The Little Boy, the Timeless Girl, and the House of Hope

Paul was a cheerful little boy who lived in a beautiful old house with his loving parents. Living with them was a special girl named Lotte, who never seemed to grow older. She laughed, played, and told the best bedtime stories, but no one knew where she came from.

One night, a fire broke out in the house. Paul was saved, but Lotte vanished into the smoke. After that, Paul’s papa started acting cold and strange, and life was never quite the same again.

Years passed, and Paul grew into a kind young man. One day, while walking through the city, he saw someone who looked just like Lotte—but older now, like him! She told him her amazing secret: she was the daughter of Cartaphilus, a man who was cursed to walk the Earth forever. She hadn’t aged because she carried some of his magic.

Lotte explained that many other people, from long-ago stories, were also cursed to live forever, and they hid in a quiet house in Paris called The House of the Wandering. One of them, a trickster named Ozer, had the power to take over people’s bodies—and long ago, he took over Paul’s father.

Now Cartaphilus, tired of wandering, wanted to make things right. He fought Ozer to stop him from hurting more people. In the end, Cartaphilus saved Paul and Lotte and lifted part of his own curse by doing something good.

Paul and Lotte were finally free to live a normal, happy life—and Lotte began to grow up at last.

The moral of the story is that it is never too late to do the right thing. And even when things seem difficult, there is always hope for a happy ending.