Winter Sun Eyes (Translation Project)

The fishing boat

Peacefully, albeit very lonely, stood the fishing cottage at the stormy grey North Sea, which hit big waves on the rocks that, held the raging sea at bay. The cottage, which was actually a Finn hut, was made of rotten wood and was also placed on a rock. It seemed like it was the only house on this island, especially when the clouds were darkening the sky as it was at that moment.

Freezing, Marja kept her hands in the pockets of her jacket as she climbed up the short climb to the fishing cottage. She could hear metal rattling - a clear sign that Freddie was there. A satisfied smile crept onto Marjas from cold bluish lips. He'd help her. Whenever Marja needed help, he always helped her. Even if he didn't understand her decision.

Luke, whom Marja had brought with her as she was supposed to walk him anyway, wagged his tail joyfully and began to bark when he saw the slender young man coming out of the hut, who, startled, dropped the fishing rods he wanted to drag outside when the golden retriever jumped at him, so that he almost lost his grip.

"Easy, my boy!" He carefully pushed the cocky dog off and wuzzled his head between his hanging ears.

When a cold wind blew through her hair, Marja closed the neckline of her jacket with her left hand, into which the wind also threatened to blow. With the other hand she waved to her cousin. His hair, which had the same black-brown colour as Marjas, was uncombed and therefore looked quite bizarre. There were also dark shadows under his eyes indicating that he was very tired.

Apparently troubled (he probably had back pain again, Marja thought), Freddie bent down to pick up the rods and approached Marja with a tired smile.

"Hi, sweety. It's nice to see you again," Freddie said, his last words drowning in a yawn.

"Hey, big guy," Marja answered the greeting and smiled knowing. "Have you been out all night again? When did you get back, 12:30?"

"2:30," Freddie corrected her grumbling and dragged himself and his five fishing rods towards the sea; Marja stayed by his side, but on the way to Freddie's fishing boat, which moored lonely at a jetty, she was very quiet. She didn't like her cousin wandering around Hamburg at night, with all his alcoholics friends and the terribly cakefaced chicks who seemed to dislike clothes for some obscure reason. Once Marja had witnessed Freddie coming home drunk as a skunk together with one of these horrible girls and arguing so much with his mother Regina until she chased him out of the house with a broom. From then on Marja didn't want to stay with Aunt Regina and Uncle Rolf anymore.

Freddie laid his fishing rods in front of his boat on the jetty, while it rocket peacefully up and down the waves caused by strong winds. "What do you need the rods for now?" Marja wanted to know while her smile had not returned.

"Harold and his sons are going fishing again." He winced tortured. "I just lent them my boat for a while, but that was mainly because my father practically forced me to do so. Well, that's probably the only reason why. "God, I can't stand this anti-social patchwork family!"

"Freddie!", Marja rebuked him and just had to hold back so as not to slap him, as she did once before when she was very, very angry with him, "Please don't be like your party friends! You don't have to like everyone, even Mrs. Schröder always says that" - Marja would have preferred to bite her tongue for this, but Freddie showed no reaction - "but please don't call Mr. Kröger anti-social".

Freddie, who had watched her attentively from his sea-blue eyes all the time during her speech, stroked a strand of hair that was dangling in front of his eye out of his face, yet it still fell back. " Anti-social isn't a dirty word, kid. And my 'party friends'" - he symbolized quotation marks with his fingers during the pronunciation of this compound word - "are very reasonable. You don't even know them!"