65th birthday on December 2, 2009. An old enchanted house in the industrial area outside the city becomes a refuge for a small group - four siblings and two mismatched lovers. Shielded from everyday life and the outside world, a soon somnambulistic, soon clairvoyant play of thoughts and behaviors unfolds. What shapes our present, and how can we shape it? Botho Strauss's consciousness novella questions the image that might be valid for our time.