When Leonie was three years old, her parents died in a car accident. Leonie, her only child, was picked up by her 45-year-old aunt Gerda, her father’s unmarried sister. There were no other relatives. Aunt Gerda was strict, but also affectionate, and since Leonie could no longer remember her parents and only knew about Gerda’s life, on the whole she spent a happy childhood and youth.
When Gerda succumbed suddenly and unexpectedly to a heart attack at the age of 65, it was a heavy stroke of fate for Leonie.
In Gerda’s will, Leonie had been declared sole heir. However, the value of the estate was not particularly high.
When she cleared out a drawer in the budget resolution, she was suddenly startled. An envelope bore the inscription: For Leonie, open only after my death!
With a pounding heart, she slashed the envelope. It contained five 200-euro bills and a letter. As she read the letter, she kept pausing, staring at the floor, shaken and confused. He read:
Dear Leonie,
I hereby tell you a secret that I did not mention in my lifetime. At eighteen, I got a daughter and released her for adoption. Her producer had left me, and I did not want to have an illegitimate child. Later I felt very sorry. I was glad that I was allowed to take care of you and was able to make up for my mistake. Now my request to you. I do not know how Lora (as I called her) is called today and where she lives. Could you try to find her? She was born on March 1, 1971 in the local Municipal Hospital. If you can find her then please give her the enclosed thousand euros and tell her that I am very sorry to have given her away, and wish her all the best. If you still have not found them after half a year,
Your aunt Gerda
Only slowly could Leonie organize her thoughts and feelings. She had not known the tragedy in Aunt Gerda’s life. And now she should find this Lora and give her the money. Thousand euro…
It was rumbling in her soul. “Nobody,” a devil whispered to her, “knows something about this money. Plug it in, you’re the sole heir! “
“No,” said a little angel, “the good God sees everything, and the unjust good does not prosper!”
Sighing, Leonie finally decided, “I’ll try to find her, but I hope that after half a year, it still has not worked and I can keep the money!” Sullenly, she sat down at the computer to google. I guess I’m the only user in the world hoping not to find something , she thought.
But soon she discovered a Lora Brinkmann, who lived only forty kilometers away and was undoubtedly the wanted (or, from Leonie’s point of view, “not wanted”). She was born in 1971, romped around with numerous entries and photos on the Internet and resembled Aunt Gerda on the hair. Also her postal address was found online.
Leonie already thought goodbye to the 1000 Euro when she gained new hope. Lora, who appeared to be one of the most nefarious on the net, wrote in an adoption forum: “I do not want to have anything to do with my family of origin !!!”
Hm, Leonie thought, then hopefully she would not want their money …?
Finally, she wrote to her biological cousin:
Dear Mrs. Brinkmann,
I read on the internet that you (born on 01.03.1971 and then released for adoption) do not want to have anything to do with your family of origin. Nevertheless, I would like to inform you that your birth mother, Mrs. Gerda Wagner, recently passed away at the age of 65. She left a letter to me, her niece, in which she expresses her profound regret that she did not keep you, and wishes you all the best. She also asked me to transfer you 1.000, – Euro. If you want to accept the money, please let me know your bank details.
Sincerely,
Leonie Wagner
Two days later came an answer.
Dear Ms Wagner,
I do not wish to have any contact with my biological family of origin. The amount of 1.000, – Euro you want to transfer to my account mentioned below.
Lora Brinkmann
Leonie was deeply disappointed. Not only because of the money she would like to keep, but also because of the cold sound. Well, she thought, maybe I would be the same in her situation. I’ll transfer her the money and then draw a line.
It was a cold winter evening when Leonie went to the bank shortly before the switch-over to deposit the money and make the transfer. When she left the building again, she felt on the one hand conscience, on the other hand, but also anger over the loss of a thousand euros. Grimly she looked up to the sky where the first stars were already sparkling. “Aunt Gerda, if you’re up there somewhere, hopefully you’ve seen that I did everything the way you wanted it.”
A few minutes later, Leonie saw something glistening on the sidewalk. As she got closer, she saw they were two brand new one-euro coins. There was no one to be seen who could have lost her. She stooped to pick up the coins, and suddenly an old fairy tale came to her mind. “Two star talers!” She smiled.
Her eyes fell on a ticket office across the street that was about to close. Driven by an inner urge, she ran away and bought a lot with the two star-talents.
She won seven thousand euros