A Midsummer Night's Christmas DreamPart 3
Reynir decided that he should spend the following hours the best he could. Not only it would prevent him to go mad counting every minute, but also lead their host to believe that he was pondering his offer.
Therefore he played, joked, pranked, drank and ate all that he was able to. They even made jokes with each other's pointed ears. And Tuuri declared them officially cute and charming!
At some point they were all dancing some Finnish music called Humppa
1, played by two of the older kids. Onni, Lalli and Tuuri already knew the dance, while Reynir, Emil and Sigrun's awkward attempts had an hilarious effect over the audience. Yet Reynir, as the others, didn't care. They were just having fun.
Nobody laughed at Mikkel, though, because the fourth non-Finnish guest danced flawlessly.
"So you never told me that you have been in Finland before." Sigrun probed after she tried, and hilariously failed, to follow him.
He replied with a smile. "A long story. I'll tell you one day."
Later they asked for some relaxing music, and soon were dancing slowly, close to each other. All but Onni, who was in the kitchen with the some kids to make cakes.
Mikkel kept dancing perfectly with a much surprised Sigrun. Emil and Lalli were fine too, except for Emil occasionally stepping over Lalli's feet, and Reynir tried his best with Tuuri. They were happy and relaxed, and by the third dance they were surprised by Mikkel and Sigrun kissing, soon followed by Emil and Lalli.
Tuuri smiled and looked into Reynir's eyes. "Shouldn't we... dance to their tune?"
Before he could think on an answer she was pulling him, and the next moment they were kissing. Her mouth had a peculiar freshness, as if she had just chewed mint and drank cold water from a mountain spring. It was, however, a brief kiss, because soon Onni and the kids entered the room, loudly announcing their just-baked-still-hot cakes.
They separated, still holding hands, and he could swear her translucent cheeks had a shade of pink.
...
They spent the rest of the day together, and what a great day it was!
Now a part of him longed for nothing but remaining in that blissful place, in the company of his friends and those wonderful children. The real word seemed a distant bad dream that he would happily forget.
However, each look through Tuuri's body was a strong reminder that their lives weren't lines on some short story, played on that dreamy island. They were parts of a greater narrative, and it was his responsibility to find a way back to where they belonged.
After dinner Reynir returned to the pier, and waited. Their host soon joined him, a faint smile in his face. "Glad to see you still with us, Reynir. Already changed your mind?"
He came closer, and a shudder rocked Reynir's body. "Do I feel love in the air, Reynir? I could... surely hear it this afternoon. Your friends Emil and Lalli were... discreet, but I had to block all sounds coming from Mikkel and Sigrun's room." His smile became a bit more noticeable. "You and Tuuri also seem to be getting along just fine..."
"Stop. Let us go, please!" Reynir turned back and followed the path towards the big decorated tree, but soon the man was walking by his side.
"Are you sure Reynir? When you and your friends are enjoying so much your time here? Even Onni, that has no pair, is happy. He seems to have a special affinity with the kids, have you noticed? They love him! Did you taste his cake? It was deli..."
A powerful light shone over them, interrupting his speech. It grew even more intense, and Reynir had to close his eyes. When he managed to open them again there was a woman by the tree, with a dog in her arms.
Reynir ran there as fast as he could. He saw that his Fylgja had been through a hard time. It was much thinner, had many bruises and its fur was missing in some spots.
"Hello Reynir."
"Anne, you came! It's so good to see you!" He caressed the dog's head. "What happened?"
"You are very lucky for having such a brave and strong guardian. Most wouldn't have survived, however this one just needs some time to heal."
"I wanted to help, but..."
"Welcome! Anne, I presume. I'm your host. Please make yourself comfortable."
Anne wasn't exactly enchanted by the soft talk. "Host, so you say. Nevertheless from what I've heard you act like a captor."
"They are all safe and happy. Even Reynir is enjoying his time here." He replied, putting a hand over Reynir's shoulder and winking mischievously at him.
"The beauty of an illusion doesn't turns it in reality, young man." Anne put the dog gently on the ground. "Please, come with me. I can show you the path, as I did to many before."
She extended an open hand to him. "Aren't you tired? I was so tired to be trapped in this World, knowing that my place was elsewhere. Aren't you tired of this charade?"
"Tired... Yes, I'm so tired... I'm really tired of you people telling fairy tales about some paradise beyond the clouds!" Now Reynir could see that fiery look in his eyes.
"So there's a benevolent God up above, ready to embrace our souls? Yet He lets this World, His creation, turns into Hell? All that suffering... over innocent children! How can that be understood?" Now he was yelling. "No, it's all a lie, I tell you. All a big fat lie!"
...
They all stood silent for a while. Then Anne sighed. "You want to understand? I wish one day you can. I wish I could. We're just grains of sand on a beach where waves come and go, ruled by the balance of forces much greater than anything that our imagination can encompass." She opened her arms wide. "This, all this World, is under the water of a bigger wave, but we can be sure that in time it will recede. It's a tough time, but we must do our best, and never let hope die."
"Beautiful speech, madam, but I'm not impressed. Hope died in this place a long time ago."
"Yet you created this Christmas scenery, a celebration of hope! Yes, hope! Why do you think our ancestors celebrated in the darkest of the days? They believed it was the end of a cycle, and the beginning of a new one where they hoped, beyond all their doubts and fears, that things would be better. That's the essence of hope. As once a poetess wrote
2."
"Hope" is the thing with feathers --
That perches in the soul --
And sings the tune without the words --
And never stops -- at all --
And sweetest -- in the Gale -- is heard --
And sore must be the storm --
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm --
I've heard it in the chillest land --
And on the strangest Sea --
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb -- of Me.
"Beautiful! I must write it down somewhere, or maybe put it on the wall." He said sarcastically. "I'm still not convinced, old lady."
"But we are."
Reynir looked around. They were all so entertained with the conversation that he haven't noticed all the others gathering around them. They were surrounded by all the children, with his friends behind them.
Their host clearly wasn't expecting it. "What? What are you doing here? This is an... adult talk about important things! Go back! Play with your new friends!"
An older kid stepped forward. "We know what's happening, and won't be fooled anymore."
"But how..." And he gave Onni a hateful look.
A giant rock materialized in the air right above Onni, and started to fall.
But the rock suddenly became a thousand colourful butterflies. "This is our dream too, and you won't hurt anyone."
Then a girl spoke. Samy, Reynir recalled. "Don't blame Onni. We, the older ones, already suspected that something was amiss. We would find the truth soon."
"All I wanted was to protect you!"
"We know." Said the boy. "And we are grateful for that. But now is the time to choose. We have been offered a chance to move forward, and we want to take it."
"You believe in those fairy tales because you are just children. You are safer here, with me."
Samy walked to Anne and held her hand. "Sorry, brother, we already made our choice."
Anne touched a branch with the other hand.
The tree was engulfed by a pillar of light that raised in the sky, illuminating everything as it was day. Up above it created an impressive display of northern lights, more intense than anything Reynir witnessed before.
The children started to walk towards the light.
"Brother, please, come with us."
"No!" A wall appeared on their way, just to be turned in a cloud of dandelions, easily dispersed by the soft breeze. "No, don't go! Don't leave me!" He fell on his knees.
Reynir's anger against the man was fast replaced by pity. "Go with them! Don't be a fool. You are slowly fading, can't you see? You can't already remember your own name! If you stay you will vanish someday, or go mad. Just go with your family."
"No! They can go if they want, but I'll stay!"
One by one the children were disappearing into the light, until the only one left was Samy. She kneeled in front of the man. "Brother, please come. I don't want to go without you."
He just shook his head. She embraced him and pointed to the light. "Look, all the others are gone. Please, Peter, come with me!"
A moment passed, and then he looked at her. "P... Peter?"
"Yes, silly! That's your name! Do you really want to stay and forget about everything, even about me?"
He put his arms around the girl and sobbed. Nobody spoke, and a tear rolled down Reynir's face.
After a few minutes Peter raised and took Samy's hand. As they approached the column of light Anne patted lightly Peter's shoulder, smiling. "I promise, you won't regret your choice."
Before the final step Peter stopped and looked back. "Reynir, Onni, I'm sorry. All I wanted was to protect you all. Thanks, and I hope at least you enjoyed Christmas."
...
Reynir woke up with a strange feeling. Was somebody calling his name?
He sat on the bed, looked around and rubbed his eyes. Where was everybody? The cabin was empty!
"Reynir! Come on!"
It was Mikkel, calling from outside! He dressed as fast as he could and ran, leaving the cabin. It's a clear and warm day. His friend were finishing packing. "Come, let's eat. Than we have some bears to hunt."
While eating everybody was commenting about some strange dreams. They just had faint memories of random moments. Those memories were fading fast, but everybody agreed they are pleasant ones.
While the others made their final preparations Reynir managed to be alone with Onni. "So, do you remember the dream or not?"
"Of course I remember everything. We could be trapped in that forever. But you and your friend Anne did well, and we were lucky that the children were able to understand the situation."
"But since when you was aware?"
"Since you slapped me with your braid. That really hurt!"
"But you haven't told me anything until the end!"
"That man was hearing everything, so I did my part, waiting for an opportunity. It arrived when he got... distracted by your romantic adventures. When I finally sensed that he wasn't listening I was able to make my move and talk to the older children."
"I see. I'm glad we're out of it."
"Just prey to your gods that I'm always around to save you and the rest of the flock. Now, about you and Tuuri..."
"I know, I know. She's here just for a while."
"Good that you understand. Oh, and beware, you owe me a slap! And I intend to collect it as soon as I can."
...
Later, as Reynir sat in the small boat on their way to Joensuu, he saw Tuuri, in her bird form, land on his hand.
"Reynir, did you also had strange dreams last night?"
He wondered what she could remember. "Yes, very strange. What do you recall?"
"It's all clouded, but I have this strange memory of dancing with you! But we never danced! First it was fast, a Humpaa, and later some slow tune."
"And is that all you remember?"
"I remember that it was good, very good, and that I really enjoyed being with you. And you, how's your dream?"
"Ah... Mine? Well, I can't remember much... But you was there, and we had a lot of fun!"
"We always had fun together, right? I mean... when we weren't in mortal danger." She seemed sad.
"Hey, don't be sad. Who knows what awaits us? Maybe we will have some more chances to be together."
"Yes, you're right. I thought that my story already ended, and look where I am!"
Reynir touched her head gently, and she chirped with joy.
Then she flew to his shoulder, gave him a soft peck and, to his surprise, began singing something in Finnish.
Reynir was able to recognize just one word, toivoa.
Hope.
The End
Footnotes:
1: A type of traditional music from Finland. (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humppa)
2: Hope is the thing with feathers. by Emily Dickinson
As you, dear reader, probably noticed, this story happens in the night the team slept in the Lehto. They go to sleep on page 348 of adventure 2 (
http://sssscomic.com/comic2.php?page=348) and are back to Joensuu on the next day at page 356. Onni collects his SLAP some time later, at page 377 (
http://sssscomic.com/comic2.php?page=377)
