-20th December, 2019-

It was a fairly quiet evening. Every now and then it snowed a few small snowflakes, the wind blew gently through the leaves of the trees and made them rustle softly.

Leonie was sitting on the couch in the living room with a cup of hot tea. She sipped her tea while her emerald green eyes looked out of the window. She watched as the snowflakes slowly fell to the ground in the wind. It looked like those little crystals were dancing as they fell. The 18-year-old sighed and placed her tea on a small table next to the couch. "Looks like he's coming home late again today. I don't like that he always has to work so late..." she thought to herself as she thought about her boyfriend. She had been waiting for him for over two hours.

The 18-year-old girl lived with her 21-year-old boyfriend in a house far outside the city. Her boyfriend, Bryan Winslow, worked as a police officer and was often involved in dangerous operations. Most of the time he even had to work overtime if an operation lasted longer, if there were problems during an interrogation or if other police officers were absent due to illness. Of course, Leonie was always worried whether he was all right, after all, she loved him with all her heart. But the next morning was his day off and she hoped that he would be able to rest and relax a little when he finally got home.

Leonie shook her head after turning her gaze from the window to the door. She got up and went into the kitchen, the food she had cooked had already gone cold. "Looks like we'll have to use the microwave again today. I understand that his job isn't exactly easy, but it's a bit sad when he always comes home so late and besides, I worry too much every time..." she said to herself.

Neither she nor her boyfriend have ever celebrated a public holiday in their lives. No birthday, Christmas, New Year's Eve, Halloween, Easter or Carnival. Bryan grew up in a very strict and non-religious home. He didn't have the best parents because he was always beaten and hurt immediately if he made a mistake. His parents always wanted to have a perfect child. Leonie, on the other hand, grew up in a friendlier environment. Her parents loved her very much, helped her with all her problems and responded to her mistakes by talking to her calmly and kindly. She also had a little brother called Finn Jan Fox, who was only a year younger than her.

As she left the kitchen, she saw the front door handle go down. She stood there frozen for a moment until the door opened and Bryan entered the house. "Hey Leonie, I'm terribly sorry it's so late again. We've had another serious case with a very aggressive drug seller," he explained.

"I'm not angry with you for that either. But you could at least have called and let me know," the girl replied. But it was true. Her boyfriend could have called her so that she didn't have to worry so much unnecessarily. "Please do me a favor and call me next time. Your job is very dangerous and I'm afraid for you every time.

Bryan sighed deeply. He closed the door behind him and walked towards his girlfriend. His arms wrapped around her body and he pulled her into a tight hug. His grip was firm, but also gentle so as not to hurt Leonie. The girl also wrapped her arms around her boyfriend's body and returned his embrace. They both remained in this position for a few moments before Bryan released her and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

Leonie smiled a little again. "Have a seat. I'll heat up a plate of food for you," she said and went back into the kitchen. The food she had cooked a few hours earlier had actually gone cold by now. Using a soup ladle, she scooped a portion onto a plate, placed it in the microwave and switched it on for two minutes. While the food warmed up, the girl turned her head towards the living room and watched her boyfriend on the couch. Bryan looked more than just sleepy and tired. He couldn't even see straight because he was so tired. Poor guy.

Two minutes after the plate had warmed up, the microwave began to beep. Leonie turned her gaze from the living room back to the microwave. She took the plate in her hands and went to her boyfriend. She placed the hot food on the table as she watched Bryan slowly sit up. He looked like he had just woken up after a long hibernation.

"Maybe you should lie down and rest a bit when you've finished eating," the girl suggested. Her boyfriend just nodded silently as he began to eat. "Should... should I get you another blanket and a better pillow and you lie down here on the couch?" she asked. Her tone clearly betrayed her worries and fears. She didn't want Bryan to overexert himself, get sick or anything like that to happen. "No, thank you. I really appreciate your concern, but I'd better get to bed. The couch is kind of uncomfortable," he replied. Leonie just nodded and leaned back a little while she watched him eat and thought a little.

She turned her head and looked out of the window again. She noticed that it was snowing even harder than before. The forest landscape was covered in a white blanket of snow: The snow was in the trees, on the grass, on the car and probably on their house too. She could even see the lights of the distant town through the snowfall. They were probably not streetlights, but Christmas lights. After all, Christmas was not far away. Leonie and Bryan would probably celebrate it just as little this year as they had all the years before. In fact, not at all.

"Looks like it's going to be a long, snowy night..." Leonie thought to herself. She was usually up all night after working the morning shift and then getting some rest at midday. So while her boyfriend could sleep in peace, she would take care of the house a little. However, she would do this very quietly as she didn't want to wake Bryan unnecessarily.

She turned her head back as she saw her boyfriend get up and carry the empty plate into the kitchen. "Honey, I could have done that myself", she grumbled as he came back into the living room. "I don't want to make so much work for you. Besides, it was just a little thing and nothing more. Don't worry, I'm going to lie down and sleep", her boyfriend replied. He sounded a little annoyed and slightly angry. Maybe it was because he always had to work so much and for so long. Leonie took a deep breath and blew the air out of her nose again. With every hour that passed in her life, she became more and more worried about him. She watched as he lay down on the couch, pulled the blanket over him and slowly but surely fell asleep.

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The girl stood up and looked at the small table next to the couch where she had put her tea a few minutes ago. She picked up the cup, drank the rest of the tea and went into the kitchen, where she quietly put the empty cup in the dishwasher. Luckily, she had already done a bit of cleaning with the vacuum cleaner, because now that Bryan was asleep, that wouldn't have been such a good idea. He simply needed his rest after a hard day's work, which was perfectly understandable. But she still had to do a bit of cleaning. She would be quiet with every step, though, because she was very considerate of her boyfriend.

Leonie took a few rags, a bucket of cleaning water and a few cloths to dry off. As she gathered the things together, she noticed that the garbage also had to be taken out. "Damn, I forgot all about that. I hope I don't wake Bryan when I take the trash out and walk out the door through the living room..." she thought to herself.

She quietly put the cleaning things on the floor and picked up the bin bags as quietly as possible. Slowly, the girl crept out of the kitchen, the bin bags rustling a little in her hands. She walked through the whole living room, past the couch where her boyfriend was still asleep. Very slowly, she pushed down the door handle and stepped outside.

The snow outside had become even worse in the meantime. The wind was also extremely strong. "At least it's just a bit of wind and snow and not a whole blizzard..." the girl thought to herself, "our area is actually pretty safe from that sort of thing."

As she threw the garbage into the garbage can, she saw a figure standing in the distance. Leonie couldn't see the figure clearly through the snow, but she had the feeling that this person was staring at her... The girl looked away briefly because something had flown into her eye, but when she looked at the same spot again, the figure had disappeared. That was very strange. Who else would be in the forest at this time of day and in this weather and then just disappear?

She just shook her head and tried to ignore it. She closed the garbage can and immediately made her way back into the house. Before she could go into the house, she suddenly saw a small puppy lying under a tree in the snow. The animal wasn't moving much, it was just shivering a little. Leonie took the puppy in her arms and carried it into the house without thinking twice. The poor dog's fur was already frozen to ice.

The girl crept through the living room with the little puppy in her arms and went up the stairs. When she got to the bathroom, she put the dog on a towel and let the ice melt on his fur so she could dry the water off him. She checked his temperature and realized how cold he really was. She decided to wrap the puppy in a blanket and place him next to the warm heater. However, she stayed with the animal and waited to see when he would wake up again.

Of course, she was also worried about the animal, because she didn't know how long it had been lying outside in the snow. How had the puppy gotten here in the first place? Had someone left it behind? Who would do something like that? A whole series of questions flashed through her mind. When she saw the dog open its eyes, she could see pure sadness and fear in the animal's pupils. Had he perhaps been mistreated and run away as a result?

The puppy didn't get up, but it looked at the girl with a helpless expression. Leonie took the little animal back into her arms, but left it wrapped in the warm blanket. She actually wanted to let Bryan sleep, but the dog seemed to be an emergency. So she went into the living room and woke her boyfriend slowly and carefully up.

When Bryan opened his eyes, his girlfriend was standing in front of him with the wrapped puppy in her arms. "Hey, Bryan... I didn't want to wake you up, but look who I found out in the snow. He was under a tree and his fur was already frozen to ice. I don't know how he got there, but we should take care of him. Please...", the girl said, looking him pleadingly in the eye.

The young man shook his head and got up from the couch to take a closer look at the puppy. "That's not a problem. I know you're normally considerate of me. The puppy is a special exception, I'd say. So you mean you just found him out there?" Bryan replied, looking out of the window before looking back at Leonie and the little dog. "In this thick snow? You don't even have to ask me if we'll take care of him, because we definitely will".

"So we'll keep him and look after his well-being? But then we still have to buy him dog food and he also needs to go to the vet in case he has any illnesses," his girlfriend said to him. Fortunately, the puppy's temperature had risen again in her arms and the little animal began to turn his head to take a closer look at the living room with his eyes. Now and then he whimpered a little.

"But of course! Or do you think we could let that poor dog freeze to death out there? He doesn't deserve that. You know what? It's not that late, so I'll go and get some food for the little guy, okay? And yes, I'll take care of myself, so don't worry," Bryan said, before giving Leonie a quick hug and then just putting on his shoes and jacket, as he still had his work clothes on. He nodded to his girlfriend and left the house.

The girl was left alone with the puppy. But she knew that if Bryan said he was in a hurry, then that was the truth. She sat the dog on the couch and watched as the animal crawled out from under the covers, shook himself and let out a very small, high-pitched bark. Although it still barked like a Chihuahua, it looked more like a small Golden Retriever, which it probably was. She didn't know much about dog breeds, but she was sure it was a golden retriever. If they kept him, Leonie would have to give him a name! She thought about a whole range of different names until she finally found the perfect one that she liked. Spike.

A short time later, Bryan came home again. He had two bowls with him, one of which was a food bowl and the other a drinking bowl. He gave the puppy food and something to drink and then looked back at his girlfriend. "We'll look after him from now on. He's safe now. But hey... knowing you, what name did you give him?" he asked with a grin. He knew Leonie far too well and knew that she always had to give everything a name. She even named the decorations. In fact, everything in her house and in front of her house had a name.

The girl rolled her eyes as she smiled. "I was thinking about Spike. Besides, I'm sure he's a little golden retriever puppy. I don't know why I chose Spike of all things, but I kind of liked the name," she replied. They both sat down on the couch and watched the little animal eat his food and drink his water. After the little puppy finished, he ran to the couch and jumped onto Bryan's lap, where he curled up and fell asleep. Both Bryan and Leonie smiled and petted Spike.