Felix's Fateful Festive Fling

The first thing I noticed was the smell.

It wasn't anything unpleasant, quite the contrary. It was a very nice smell, a little bit of hops and a lot of malt. The smell made me feel home, it made me feel comfortable. My little heart felt warm and safe. It was the smell of home, my home. And then I heard the music. A sweet, bright melody that reminded me of my mother. The melody brought tears to my eyes, tears of happiness and sorrow. I had never heard such beautiful music before in my life, yet something deep inside told me that it could not have been so beautiful without the most important person I had ever known. Her face appeared in front of me, as if she had always been there all along, smiling at me her sweet smile and caressing my cheek with her soft hand. I felt myself being caught in her gaze, unable to escape from it, and for a moment I forgot about everything else but her loving eyes that were looking at me with such warmth and tenderness. They were full of life, happy yet also sad at the same time - a mixture that made them shine even more brightly than usual. But soon enough the image began to fade away from my mind's eye like waking up from a dream and suddenly realizing that you are no longer dreaming anymore but back in reality - except the reality I found myself in now was vastly different from what it once was only moments ago: I didn't recognize my surroundings anymore; they seemed somehow unfamiliar to me and yet at the same time so familiar at the same time... Although I knew this place was somewhere far away from where I came from, somewhere far away from Germany where I had grown up with my mother, this place seemed strangely familiar to me; it almost felt as if I had visited this place before when I was younger but somehow couldn't remember how or why... When finally reality hit me hard again like a tidal wave, I realized what kind of situation I was in: all alone in some strange country with no idea where to go and no idea how to get there; most of all: no money! The realization caused fear to spread through my body again like an electric shock and left me utterly helpless.

"What am I going to do", I thought while staring aimlessly into the distance while crossing the street on which a multitude of people were hurrying back and forth in all directions: "I have no money left! How am I supposed to get anywhere?" Suddenly someone bumped into me - hard. Instinctively my right hand automatically reached out to grab whoever walked into me but instead felt nothing but air as if there wasn't anybody standing in front of me anymore who had just bumped into me seconds ago. Confused by what just happened, my eyes scanned across the street trying to find whoever had bumped into me but saw nobody around who looked even remotely like he had bumped into someone only seconds ago. Looking puzzled around, there seemed to be nobody who had noticed that somebody had bumped into another person only moments ago because everybody kept walking past each other as if nothing had happened at all - although there sure did seem to be lots of bumping into each other going on everywhere on this street today!

"Now *I* must be seeing things!" I thought feeling more confused than ever before until suddenly something caught my attention on one side of the street: A pub whose name read 'Zum Wirtshaus'. It was an old-fashioned pub with long tables outside filled with people sitting together drinking beer out of steins - just like back home! At least it seemed like it could be just like back home since so many people sat outside here too drinking beer out of steins!

"Maybe they are Germans?", I asked myself intrigued by this new discovery as well as by all those German names written on signs hanging above every entrance door on this street: 'Biergarten', 'Hofbräuhaus', 'Augustiner Bräu', 'Brauerei am Nockherberg'...

"If these people are Germans then maybe they can help me!", suddenly hope rose up inside of me again and filled up my little heart with warmth again: "Maybe they can help me find a way back home!" Being overwhelmed by joyous thoughts about returning home again after having been lost for so long now, tears ran down my cheeks as if being washed over by rainwater flowing down a mountain stream during springtime when snow melts and runs down off mountainsides toward valleys below where streams are formed and rivers flow. These tears were tears full of happiness yet also sadness at the same time - a mixture that made them shine even more brightly than usual just like those loving eyes that looked at me with such warmth and tenderness when she said goodbye before disappearing forever leaving behind only an empty space where her presence used to be... Tears ran down my cheeks like water down a mountain stream until finally they fell onto the ground below where they splashed loudly against asphalt covered by cracks beneath which water flowed away as quickly as possible underneath cracks while carrying mud along with it making small dirty puddles wherever water splashed onto asphalt covered by cracks beneath which water flowed away as quickly as possible underneath cracks while carrying mud along with it making small dirty puddles wherever water splashed onto asphalt covered by cracks beneath which water flowed away as quickly as possible underneath cracks whilst carrying mud along with it making small dirty puddles wherever water splashed onto asphalt covered by cracks beneath which water flowed away as quickly as possible underneath cracks whilst carrying mud along with it making small dirty puddles wherever water splashed onto asphalt covered by cracks beneath which water flowed away as quickly as possible underneath cracks whilst carrying mud along with it making small dirty puddles wherever water splashed onto asphalt covered by curls beneath which water flowed away as quickly as possible underneath curls whilst carrying mud along with it making small dirty puddles wherever water splashed onto asphalt covered by curls beneath which water flowed away as quickly as possible underneath curls whilst carrying mud along with it making small dirty puddles wherever water splashed onto asphalt covered by curls beneath which water flowed away as quickly as possible underneath curls whilst carrying mud along with it making small dirty puddles wherever water splashed onto asphalt covered by curls beneath which water flowed away as quickly as possible underneath curls whilst carrying mud along with it making small dirty puddles wherever water splashed onto asphalt covered by curls beneath which water flowed away as quickly as possible underneath curls whilst carrying mud along with it making small dirty puddles wherever water splashed onto asphalt covered by curls beneath which water flowed away as quickly as possible underneath curls whilst carrying mud along with it making small dirty puddles wherever water splashed onto asphalt covered by curls beneath which water flowed away as quickly as possible underneath curls whilst carrying mud along with it making small dirty puddles wherever water splashed onto asphalt covered by flaws beneath which mud flowed away...

"Wow!", suddenly somebody muttered next to me startlingly loud: "None of us has seen such floods in ages! Those who live here should be really glad now!" Looking surprised around at being addressed directly instead just hearing talking going on around me everywhere on this street today, eventually something caught my attention on one side where two people seemed especially engaged in conversation next to some large building: "... Oktoberfest is canceled this year!", one man said while shaking his head disapprovingly: "Nobody wants to travel here anymore! Too dangerous! Everybody's afraid!" Another man nodded agreeing: "Yeah! The king himself doesn't want any tourists here anymore because everything is so dangerous nowadays!" Again another man shook his head disapprovingly agreeing: "A real shame! We've got thousands upon thousands waiting for Oktoberfest here year after year!", he said while looking sad beyond belief before adding further complaints about how dangerous everything seemed nowdays everywhere in Bavaria while slowly turning around looking troubled at something behind him until eventually he pointed toward something across the road suggesting we should go look over there... Curious about what he was pointing toward despite recognizing that whatever he would show us across the street could not possibly make him look better after saying all those negative things about Oktoberfest just moments ago, still we followed him without hesitation over there while crossing several streets filled up with people hurrying back and forth... On their way over there we passed many pubs each filled up *with* lots of people drinking beer out of steins inside seating at long tables outside chatting together merrily laughing together enjoying themselves having fun together watching others having fun together etcetera etcetera until finally we stopped walking next to another pub called Zum Wirtshaus - exactly opposite Zum Wirtshaus stood another pub called Zum Augustiner Bräuhaus...

"Look over there!", suddenly somebody whispered excitedly pointing toward Zum Augustiner Bräuhaus across the street where two men dressed in brown monk robes were entering through its entrance door. Immediately we turned around toward Zum Wirtshaus wondering why they were pointing over there when seemingly everyone kept walking past each other without paying much attention to anything else than themselves... Eventually curiosity grew stronger than fear however causing us not wanting stay put standing right here only being able to watch others having fun together watching others enjoying themselves talking happily laughing happily chatting merrily enjoying themselves instead wondering what could be causing them excitement over there when everyone else seemed too busy doing their own thing... So eventually we crossed over