Hotel Selten

Running into Problems

"Mom!" 

A teen girl rose from her bed quickly, panting. Her brown hair was in mess. She was wearing a blue shirt and black jogging pants. She looked around and went into a deep realization. She threw the blue blanket off her body as she motioned herself to the edge of the bed, sitting there as her legs hang on the bed. the tip of her toe barely touching the ground. She sighed as she looks down and thoughts come to her mind. 

She looked at her sad home, well, it's not her home actually, it's her grandmother's home, which died just last month. It was a comfy home for her, though, she felt lonely, it's only herself now. Gladly she's in legal age to support her living, though, she dropped out from her school. Her future is unclear for now.

She let out a heavy sigh again as she reached the kitchen which is just like 5 meters away from her bed. Her granny's home is like a small apartment, though, with a beautiful backyard and spacious front lawn. It's not so big, just the right size for three people to live in. She gets some containers of coffee powder in her cupboard as she reached for a cheap porcelain cup and a tablespoon in the dish drawer. She reached for a small metal kettle with an insulator handle and fetch some water in the faucet. She heated the water and waits as she prepared some peanut butter sandwich which she loved the most.

She took a bite of her sandwich as she reached the hot kettle with bare hands. She didn't feel any heat as she poured some warm water into her cup. She put in two tablespoons of coffee and a half tablespoon sugar and stirred it. She's munching her sandwich as she stirs her hot coffee. She placed her almost finished sandwich and lifts the coffee to her mouth, blowing it as she sips it. 

KNOCK. KNOCK.

She spits the coffee she just drank as she poured some on her pajama shirt, all of it because of the shock she felt. She screamed in pain as she put down her cup and reaches the sink to at least cool her burns off. She teared up, she can feel her skin is burning even her pajama is made of cotton. She cursed under her breath as a familiar voice spoke behind her.

"Yow... Sorry―" 

"WHY ON EARTH DO YOU NEED TO DO THAT!" She shouted in complete anger, well, maybe just pissed off at him as she wipes the excessive water in her body and let her shirt get wet. "I almost burned to death!" She turned to the chubby 19-year-old boy who was pretty embarrassed about what just happened. "Woah, don't be so exaggerated, OP. I was just checking on you―" He was explaining until she cuts him off. "Can you just please stop scaring the sh―" She looked at him as she sighs and turns around to finish her little breakfast.

"Anyways, you going to your job now?" He asked her. "Yeah, just gonna take a bath and stuff." She said as she set aside the dishes in the sink and washes them for a bit since it's just a small amount of dishes to clean. "You wanna get on my bike?" He offered her. "I am going to a house just near the store you are working on." Ophelia sets her dishes to her dish drawer as she wipes her hand with a cloth. She smiles at him, "Yeah sure. You can sit there on the couch while I prepare." She said her acceptance of his offer as he smiles and throws himself on the couch. "A'ight. Go on OP." He said, chilling himself to the comfy yet old couch. She just smiled as she prepared for her job.

Ophelia hopped on her friend's bike, who she calls JP. He hopped on the bike as he hands her over an extra helmet and put his. "I know you planned this." She said. "Well, yeah, I have been gone to Munich for weeks." He explained as he starts pedaling their way to the store. "I kinda missed you, well, been so sad and lonely these days," Ophelia said with a sad tone to her voice. He smirked, "Ya missed me?" Ophelia rolls her eyes and sighs. "You know you are the only one that I have now. I lost my parents 5 years ago and... Granny Ali last month." Her voice trailed off and cracked a bit. 

"Hey, don't cry OP. You are 18 and we are on the road. Should we call the Wah-ambulance?" He joked to lift the mood. She bumped his back with her elbow while giggling a bit. "You are a crackhead as ever, JP. I thought visiting your father in Munich will discipline yourself up?" Now, the tables have turned. He let out a heavy sigh, "That man must discipline his alcoholic a*s first." Ophelia comforts him by patting his back. "Sometimes, I just thank my brother's existence sometimes, at least I am free from any responsibilities to him. You know that douchebag brags his riches." He chuckled, "Now he's gonna support dad." 

"At least you could be whoever you want now." She said. "Yeah, and made friends like you and the g**g next village." She smiled as she turned her head to the convenience store just meters away. "And... We're here." The bike came to a halt as Ophelia dismount the bike. "Imma head out now, see ya later... or soon," JP said as he pedals his way away from the store. Ophelia entered the shop and prepared for her job.

Her everyday life was like this since the week after her granny died. Well, she has been working since she turned 18. But after that incident, everything changes, she even dropped to her school, hoping that she will get back to at least get some degree to have a better job. For now, she will endure this job and maybe save for her future. She settled herself in the cashier counter and prepared for the surge of customers.  

The noise of crumbling of the plastic packs, the typing for encoding a products' number, the beep as the bar code hits the red light, chit chats of people. Shouting of the cashiers as they asked some of the staffs something. Some annoying and angry yell of entitled customers. The daily situation in Ophelia's job.

She has anger issues, but she keeps herself intact as she encounters different kinds of people. Gladly, she has been learning the German language since 10 from her father, she could have been lost or kicked out of this country. It was stressful, but she needs some euros to stay alive.

A chubby lady with her short brown apple hair puts down some chips and liquors, also sausages to the counter. Typical procedures were done, the lady gasped at the price. "Sabotieren Sie die Preise!?" She said she was asking if she's sabotaging the prices. "Nein." She said no calmly but she looked at the lady with confusion. "Du bist! Warum ist das so hoch?" She keeps insisting, even questioning why her total p*****t is expensive. "Sie haben so viele Fritten, Würstchen und Liköre gekauft, Ma'am." She explained why the p*****t got so high, she brought so many chips, sausages, and liquors, no wonder she will pay a lot. 

"Sie Lügner! Ich habe einen Gutschein für Rabatt!" She said as she hands a discount coupon. Ophelia looked at it and it was already expired. She returned it to her as she explains it, "Es tut mir leid, Ma'am. Der Rabattgutschein ist jedoch vor 3 Tagen abgelaufen. Sie können es auch lesen, bevor Sie hier sind." Her coupon was already 3 days expired, they can't accept it anymore. "Sagst du mir, dass ich dumm bin!?" She points at her telling me if she's emphasizing that she is dumb. She gets angrier and angrier. Another day in the store...

"So ist es ni―" "Ich brauche meinen Rabatt!" She keeps insisting her discount. Ophelia facepalmed as her partner, Hannah, goes between them. "Vielleicht können Sie nur die Produkte verringern, Ma'am. Das würde die z*****g reduzieren." She explains that she should just reduce some of the products she was planning to buy, so that it will lessen her p*****t. "Ich kann nicht! Gib mir einfach den verdammten Rabatt!" She keeps insisting. 

"CAN YOU JUST f*****g BUY IT!" Ophelia slammed the counter table, the liquor flew and broke mid-air to the lady, killing her in the process. All of the beverages inside the refrigerators exploded injuring and killing the other people who were near them. Ophelia was shocked, she didn't know, she just grabbed her bag and hoodie and ran away from the incident. Some of the persons in the store who realized what's happening started to ran after her as Hannah called the police.

She keeps running and running, she didn't know where her feet will bring her, but she needs to distance herself away from that place or perhaps, everyone. She runs as she heard some noises which are so familiar to her. It's the police! She ran into an alley that leads into a more hideous place, the forest. She just ran and hope she wouldn't encounter any dead end.

She started reaching the mountains, well, woods on the mountains. The police are shouting to let her halt. She tried to lose them and she will decide later where will she sleep. She keeps turning, running, and stopping when needed. She hides sometimes when a nearby authority is just near.

It's like a marathon to death in the Black Forest. A lot of sweat is dripping, her short thin hair is going along with the wind, her legs are keeping her fast pace. Hope to god she will not stumble, or else she will get into prison, which is nobody's dream unless you are pretty screwed up. 

"Sehen Sie schon Hinweise auf dieses Mädchen?" German police asked one of his crew in the walkie-talkie. "Nein!" Answered the other one, who was running near east, as he came to a halt to look around for anything suspicious or even footprints of the lady they were running to. The others answered 'no' too. The guy who seems the leader sighs in stress, trying to think of other possible scenarios and ways to capture the girl. "Suchen Sie weiter, sonst wird der Chef wieder wütend auf uns!" He commanded, with stress and a bit of nervousness in his words. "Jawohl!"

On the other hand, in the middle of the forest, the girl who was the target of the cops stumbled on the ground, panting heavily, she huff and puff the air she can get, she was on her knees, well very tired knees. Ophelia can feel her feet are very tired, trembling in exhaustion, it hurts, even she's in her rubber shoes. She can't even feel her legs, it's becoming so numb. Despite the pain, she is enduring this moment, she is quite glad she lost the cops, now she needs NOT to be seen by one of the cops nor to alert them in any way she could do. She rested on a log sitting on the ground, with a few Moses on its bottom part, well some edible mushroom she could eat when she's hungry and some other plants or fungi just feasting on this trunk's nutrients. 

She can say she's in the deep middle of the forest, which is not quite good, but enough for her to hide a bit from the authorities. Minutes later as she feels the pain slightly fade away from her body, she started to walk around, finding something that can provide her within days or so, if she ever venturing the forest to at least go home, or go to a near safe civilization. She picked a medium-sized branch of a tree, with a little bit sharp on the edge, fine enough to protect her on whatever hides in this forest. She started to go on for a walk, picking up some edible mushrooms and collecting them on her shirt by making the bottom of her shirt a pouch-like one. She only needs to find some river or even a small pond, to drink some water and rinse the mushrooms she got. 

After a few minutes of unplanned hiking in the forest mountain, she hears some tranquil splashing of water, she followed the sound, looking around for anything suspicious and finally! She found a clear-looking river. She rushed and kneel on the ground as she starts scooping some water on her palm to drink it. It was so refreshing. She then washed the mushrooms and start eating them raw. As she looks around, the river seems long enough, and it means a civilization! She might follow where does it go. It's getting darker, she needs someplace to settle in for a while. The other side was filled with trees also... And, smoke? 

It could be a forest fire, but she can't smell fire nor some distress in the environment. She curiously walked through the river, leaving the mushrooms on the river bank. As she steps on the opposite river bank, she felt an eerie feeling, her tiny little hair on her body erects. She looks around and seems the forest gets a little bit more mystical.

She shrugged the feeling as she cautiously went to the source of the smoke, the wind blows against her face, it's a little bit cold, but she continues anyway. She saw a rock-tiled path, she smiled a bit, it could be a house or some village! She followed the path, the trees start to decrease in numbers as she passes by. 

She came to a halt as she saw a wooden cabin-like structure, with a chimney on the back, it seems bigger in the rear portion of it.

Welcome to Hotel Selten.