Luzifers Sturz

The two kids raced each other to the Inn river. Rafal and Adolf found themselves in want of fun and heat in the icy cold weather of Passau. The winds were blowing, coming from the north, bringing the heavy, chilled air from the frosty Arktis.

The two of them were very close friends, Rafal and Adolf. Adolf had the personality of a kitten, meek and frail and shy. He was 4 years old, turning 5 that year in April, 1894. He took an interest in art which explained why Rafal would sometimes find him in the middle of Höllgasse Alley, watching artists weave their magical brush.

Rafal, on the other hand, was not much different from Adolf, and the only difference between them would be that Rafal was more of a wanderer and was great at talking to people. Perhaps this was the reason these two were friends, perhaps not. Rafal was always the one dragging Adolf around, going in unknown directions all around Passau, sometimes when the roads seemed dangerous, they would pretend to be confident but sometimes they would still come home with scratches and bruises.

The icy winds in Passau during January seemed to be at their damned worst in 1894. Adolf had been dressed by his mother appropriately for the weather, wearing a soft fur coat to cover the three layers of clothes that made him itch near the armpits and back. He also wore a winter bonnet which was precious to Adolf, the reason being that it was bought by his mother in an effort to make him look fashionable. Rafal came in his usual clothes, covered by a fur coat that was torn in some places, as if little rodents had chewed them for breakfast.

"You ready?" asked Rafal, standing outside Adolf's room at the inn. The Hitler family were living in a standard apartment, with two bedrooms and one toilet, facing the north side, so usually it was their building which had the coldest air in all of Passau. Since Adolf's father had business here, the government provided his family with the apartment, like it did for other civil workers.

"Ja, just let me wear my boots." Adolf replied, beckoning Rafal to come in.

Rafal shaked his head, rejecting the kind offer, "It's fine, you wear them fast and we can get out."

As soon as Adolf tied the laces of his muddy boots, his mother swooped in from behind and tenderly held him in her hands, like the gentle mother she was, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Come home soon, and don't wander off alone," She said, "Rafal, be sure to keep an eye on him. Have fun and be safe, and don't wander off!"

Adolf groaned, "You said that twice now, and don't worry, I'll be fine with Rafal."

He squirmed out of her loving hands and shot outside the door, looked back at her, and winked at her, before running away towards the river. Rafal waved at her before following Adolf out to the river bank.

Passau was a small town bordering Austria and Germany. It was situated southwest of Germany, and had a river passing through it, which diverged into three in the middle of the town. This was famously called the City of Three Rivers, in honour of the three rivers passing through it, Danube, Inn, and Ilz. Danube was the widest and longest river, which had dangerous currents, although the harsh winter of January tamed it like a hunter taming a wild dog.

Adolf and Rafal used to spend their daily time after lunch at the Inn river, which wasn't as wide or long as the Danube but still offered heavy waves and currents, enough to send a grown man hurtling downstream. Although the city had other places to play for kids, Rafal seemed to like the riverbank for the noise of the waves and occasional skinny dipping. The winter had taken both the pleasures from him but he still held an emotional attachment to it.

Adolf dashed in front of Rafal, running between people and dodging the carts like an insect avoiding a spider web. Rafal was not far behind him, taking even more riskier ways of dodging the carts and in turn getting yelled at by people. Both of them were used to this, after all they had been practicing every single day, running through carts, sprinting between people's legs, hearing curse words that were absolutely forbidden in the kid's houses, and smiling and yelling back, "Es tut uns leid!" only to get a reply in sighs that was barely heard by them.