It was so dark that Ludwig couldn't see his hand in front of his eyes. There was lightning and thunder as he struggled against the lashing rain. The water poured down from the sky like a huge waterfall. He had actually just wanted to wander through the forest with his friend Klaus to build a tree house. They had split up to look for wood for it. After Ludwig had been wandering around the forest alone for about half an hour, dark clouds had suddenly gathered and he had heard a huge rumble of thunder above him. He was surprised by the thunderstorm. It had become so dark so quickly that Ludwig had stopped in shock. He had completely lost sight of Klaus and had long had no idea where he himself was. "Klaus! Where are you?" he now shouted against the thunderous noise of the rain. There - wasn't there a very faint shout? "Klaus!" Ludwig shouted again and listened intently in the direction from which the answer seemed to have come. But this time, for the life of him, he couldn't hear anything except the rain. Ludwig was now soaked to the skin. The water was pouring down his face so that he could barely see. "His desperation was growing by the second. "I have to find Klaus!" he said to himself and simply ran off. Always following his nose, he couldn't see where he was going, but he couldn't just stop and wait. He had to find Klaus. "Who knows what could happen!" he thought in a panic. "If only we hadn't gone into that cursed forest!" He kept running, stumbled over roots and picked himself up again. Then a bright flash of lightning flashed across the sky. Suddenly there is a huge bang. Breathless, Ludwig sees that an old oak tree has caught fire just 50 metres in front of him and is immediately ablaze. "Oh God!" The boy, who is now frozen to the spot, can think no more. The blazing tree sways. "It's going to fall!" Ludwig suddenly realises and automatically throws himself to the ground, protecting his head with his arms. The noise deafened his ears, then the ground beneath him shook for a moment, then only the rain and the crackling of the fire could be heard. "I'm still alive!" is the first thing Ludwig thinks. Carefully, he lifts his head and looks round. The tree was about thirty metres away from him and was on fire. The rain slowly subsided, apparently the thunderstorm was moving away, as the thunder could only be heard as a low rumble. Ludwig picked himself up and ran on in search of Klaus. Hopefully nothing had happened to him! Then he suddenly saw a figure crouching under a tree. "Klaus!" cried Ludwig happily. "Ludwig?" "Yes! Thank God, you're finally here!" The two friends waited together under the tree until the rain had stopped. "We were very lucky that nothing happened to us!" said Ludwig. "Maybe we should build the tree house in our garden instead," suggested Klaus. Soaking wet and shivering from the cold, they made their way home.