after this
injunction. They hid behind bushes and spied on her whenever she played
in the garden with Jupiter, threw sticks and rocks at the dog and
laughed hysterically whenever a missile hit the target and Jupiter,
yelping, sought protection with Anneli. At first Anneli was afraid and
shy and fled into the house with Jupiter. But when she noticed one day
that Cindy and Peter were among Jupiter's tormentors, she exploded in a
fierce rage. She grabbed Jupiter by the collar, took him over to the
fence, threw a rock back in a high arc and screamed: "Go away and leave
him alone, or d'you want me to set him loose?"
The children emerged from the bushes, approached the fence and grinned:
"That wimpy runt?"
Jupiter, feeling strong and brave under the protection of Anneli,
snapped his teeth and jumped up and down the low fence, barking. One of
the bigger boys approached him with a stick and raised his arm as if to
hit him. In that instant, the dog jumped up, cleared the fence, flew up
at the boy and bit. Mortified, the boy dropped the stick and gave a
great cry. Veronika came rushing out of the house and the kids ran off,
screaming. Jupiter looked up at Anneli, tail between his legs, but did
wag it a little, as he was really quite pleased with himself.
"Oh God, this is all we need!", Veronika gasped.
"Why? It serves them right!", and Anneli gave Jupiter a big kiss, right
on his shiny wet nose.
Herbert received a steep doctor's bill for the treatment of the dog
bite. Other than that, quiet had returned, the children steered well
clear and stayed out of sight.
Occasionally, they noticed a young man with a camera strolling around
the area, and one day, as he saw that Anneli and Jupiter were alone in
the garden, he halted, pointed his camera and was about to release the
shutter, when Anneli jumped up and cried angrily: "What're you doing?
Go away!"
"Don't you want a picture of your dog?"
She shrugged her shoulders, then shook her head.
"Not even for the paper?"
She said nothing, sat down on the grass, and held the dog between her
legs. Jupiter made a point of posturing to appear intimidating, snarled
and flashed his fangs. Anneli looked triumphantly at the photographer.
Her long blond hair seemed to frame the little black dog as though with
an aura. The young man pressed the shutter.
"An excellent picture!", he said and moved off.

Days later Herbert came home in a very bad mood, flushed with anger. He
produced a magazine from his briefcase and slammed it down on the table
in front of Veronika.
"You must have taken leave of all your senses! How, for God's sake, how
did this picture and story ever get to the papers?"
Veronika, who'd been sitting on the couch with Anneli, watching
television, picked up the magazine from the floor and looked at it.
They both saw a fascinating photograph, with the caption: 'A Dog From
The Stars?'
In the centre of the picture Jupiter stood, black and menacing, teeth
flashing white and dangerous, an eerie green light in his eyes, with
Anneli sitting in the background on the grass, looking fragile and
almost transparent. Her long blond hair made the dog appear even larger
and darker. It was a picture that invoked a mysterious atmosphere
through its contrast.
Veronika started reading the article.
"Give me that magazine!", Anneli said. "He's my dog after all!", and
was surprised and hurt by Veronika's barked 'no!'.
"Yes, just read it, just read that incredible rubbish! It's simply
hair-raising, the nonsense they throw at you these days!", Herbert
grumbled and poured himself a stiff brandy, to wash down his anger.
Veronika started the article from the top:

'A Dog From Outer Space?
The massive traffic accident recently on the E4 is still a cause for
great agitation, and the authorities are still investigating how such a
massive accident could be caused. Granted, there was an unusually thick
fog that night, but that was not the only phenomenon. A strange,
blinding light, piercing through the fog, was bright enough to make
eyes water and reduce any visibility to zero, seemed to be the
offending agent. It is also established beyond a shadow of a doubt that
a great many people observed a luminescent, elliptical shape disappear
at incredible speed after the fog had lifted. Although the authorities
do not want to admit it, this phenomenon could only have been a UFO.
Some eyewitnesses, whose testimony can be relied upon, even stated that
they had sighted extra-terrestrials. Whatever the truth may turn out to
be, a few facts are certain: some victims of the accident are still in
a coma today, and to this day, one young girl is suffering from
complete amnesia. The doctors are confronted with a mystery, for
neither the patients in a coma nor the young girl suffered any severe
trauma or even superficial injuries that could account for their
condition.
But the complete extent of this catastrophe can in no way be overseen.
Our editors for instance were made aware of a dog, considered by the
entire village to possess supernatural powers. It is indeed remarkable
that the other dogs, at the merest inkling of this animal's presence,
take a wide berth, their hairs standing on end, and that children,
wanting to pet the animal, are subjected to an electric shock.
Apparently, the dog can even change the colour of the light in its
eyes.
I went to investigate with a healthy dose of skepticism. Residents
pointed me in the right direction and told me, that the monster had
recently attacked a local boy and left him severely injured. I could
hardly believe their tale when I saw a sweet, pale girl, playing with
its little dog. This was no monster, but I took a photograph anyway.
The girl flew into a rage and jumped up, followed by the dog. I
couldn't believe my eyes. This was no longer a small lap dog, it had
changed before my eyes into a giant animal, its eyes flashing in a
deep, poisonous green and I was suddenly staring down a hell-mouth with
flashing teeth! The child was now sitting on the grass behind the dog,
she could just about restrain the monster, her mouth twisted in a
confident and contented little smile.
I had my photograph, but it was only in the dark room that I discovered
I had snapped quite a special picture, I had been allowed a small
glimpse at a strange world, at a dog from Outer Space.'

Veronika put the magazine down and said with some irritation:
"Oh, Herbert, it's only in the column 'Amazing Sightings'. They always
run this kind of absurd yarn."
"But not with our daughter's picture, and those moronic scribblings
with it, and all that on the front page! That's a major breach of our
privacy! We can't just sit here and accept it, we've got to take action
against this slander!"
Anneli had been engrossed in the text, but listened in and interrupted
them:
"What's the matter with you? It's a great picture of Jupiter and I look
pretty good on it as well. And what they write is all true. I've seen
that UFO myself, and Jupiter is exactly as they describe him. It's
there plain to see, in the picture."
"That doesn't mean a thing. They can do things with computers nowadays,
they can manipulate any picture at will, they can change it so much
that is has no relevance at all as a document. You can't seriously
suggest that your dog in anyway resembles this flesh-tearing predator
in the picture."
Anneli studied the picture again. "Yes, he does. That's him, that's
like I know him."
Life in the small community had now turned into a nightmare for
Veronika and Anneli, having to daily run the gauntlet between those who
threw them openly hostile stares and those spying on them from behind
their windows and their twitching curtains. Even in their own garden
the dog was no longer safe, so he was walked only briefly when there
was no one around, or at night, after dark.
Herbert hired an attorney to file libel charges against the newspaper,
but that could not turn back the events, the harm had already been
done. To top it all off, the boy who had been bitten by Jupiter had
been admitted to hospital again with a serious infection in the bite
wound. The hospital had never seen any infectious agents similar to
these, and they could not find a suitable antibiotic. Samples of the
infected tissue were hurried to all major medical research
facilities.
Herbert was given legal notice that he would be held responsible for
any damages that might result from the bite wound. Life had become
impossible for them, they all feared what the next day might bring. The
atmosphere was thick with tension, aggravation and depression. Herbert
and Veronika suffered most from the fact that Anneli withdrew more and
more into her own world, and sat by the window for hours on end,
holding her dog, staring outside and apparently dreaming.
Then one day the bad news arrived, in the shape of two police officers.
Anneli had spotted them from afar and was gripped by a crawling feeling
of impending disaster. A sixth sense told her somehow that the two came
to get her and the dog. The nearer they came, the faster her heart
beat. Did Jupiter pick up on it? He trembled and grumbled softly. She
held his muzzle shut.
The doorbell rang. She could hear Veronika go up to the front door,
open it, and she knew, even though she could not see it, how Veronika
stood there, startled and puzzled, not able to utter a single word.
Anneli observed one of the two producing an official looking document
and holding it up to Veronika.
"Would you read this please? We are charged to take the dog with
us."
"No - no, why?" Veronika muttered in a flat voice.
"I'm sorry, but the dog has been identified as the carrier of an as yet
unknown source of dangerous infectious agents. It has to be isolated
and investigated. If you would care to read the document, it's all in
there."
Anneli could hear the paper rustle in Veronika's trembling hands. Then
silence.
Give up Jupiter? Never! He was the only thing she had in the entire
world, the only link to the man in the white coveralls, her true past,
her home, who knows where, far away, somewhere among the stars.
Without any hesitation she grabbed Jupiter, crept quietly downstairs
with him, tiptoed through the kitchen, carefully opened the back door
noiselessly, into the garden, she ran doubled up along the low bushes,
clambered over the low fence, while Jupiter jumped over it. She didn't
dare look left or right as she ran down the streets with her dog,
afraid that someone might see her and stop her. She finally reached the
busy trunk road, crossed it and ran across the barren autumnal fields
and stopped only when she had reached the shelter of the forest. She
slumped onto a hump of moss to catch her breath and Jupiter curled up
next to her.
When she could breathe easier again, she started thinking. What was she
to do now? Where could she go, where could she stay? Slowly she
realised that she had no other option than to return to Herbert and
Veronika. They wouldn't give Jupiter up, would they? She could not
imagine they would and yet she feared they might. Maybe Herbert could
take her and Jupiter to Ilse? Yes, that was a possibility. She would
return after dark, when she would not be recognised.
She put her arm around Jupiter. He trusted her completely. No one,
absolutely no one was allowed to take him away from her. They belonged
together and they had to stay together. They were both looking for
something they had lost and dreamed about, day in, day out. Yes, she
could see that clearly in the dog. He'd never been cheerful, never
playful and young. How old could he be. Did he even age?
She got up, to continue, for the moss was wet and had made her jeans
damp.
Veronika had read through the document, then studied it more closely,
and finally had read the whole slowly from beginning to end.
"I don't understand, really. There's nothing I can do right now. I have
to wait for my husband to come home."
"You don't have to do a thing, we'll just take the dog, and that's
it."
"Wait a moment please, I want to make a telephone call first." She went
inside and dialled the number of Herbert's office. The policemen had
followed her into the house. When she finally got through, she was told
that Herbert would return in about two hours. Dejectedly, she put the
receiver down. How could she stall for time? How could she possibly
tell Anneli about this? Slowly she went up the steps and stood for a
while in doubt by her daughter's room, then softly opened the door. The
room was empty. She looked in her own bedroom, checked the bathroom and
the attic. All rooms were empty and quiet. She's probably in the
garden, she decided.
"I have to check where she is, would you please take a seat."
"We'll have a look around for ourselves", one of the officers said and
followed her into the kitchen and the garden. The other officer checked
upstairs.
"That is unlawful entry!", hissed Veronika and she could hardly breathe
for rage. But luckily Anneli and her dog were nowhere to be
found.
"Anneli!", she called, and again, "Anneli!". Then she turned to the
policemen, relieved.
"She must have gone out with the dog. If you could give me your number,
I will call you when she returns."
The two policemen left, but not after first checking the house and
garden again, and looking around the neighbouring plots and streets.
Veronika followed their progress until they had disappeared from sight.
Dismayed, she touched her hair and noticed only now how clammy her
hands were and that a cold sweat stood on her brow. Now in a panic she
searched the house thoroughly, looked underneath beds, in the
cupboards, checked all corners of the house, raced through the garden,
looked under bushes and ran down the streets of the neighbourhood.
There was no trace of Anneli and the dog, and she daren't ask
anyone.
Anneli had been going for a long time without making much progress. She
didn't want to, anyway, for she had to be able to find her way back. So
she made her way back and forth, over fields and meadows, along the
edge of the forest, keeping her distance from streets and built-up
areas. She became hungry and thirsty. Jupiter trundled alongside her
patiently. How long a day could be!
By the edge of the forest she sat down on a tree trunk. In the distance
she could see the ugly brick church that made the village she lived in
instantly recognisable. She stared at the busy traffic on the distant
trunk road, at the softly flowing hilly countryside with the occasional
farmyard and at small dirt track that wound its way through meadows,
fields and copses. How long had she been sitting there, dreaming? She
woke with a start, as Jupiter, who was lying at her feet, suddenly
jumped up, lifted his nose up in the air, and stiffly pricked up the
ears he usually let hang as though tired. What had he picked up? She
looked around fearfully, but there was nothing to see. Or was there?
Yes, still far off on the dirt track a cloud of dust approached, was it
a motorcycle? Was that the cause of his excitement? She looked at him
in pensive wonder. His entire body was now trembling and his tail gave
a hesitant wag, almost as if he saw something he could not believe. She
had never seen him like this. He lifted his head even higher and from
deep within his throat a muffled gurgling rose, turned slowly into a
real sound and finally ended in a high-pitched howl that suddenly
stopped. For a moment he stood frozen, the next he was flying,
stretched out full-length, toward the dirt track, his feet hardly
touching the ground.
Anneli too had jumped up, milled her arms in the air and screamed at
the top of her lungs:
"Jupiter - Juuu-pii-teeeer!"
The cloud of dust lifted. The motorcycle stopped. The dog raced towards
it and Anneli followed at a distance.
She saw the driver take of his helmet, and when the sun touched it, it
briefly flashed silver.
It was - yes it was - it was him!
He had returned to collect her and the dog, just like he had promised.
She stood still and saw how he picked Jupiter up in his arms and
pressed the dog against him. She rushed over to him. He put the dog
back on the ground. Jupiter ran small and large circles around him like
an over-excited spinning top. The man approached Anneli.
She stared at him. He still wore the same white coveralls, but his pale
face was narrower than she remembered it. His noble symmetrical head
was completely hairless and of an almost shiny smoothness. He was
beautiful, but his most striking feature were his eyes, large, dark and
slightly slanted. She could not look away from those eyes, they held
her captive, they took her in and threw her reflection back at her. She
could see herself clearly now in those eyes, but not just her
reflection: everything that belonged to her and had always belonged,
her entire life, her parents, all her memories, her entire past, hers
until the accident had wiped it all out. A completely new and unknown
feeling of happiness suffused her, warmth, love and protection
enveloped her. Tears streamed down her face.
"Will you not miss the dog?", he asked in a soft voice.
She shook her head.
"No, he's happy now, finally he's happy, and so am I."
He had removed a small necklace with a pendant from his neck and put it
around hers. Then he put his helmet back on, took Jupiter under his
arm, started the motorcycle and drove off slowly.
Anneli stared after them both until they had merged with the far
distance. Then she raced home.
Dusk was beginning to fall. The light in the living room was already
on. Anneli tore open the door. Herbert and Veronika were sitting
holding hands on the couch, both pale with blue bags under their
eyes.
"Mom! Dad!", and embraced them both, one after the other. "It's me! I'm
here, with you, I'm home, it's just like it used to be!"
It was very late when they finally went to sleep, having talked about
so much that moved them. They were tired and happier than ever
before.

Lying in bed, Anneli took the elegant necklace in her hands and
although the room was dark, she could clearly make out the pendant, for
on its surface glittered a myriad blinking, lively specks of light,
illuminating the pendant, like the stars illuminate the firmament.