Lev

Lev is 11 years old and has been living with his mother and his plush lion for a one year, eleven months and 35 minutes here in Germany. His father, before leaving the mother and the boy forever, gave Lev a small plush lion named Lonik. The plush animal has become for the boy his best friend and confidant. It is only with him that he can talk about his worries and anxieties. His mother, Masha, is trying to be a good mother, in her own way: She wants to spare him the poverty in which she grew up and offer him a good education. Both are safe in Europe and anyway German men are often looking for beautiful East European women. That is what the aunt of Masha told her: "Many of my friends have raised, in this way, their daughters correctly." Since she know no more in her life than looking good and pleasing men, Masha sees no other way out than marrying a wealthy German man, who can take care of both her and her son.