6 years later

"Lou! Get up! It's our birthday!" Louise ran into her twin brother's room and pulled on his blanket. "Lou! Come on! Get up! It's our birthday."

"Lou! Lou!" Four-year-old Nina Rose ran after her. "Lou! It's Louise's birthday! We're celebrating today!"

"It's Lou's birthday too, Stupid!" Louise pulled even more vehemently on his blanket, which her brother was now holding on to. Nina grumbled a little annoyed, but Lou couldn't understand her. The four-year-old often spoke unclearly. "Lou!" Louise shouted again.

Lou blinked annoyed. It was dark in his simple chamber. Only faint light came through the small window. Only a thin curtain of rags protected him from sandstorms. "Is it daytime already?"

"The sun is rising! How can we still be asleep? On our birthday! Mom promised that there would be our favorite food today! And gifts!"

"Mom and Dad are still asleep!", he grumbled. "So, let me sleep."

"But we're already awake! Come on!" Louise now shook him.

"I'll wake up Mom and Dad!" Nina hurried out of the room. "And then I ask if it's Lou's birthday or not!"

"We're twins!" Louise cried after her. Then she snorted. "Lou Vivien! It's our birthday today and we can't sleep through it! Get up! Come on! Please! Mom and Dad are awake now, too. Nina jumped back into their bed for sure. That's what she always does."

Yawning, Lou sat up. "Why should I get up? Nobody wants to celebrate me. Only you."

"Mom and Dad want to celebrate you too. I want to celebrate with you! Nina wants..."

"Nina forgot my birthday. She just wants to celebrate yours!" Pouting, he swung his legs over his old wooden bed. It wasn't much more than a few old boxes with wooden planks on them. A few rags protected Lou from wood chips. "I'm certainly not allowed to celebrate."

"But, Lou! Maybe! And you get gifts. Definitely. I wished for a new dress and a necklace! And you? What did you wish for?" Louise hugged him. He could see her light brown hair. It tickled his nose.

"Nothing, you know that", he muttered. "I never wish for anything. I'm not allowed to go to any party. Not even my own."

His sister snorted and sat down next to him. "That's unfair!"

"No." He shook his head and looked at his hands. Slowly it became brighter in the room. His right hand was slightly tanned by the sun. However, he had a large, light spot on his left hand. His skin lacked any color there. He had to put his hands close to his eyes to recognize them. "I'm not allowed to take part in any party, I can't have fun so that my curse doesn't spread to the city. Or on you! That would be terrible! Staying in my bed and sleeping is the best thing I can do for you. You shall have a beautiful celebration!"

"But I want to celebrate with you!", said Louise, when Nina came back into the room.

"Mom is awake and making breakfast. But Dad fell asleep again. He's snoring!", she said, giggling.

"It's too early", Lou replied.

Nina nodded eagerly, but only Louise could see this. "That's what Mom said, too. But today we're celebrating."

"Breakfast!" Louise jumped up. "Come on, Lou! Maybe we can help!" And then she and Nina hurried out of his chamber again. Lou watched them as best he could, and yawned again. He stood on his bed to look through the small window. Basically, it was just an angular hole in the stone wall that was once covered with a heavy tapestry during all sandstorms. But the tapestry now hung in Nina's room, as hers had fallen apart. At least that's what his father had said when he took Lou's tapestry and replaced it with rags. Lou didn't mind. He had never liked the tapestry. It had a rough feeling to it. Lou liked everything soft. The rags protected him from storms, but some sand still came in at every storm and made Lou sneeze.

The carpet had always been too big for his window. Nina's window was bigger. The rags would not have been enough to protect them. And his parents lacked the money to buy another tapestry. Since the rags were softer to the touch, Lou had been very happy to swap. So much so that he almost smiled. But he wasn't allowed to do that.

Through the window, he could see the colors of the dunes, over which a bright sun rose. His parents' small house stood on the outskirts of the city. Lou's small chamber and Nina's room were the only rooms whose windows faced the desert. Every other window was facing the street. His family was not rich. No. They were among the poorest in the city. And this even though his mother was one of the witches. A healer of almost mediocre talent. Her skills were not valuable to the city. No more. Instead of healing, she painted the pottery that Lou's father was making. With this, they earned enough to provide themselves and their three children with the bare necessities. His parents had once belonged to the upper class until Lou was born.

Lou had ruined his family's life. People said that his mother upset the gods and that Lou was the punishment. A few, however, believed that Lou would one day upset the gods and had therefore been born cursed. Why else, hadn't Louise and Nina been cursed? You couldn't imagine that his parents could upset the gods. It had to be because of him. He hated himself for it. His mother missed working as a healer. She only helped the equally poor neighbors from time to time with her magic. Outside of her neighborhood, she was no longer allowed to use any magic. Shame had come upon her family. And that was his fault.

Magic was rare and was only passed on by women. Sorcerers and witches were considered particularly precious. But there was never a guarantee that a witch would pass on magic to her children. Out of five children, one might inherit magic. That's what made them so valuable. Wizards and witches also enjoyed a long life. They were considered immortal. The wisest of the city on the edge of the mountains had been living for a thousand years, but none of them looked older than twenty-five or thirty at most. Then they stopped aging. They lived in a temple and served the gods of the sand and ruled over the city.

Lou hoped Louise and Nina would inherit magic. With magic, they could leave the slums and live a better life. Unlike Lou. At the young age of six, he had already resigned himself to being eternally poor. And so it had to be. For there was a curse upon him. The gods of the sand did not love him. Even the wise men said that his parents must have enraged the gods, otherwise, Lou would never have been born cursed. He was their burden.

Lou's fair skin was characterized by several colorless spots of different sizes. The biggest spot was on his face. This one went from his left cheek, around his left eye, up to his hair. Where the stain was, his otherwise light brown, almost sand-colored hair lacked any color. It was snow-white. Lou's eye color was also unusual. He had light brown, almost golden eyes. With his left, somewhat brighter eyes, he saw nothing, and with his right only what he held almost directly in front of his eye. The rest blurred into bright colors. As a result, Lou was very clumsy. Especially as a toddler, he had often injured himself.

And that this was definitely due to a curse was proven by a burn scar, which was also on Lou's face. This stretched from his right cheek to his chin and had not yet healed properly. His right arm was also disfigured by such a scar. He had laughed at a joke his sister had told Nina, only to fall into the still-glowing coals of a dying campfire from which his father pulled him out when he heard Lou and Louise screaming.

Nina had just stood there. Later, she could not sleep for nights. Louise, too, had stood helpless in front of the flames in the end, while Lou was burning. His clothes quickly caught fire. She tried to help him, but the flames were too hot. She slightly burned her fingers and finally gave up. Lou was much too heavy for her, even though he was shorter. And he was paralyzed by the pain.

Lou stumbled over his own feet with laughter. That’s how he ended up in the fire. His parents fasted for three days so that the curse would stay away from Louise and Nina. After all, they had been standing next to him.

And they fasted so that Lou would survive his wounds. He had been fighting for his life in his bed for two weeks. The wounds had become severely inflamed. Especially the wound on his face. No healer wanted to have mercy on the poor boy. His mother fought for him, she healed what she could with her magic. She wasn’t strong enough to make severe burns disappear. Only a few smaller, superficial ones disappeared. It took her a long time to defeat the inflammation. The wounds had become infected. Lou knew he couldn't laugh. And yet. He had done it. Now, he was even uglier than before.

Louise, on the other hand, had been prophesied a good life, so her parents believed she would surely inherit magic and make it out of the slum. Louise was pretty. She had dark brown eyes and her hair was as light brown as Lou's. But without the white spots. Nina, on the other hand, was as blonde as her father. Her hair was thin. Louise said it was particularly soft.

"Lou! Come on!", he heard Nina call. "There’s porridge with fruit! Fruits!"

Sighing, he made his way to the main room of the simple house, which served as a kitchen and living room at the same time.