Geschichte: I Love Axolotls

Christopher picked up the gift. His daughter watched him. He opened the box. Inside, there was a mug. He took it out. There was a picture of a strange animal on the mug.

“Happy birthday!” said his daughter.

“What is it?” Christopher asked.

His daughter stopped smiling.

“It’s an axolotl,” Christopher’s wife whispered. “She chose it.”

“You don’t like it!” said their daughter. She ran into the other room.

Christopher followed her. She looked at him. She was five years old, her eyes were very big, and her face was full of emotion.

“I love it,” he said. “Thank you.”

“You don’t!”

“I do. I was surprised. How did you know? Axolotls are my favourite animal.”

“They are?”

Christopher’s wife came in. “I didn’t know that,” she said.

“Well, it’s true. I love axolotls. They’re so… unusual! Do you like them?”

His daughter nodded. “I like their funny faces.”

“I like your funny face.” She giggled.

The next year, Christopher opened his gift. It was a plate with a picture of an axolotl.

“Another axolotl!” he said. “It’s — it’s —”

His daughter looked at him. “It’s your favourite animal.”

“It is,” he said. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

From then on, every year, all of Christopher’s gifts were related to axolotls. He received ornaments, books, T-shirts, hats, socks, underpants, and more. Everywhere he looked, he saw an axolotl.

On his sixtieth birthday, Christopher’s daughter gave him an envelope. He opened it.

“Tickets for me and you… to visit the aquarium?”

“You’ve never seen a real axolotl!” said his daughter.

“How thoughtful!” said Christopher’s wife.

Christopher and his daughter had a wonderful day at the aquarium. She loved seeing all the different kinds of axolotls. Some were pink, others were golden, others were brown and green.

“If they lose a limb,” his daughter explained, “it grows back. Of course, you know that already.”

“Obviously,” said Christopher.

“You do… really… like axolotls, dad?”

“Of course.”

“What’s your favourite thing about them?”

Christopher thought about it. “They’ve got amazing abilities,” he said. “Because of them, a sixty-year-old man spent a whole day with his busy, thirty-year-old daughter. I love axolotls.”