Philophobia: A GerIta story

Chapter 9: Ludwig

Loud ringing wakes me from my sleep, apparently I cried myself to sleep however long ago.

I wipe my eyes, looking around me. I'm still on the couch, Imelda curled up at my stomach and Alaric laying on the floor below me. Everyone else is scattered around the room, either chewing on something or sleeping.

I pick up my phone, which shows I have a text message from an unsaved number.

'Hi Ludwig! It's Feli and I just wanted to say hi to you!'

I smile a bit, looking at the clock on my wall, which read '6:53' pm.

I save the number as 'Feli 🇮🇹'

'Hi Feli.'

I message back, standing from the couch, walking over to the backdoor and unlocking the dog door so everyone can go to the bathroom. The noise wakes each of them, and they all run or walk outside.

My legs automatically take me to my coffee machine, where I start a pot of coffee.

"I really need to work on my book, I'll try to get at least a hundred words today," I say aloud to no one, walking into my room to grab my laptop. I set it down on the table as the machine dings, singling that the coffee is done. I always make enough for ten cups, especially when I'm writing.

My books range from fiction to non-fiction, and I have seven books currently published, five fiction and two non-fiction.

Every book is under a fake name, Anderson Hermann, which is fine with the women that prints my books. She says her husband suffers from paranoia, so she understands a bit on why I wouldn't want my real name shown.

The first non-fiction book is actually a cookbook with Beilschmidt family recipes that Opa gave me permission to publish under the name before he died two years ago. The second non-fiction book is a book on dog training.

The fiction books are actually a series that is one book away from done, making it a six book long series.

It's actually a series about the stories of 'The Awesome Knight', bedtime stories Gilbert would tell me every night until I was seven, then it started back up a few years ago because I could hardly sleep.

It goes:
Book 1: Dark Seas: Story of the Awesome Knight
Book 2: Beyond the World: Story of the Awesome Knight
Book 3: Escape the Night: Story of the Awesome Knight
Book: 4: Playing with Fire: Story of the Awesome Knight
Book 5: Saving an Angel: Story of the Awesome Knight
Book 6: Defending Love: Story of the Awesome Knight

Gilbert is beyond proud that I actually remember any of the stories, and is incredibly happy that I'm writing about what helped me throughout my childhood and the toughest time of my life. I glance down at my phone when I feel it go off, showing another message from Feliciano.

'You replied! By the way I'm sorry if some of my messages are weird or incorrect grammar or spelling or wrong punctuation I use the voice thing and it doesn't like me all the time sad face.'

I chuckle a bit.

'It's okay Feli, not a big deal.'

I assure him, setting down my phone for a moment as I pour myself a cup of coffee, at the same time Alaric walks in, curling up on one of the doggy beds in the living room.

The phone goes off again, so I pick it up when I sit back down.

'Oh no Ludwig! Antonio just called me down for dinner so I need to go! I'll message you when I'm done okay? By bye for now Ludwig!'