Woo, have a busy day and internet down for a few hours, and look at all the stuff that happens! More spot-on
midwestmutt haiku,
Keep Looking's beautiful main contribution, some excellent heart-string tugging by
Jitter, and something from
Gaelle that I can't see for some reason.
Plus the usual great banter I've come to expect here.
I semi-promised a cameo appearance of the Hotakainen boat, and actually managed to find time to edit down a great rambling mess of vague ideas into something not
too long, so here's my take on contentment. It popped into my mind as soon as someone suggested focusing on secondary characters, and I really wanted to include the boat!
The boat had been on blocks in the yard since the autumn of Year 0, but every spring Aino still cleaned the cabin. She always said it was to make sure nothing was nesting in it, but really it was her last link with Before. On this fine spring day, then, she leaned a ladder against the hull, and climbed stiffly onto the deck once more.
She stepped into the quiet cabin and stood a moment, transported back to that rainy autumn. She and Saku had been planning, their minds leaping years ahead. She smiled at the image of little Ensi taking piano lessons, with plump child hands, frowning over the keyboard. But memories intruded - little Ensi, her hands gripping the edge of the table, frowning.
"Can't you hear them? They say they want me to help them, but they're lying."
Aino shook her head. She grabbed her dusting rag and began wiping the table. Ensi strode by, little Jukka and Juha trotting in her wake. Aino watched, stilled in mid-wipe, great pride welling up for her strong, skilled, and respected daughter. So respected that when she returned from a scouting trip visibly thick around the middle, and gave birth to the twins five months later, nobody dared to pry. Not even Aino had managed to get more than "Ukko-Pekka" out of her!
The boys lacked Ensi's... gift? Curse? They were happy-go-lucky children, full of laughter. Aino smiled again, this time for the present - for her tough, competent daughter, and her cheeful, loving grandsons. She looked down at her hand, still holding the rag.
"You know," she said aloud, "this is kind of pointless. Nothing has got in here in 40-odd years, and old dreams aren't worth dwelling on."
She stepped out into the warm spring air and climbed back down the ladder for the last time, feeling... happy? No, this was deeper and more lasting. Content. That was it.
Edit to fix misspelled name that everyone was too polite to point out. And then re-edit to put the quotation marks, apostrophes, etc. to rights... why do those get changed on edit??
