1st December

Maia looked at the clouds that lay under her like a big snowy landscape. The only time she had seen snow had been in television, but the clouds looked just like that. There were hills, where the clouds piled up, and big plains, where they were their upper surface was nearly at the same level. A small plane scrapped just over the clouds looking like a hovercraft that rushed over the snowy plains but else there was just vast freedom, the sun shining on the white clouds and making it glow bright the wing that vibrated in the cold air. Maia only knew that the air was cold, because inside of the boing it was very warm thanks to the climate system. Maia knew that they flew over the ocean right now and that the flight to Europe would still take a few more hours. She roamed through her hand luggage, her name "Maia Lanster" was on the side with a big sign, and collected her MP3 player. She put the ear plugs into her ears and started the music. "Knocking on Havens Door" - it was fitting for her sitting in a plane that flew high above the clouds. In a way she also was knocking on havens door right now. Maia returned her gaze outside again. The clouds casted some magic spell on her. She looked at it for an hour now until she realized it.

It was the first time for the eleven years old vixen to fly. Up to now she had lived in a big city with skyscrapers all over the place, together with her parents. She had white fur, like her father, but the brown eyes of her mother. Her father was an artic fox, while her mother was a red fox. Only her black paws showed, that she was not a pure artic fox. At the moment she wore a light blue dress and matching blue sandals. She still remembered the fight she had with her mother about her clothes. Her mother said that they would not be fit for where she was going, but Maia wanted to wear her favorite dress for her first flight, even more because she was about to meet her uncle for the first time and wanted to make sure she looked cute.

Her grandfather on the father's side broke a leg and his parents decided to visit him over Christmas, but in the area of her grandfather there was no one to play with and they had feared that Maia would feel lonely. Therefore, her mother asked her brother if Maia could visit him. Maia knew that she had a cousin that was a bit older than her and her mother told her, that Patrick, her brother, moved to an isolated area in Europe in the middle of nature. Maia directly had been very excited about this. She always had loved nature, even though in the city there was not much of it. She had loved to visit national parks or the countryside with her parents, but this time she would be in the real wilderness. Or at least that was the romantic view the 11 years old girl had. It was not only the first time she would meet her uncle and cousin, but also her first time leaving the country. A lot of papers had to be filled out before and they were all stored in her bag now. For Maia the last weeks, where she knew she would fly but every day was passing slow like a snail, were a torture. She had barely been able to keep her excitement inside and at school she had been too distracted with thoughts about how Europe would be to listen to the teachers. Her parents had made an agreement with the school that she could leave early and come back a bit later than normal. Maia was to stay the whole December with her uncle and only return after new year.

Maia did not know how it happened, but she must have fallen asleep while gazing at the outside and listening to her music. She woke up from the woman next to her standing up and collecting a bag from the language storage above their heads. Maia looked outside and saw, that the plane already landed at the airport and all the passengers started to leave the plane. Maia waited until it was less crowded and stored her MP3 player in the bag. When she was able to stand up, she caressed over her dress to make sure the folds were straightened and the dress looked nice. Then she recovered a mirror and a comb to make sure every hair of fur on her head was perfect. Bees were swarming in her belly when she picked up the perfume and wet the fur at her neck and throat. The stewardess smiled at her. "Ready to get off board?" she asked. Maia noticed that she was the last of the passengers in the plane and felt the blood rise in her head. She could only knot and hastily put all her equipment back into the bag. "Have a nice time!" said the stewardess, when Maia left. Her pulse went down a bit, when she exited the plane but it directly rose when she reached the end of the gangway. The bees in her belly made her feel dizzy. She was so excited and nervous about meeting her uncle, that she did not directly react when a big red fox approached her. She only winced and turned around, when he put his paw on her shoulder.

"Are you Maia?" he asked and she looked into the smile of a handsome red fox. Maia was blown. She had seen pictures of her uncle at home, but in flesh he was even more stunning. He could have been a model and athlete. "... erm" she did not say what to reply. She totally was at loss of her words. "You are Maia Lanster, my niece, right?" he asked and she just nodded shy, feeling the blood rush into her head again. "Good, I was afraid you missed the flight when you were not coming out. I am your uncle Patrick." He gave her another smile and with his strong paw in her back he led her to the luggage pickup. "I am happy to have you and we will make sure you will have a nice stay here." Maia managed to bring out a very faint "thank you", which made her uncle laugh. "You do not need to be so shy around me." He said friendly and waited for her to find her luggage. He took it out of her hand. "Let me carry this for you. The car is parked outside. If this is all, we can depart immediately." Maia only nodded again. She still felt a bit shy and embarrassed. "By the way Maia. My sister did not lie. You are super cute." Her Uncle mentioned when they reached the car and Maia climbed on the passenger seat. "I am sure Derick will be stunned from your looks." - "Thank you." Her voice shook a bit. She was happy about the compliment but also felt even more embarrassed about the fact that she was called cute. "Who is Derick?" she managed to ask, when the car pulled off the parking lot. "My son and your cousin." Replied Patrick and steered the car through the traffic to the highway. "You will meet him tomorrow. We will arrive very late and I am sure you will want to sleep in a bed after the long flight." She nodded. "Now tell me a bit about yourself. I heard a bit from my sister, but I want to know more about you..." slowly Maia got out of her shell and did not only listen to her uncle explaining about the village they would go to, but told him about herself, what music she liked, how it was like to live in a big American city and much more. After a few hours she fell asleep and only woke up when they arrived at the house of her uncle. She could not see much, because it was dark outside. If there were other houses, they did not have lights on and with clouds on the sky, there was no star or moon light that could give her more information about the area. She was also far too tired. She was greeted by Patrick's wife, Sophie, who was a red fox like her uncle and nearly as beautiful as Maia's mother. Patrick had purchased Maia something from a burger shop on the road and therefore she was not hungry. She had Sophie led her to the guest room and then she fell into the bed exhausted and fell asleep again instantly, without even disrobing. She did not even notice her uncle bringing her luggage into the room and pulling the cover over the girl with a smile.