INGRID (ENGLISH VERSION)

FAMILY

"Well", I started. "Tell me what's wrong and why you came back".

"No need to worry about me", she replied. Then she lifted her blouse and I noticed a swollen belly. I exclaimed: "Dina, this is wonderful news!"

"We are going to have a daughter", she said to me.

"And why did you just leave the States? I haven't quite understood".

Dina sighed. "Listen, my pregnancy is not the reason, why I came back. I just realised that I didn't enjoy this lifestyle at all".

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't want to become like Lydia. Cocky and pretentious".

"Why? Do you believe that were you still in the States, you would have become cocky and pretentious?"

"Ingrid, it's all about Broadway. You have to deal with excessive money there. Yes, I enjoyed what I was doing, I enjoyed the fact that I was highly paid. But I didn't want to become a diva, just like many other women I met. Do you know what I've seen with my own eyes?"

I shook my head negatively.

"Things you've seen at the theatre is nothing compared to what's happening in Broadway. I swear I have never encountered more perverted people in my whole life".

"I hope nobody ever did anything to you".

She laughed. "Are you joking? They wouldn't dare to. But, apart from the reasons why I explained to you, the latter was the main reason why I left. Stardom is not for me. Whatsoever, I wanted to continue my career as an archaeologist".

"It's hard to combine both. Archaeology requires a lot of work. Excavations and similar stuff".

"Only excavations?", she said. "I think you don't know much about it".

"I don't have the slightest idea about archaeology. I've heard about one thing or two only by my father, although he himself has studied ethnology".

"Furthermore", she went on, "I'd rather be playing the guitar in acoustic projects. I love interacting with my audience".

"Me too", I said. "I'm not really excited about the idea that in the future Alexandria might be rocking huge arenas. Small places fit better to me. Afterwards, I can chat up with people a little bit".

"How are things going with the band?"

"We are about to release an album in late April".

"Woah, you don't say. What should we expect from you?"

My tone became milder. "It is related to the Holocaust and World War II".

"Oh, come on now, Ingrid. How did you come up with such a disasterology theme? Has anything happened to you"

I cracked up. "If something bad had come up, I would be writing about my wounded heart, not about historical topics. I just read a book related to the Holocaust, which gave me such a great shock, that I wanted to reflect my thoughts about it in music".

"Have you been writing any book lately?"

"Some time ago, Jesikka and I published a book with short horror stories".

"Boo, this sounds so scary! You haven't informed me about it. Tell me more".

"Jesikka had this crazy idea that we spend some time in my summer cottage in Greece and write two or three short stories for Orchidea's Tales. However, we were stranded due to a huge storm, so within three whole months, we were able to write about twenty-five short stories. When flights became available again, we returned to Norway and published our book. It's called Tales from the Crypt and it's available both in Norwegian and English".