Blinding Sun
December. Midday. I am on a narrow road to a small town a few kilometres away from my winter home. I have done this journey many times, I do it on autopilot, today is the same, I drive without thinking about the driving. The December sun reflected on the snow. Next turn and I will see the tower of the church. A moose jumped out from nowhere….
August. The sun high in the sky, my northern body is not used to this heat. Even night time it doesn’t go below 25 degrees Celsius. How people can function, work, socialize, crack jokes in this heat! All I want to do is hide in the house or stay in a swimming pool.
I have to work but it is way too hot to sit in front of a screen and type. One more coffee, shower, and I will have to start to work.
I have no snus left so I am forced(by my addiction) to go and get some.
Outside everything is the same but something’s different, I don’t understand what people are saying, even simple words like “hello” fall on deaf ears. The other peculiarity is that there are mooses everywhere, they are on the windows, coffee cups, and on packs on cigarettes.
I did manage to buy my chewing tobacco bits and decide to walk along Market Street to see what is going on. I have the feeling that I don’t belong here, I’ve lived on the outskirts of this town for many years and never had this feeling before. I love this market town but now I feel an underlying hostility towards me.
What is going on? What happened to this town, why it doesn’t like me anymore? I look at people's faces and they turn away, even dogs( everyone has a dog here) turn away!
I decide to experiment, I step in the local bakery ( I’ve been here many times before, the bakers know me), say “hi” and I get an unfriendly look, few words I don’t comprehend, and then a hateful stare! I point out towards a few pastries, the baker puts them in a paper bag(while avoiding eye contact) says something, I pay and leave the shop. What the hell is going on?
Some old gentleman pass by and quietly says “you don’t belong here” and disappears around a corner of the church! It took me a few moments to realize that it was said in a language I could understand but by that time the old gentleman was gone.
On the way back to the house I drive faster than normal, the feeling of hostility stays with me for the entire journey, the town tower is in my back view mirror, round the corner I press the gas pedal down when a moose jumps out in front of me…
Cold but sunny December day. The sun reflects on the snow, white and red, beginning, and the end. Deafening silence, traces of blood turn into paddles, dead animal besides a rearview mirror reflecting the town tower.
