Year 1920.

It was a sunny morning in the beautiful city of Venezia, at Italy. The wind was warm and smelled of saltyness, it was somewhat annoying because it tends to make the skin sticky, but that was easy to fix with a cold and relaxing shower; he would know, having lived in this country for a few months as an exange college student.

Ludwig was walking through one of the most busy streets in the city, the merchants would put up their little stores and selling booths all across of it, selling fruit, meat, fish, vegetables and all those kind of things, it was early so the merchants were getting ready for a day of business. That was a normal morning for him, walking throught here to get to college, every day he would pass this street and every day he would buy the same exact thing: a red apple and a plain bread, always in the same booth, always at the same hour and always with the exact change to pay.

Ludwig Beilschmidt believed in order, he believed in an organized universe, causality didn't exist for him, everything was a consequence of an action, and it sure was not random; if you were careful enough, you would be able to know what would or could happen at any moment and at any time in your life. That's the kind of a man Ludwig is, and he was happy like that, his life was in order, just going according to plan.

While he was walking, he noticed something different in the street, the booth from where he always bought his red apple and plain bread wasn't there, the place where it was supposed to be was empty. Ludwig looked around, expecting to see the missing booth to be somewhere, but it wasn't, everything was the same, except for the booth where he buys his red apple and plain bread. He looked at his wrist watch, it was 7:50 a.m., he couldn't waste more time or he would be late, but at the same time he couldn't go without his red apple and plain bread. He saw the next booth's owner, a kinda old lady with a few wrinkles in her face and brown hair, and got close to her.

"Excuse me" he started talking "Perhaps you would know what happened to your neighbor booth?" he asked as he pointed to the empty space.

"Ahhh, you mean Earl's booth?" Earl was the owner of the booth where Ludwig would buy his red apple and plain bread "he decided to retire, so he closed up his booth" the lady explained as she cleaned her hands on her already dusty apron.

Retire? Earl never mentioned something like that! Of course, it's not like Ludwig would actually ask him or even start a conversation with the old man, but that's besides the point. He saw his wrist watch again, 7:55 a.m., he REALLY needed to set off to college, but he also REALLY needed his red apple and plain bread to be able to continue his day normally.

Easy, Ludwig, you need to start thinking about priorities! Yes, you may need your red apple and plain bread, but you need to go to class, you know, since you worked so hard to get this scholarship on Italy. With a sigh, he started to walk away from the empty space, it doesn't matter, he would buy something at the college's cafeteria, then he will make a plan to replace the missing booth for another, there are a lot of stores in that street, and he could bet the majority sells red apples and plain breads, that is if he even actually betted, of course he didn't bet, that kind of things aren't organized nor have any kind of order.

The hours passed until it was time to go home, it was late at evening because Ludwig likes to stay at the library to study, he has an scholarship to maintain, after all, so when he arrived to his little apartment it was already the sunset. His apartment wasn't anything out of the extraordinary, it was small and the furniture was just the essential ones, a little kitchen, a couch, a desk with a lamp, a simple bed and, of course, the simple bathroom with the simple shower. He actually would like to bring in some plants and such, but he disregarded the idea after imagining the poor plants dying because of his negligence. He left his bag at the desk, he already did his homework at the library so he had a little free time, as always of course, so he just went to take a cold shower and then went to sleep.

The next morning, Ludwig got up at the same hour, 6:30 a.m., took a shower, prepared his clothes, his bag and then went off to college, walking through the busy street full of selling booths. But this time he had to go slower, he had to choose another place to buy his red apple and plain bread, yesterday was an awful day because he couldn't get them, so out of order, so now he has to replace the booth. He continued to walk down the street until he reached where his usual booth was, now occupied by someone else. Maybe the new owner also sell red apples and plain bread, Ludwig thought, so he got closer and saw the person behind the counter. A slim, young man with a light tan skin and brown hair. He was carrying some boxes and open them up, clearly to start placing his products. Ludwig got his attention when he cleared his throat, but this just provoked the young man to drop a small box over his own foot, gasping in pain.

"I'm sorry!" said the blonde man immediately "Are you ok? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine" the other man answered with a smile and teary brown eyes, looking at Ludwig "It's just that these boxes are so heavy~~ I get tired after a while, ah, but, may I help you?"

"Yes, I was wondering if you are gonna sell fruit and bread, I used to buy in the previous booth that was placed here"

"Ahhh, I see!" the young man smiled "well, sadly, I'm not gonna sell fruit or bread" Now that Ludwig had him eye to eye, he could see this guy had a spacey face, no wonder he would let the box drop so easily and—wait, what?

"Then what are you going to sell?" deception was tainted in this question, he will have to look for another place "Are you going to sell food?"

"Ha haaaa! Glad you asked!" the little man went back to behind the counter and started searching in the open boxes, until he got up again, showing a big square of something? "I'm gonna sell art!"

Art? That was strange, well, obviously Venezia was known for its artistic structure and everything, but selling art in a market seemed… weird. The "square of something" was actually a canvas, already used, the art piece itself was a lake scenery with vibrant colors, really pretty. But it wouldn't benefit Ludwig in the least, he needed morning food, not art.

"Ah, I see" the college student answered, and, by the way, he should get going "well, it's time for me to go, good luck in the new business" he said as he finally departed.

It seems Ludwig will have to buy something at the college's cafeteria again, well, maybe he'll start do to that from now on.

Days passed until they became weeks. The blonde man fulfilled his decision and started to always buy his breakfast at the cafeteria, nonetheless, he continued to walk through the market street, and every morning he would see the young italian in his booth, sometimes with new art, sometimes with old one, and he wondered if it actually sells. It wasn't any of his business, though, so he never asked or even talked with the guy ever again. That is, until one day when the sunset was on the sky and people were finally getting home to have dinner in peace with their close ones, Ludwig was walking in a little plaza that had a fountain. This plaza was quite most of the time because it was little, so not a lot of people went there, also it was close to Ludwig's apartment, some kids were running while playing and some people were chit-chatting about meaningless things, houses were surrounding the plaza and they had little flowery pots on their windows, the wind was calm and somewhat refreshing, kind of weird at this time of the year, it felt nice. But what caught his attention was In front of the fountain, the new booth's owner was sitting with a somewhat empty canvas, godet in his left hand and a brush on the right one.

It was an interesting scene, because the italian's face was far different from what Ludwig has seen before, he looked concentrated but still relaxed, somehow, he obviously knew what he was doing, it was plain obvious he had been painting since a long time ago. Maybe Ludwig stared too much, because the artist looked back at him and smiled, waving his hand while saying hi.

"Good afternoon" replied Ludwig after walking towards the young man "Didn't know you painted here" of course he didn't know, though, he never talked to him.

"Yeah, yeah, I like the atmosphere here! It's so relaxing~~"

Ludwig peeked over the painted canvas, it was a scenery of a green hill with a tree on top of it, flowers all around it and the sky was blue, it gave a relaxing feeling; it was impressive, it was all done without reference, all from memory.

"What is your name?" the blonde's thoughts were interrupted when the artist talked.

"Ludwig Beilschmidt"

"Ahhhh! I thought you weren't from here! Well, me neither, but italian I mean. Where are you from?"

"Germany" the italian kept smiling, as if he was waiting for more information "… I'm here thanks to a scholarship I earned on college"

"Wow! College! So impressive!" he said as he left the godet and brush on the floor "I didn't go to college, I can't study to save my life" he ended with a shameless laugh, and that kind of pissed Ludwig off. That attitude, that debauchery, was what he is so against in his life, that's why it's so important to have order and be organized in your life, so you don't end up like this guy.

"My name is Feliciano Vargas, by the way, I've just arrived a few weeks ago, when I saw you I thought it was weird for someone like you to be here! I just thought you were a tourist or something, but you kept walking by the market street and…"

He kept going and going, talking about how blonde or how tall Ludwig is, so different from italian people, it was obvious he wasn't from Italy, but it was also not THAT weird to see foreigners on Venezia, it was a beautiful city, after all! Full of beautiful scenery, delicious food, kind people and, of course, belle women, oh, but let's not forget about all the art! Italy is capital of the arts, that's why he, Feliciano, was there in the first place! Ahhh, the beautiful Venezia, with its beautiful sea, its beautiful plain, its beautiful sky, talking about the sky, Have you seen it at night? Ahhh, the stars are beautiful! So romantic to see with your beloved after a calm dinner.

Ludwig was exasperated.

"I need to go" he said, taking some steps back, this making Feliciano to finally keep quiet "I have to get home and prepare for tomorrow"

"Sure, sure! Waaah talking so much makes me hungry, so I better go too!" he started to pick up his things "We will see us again, Ludwig! You always use the same street, after all" a soft giggle was the ending seal of the conversation.

After finally arriving home, Ludwig left his bag on the desk, grabbed clean pajamas and a towel and headed to the bathroom, but then he realized the night sky through his window, he walked towards it and saw the stars.

Huh.

They indeed are beautiful.