CH Oneshots

Remembrances

Guys I wrote 1690 words in three hours. This didn't exist in any form or concept yesterday and here it is now, being published. Somewhat connected to my other oneshots At the End of it All and Finding Lost Roots. But you don't necessarily need to know those to understand this.
weirdestarrow, I hope this helps you with your exams. I genuinely don't know how I made this so fast. but I'm not about to question it.

also,
Forest Finns, Metsäsuomalaiset, and Otso are all names for the same person.

And the name Muuna is referencing Kvens.

-Aili

━━━━━━━━ ✠ ━━━━━━━━

Summer of 1960.
Tornedal POV:

In 300 and some years, you can get to know someone pretty well.

This considered, I was fully aware that despite the many years that Metsasuomaliaset had lived on his own and had time to practice the craft, he was never much for housekeeping.

His yard had always been well tended to before, as much as a clearing in the wilderness could be, but even that was starting to grow in now. I chose not to try uprooting the new saplings, My old friend would've wanted for his home to return to the wild.

Muuna had taken the cow from the stables months ago, so even they lay empty and abandoned now, save for the birds nests tucked away within the building.

I looked around the yard again, wishing my daughter could be here now. It would be easier if she was able to help, and she had wanted to, but important business had called her away. Something or other to do with Norway. I understood why she had to leave, chances to argue for ourselves as nationless beings were few and far between.

I shook my head, so many years and countries were still a pain to me and my family, some things never change. But I was thankful that the trouble was now of the positive type, and not negative.

Still though, having only one person to work made cleaning Forest Finn's old property a hell of a job.

"Better to start now," I murmured to myself, "Work's not going to get itself done."

The house was filled with settled dust, having been left empty since the winter. It hadn't been that Otso was messy, but upon starting to clean the area it became painfully clear that he had chosen to only upkeep a few of his belongings while neglecting the others.

It was strange, being here without my old friend present. It felt like any second he'd step through the heavy wooden door and demand to know why Tornedal was going through his things.

The feeling was more than a little eerie, as if he was still lingering somewhere in the house, collecting dust like the rest of the relics here.

Sometimes I felt split in religious beliefs, I considered myself Lutheran, as did a lot of my people, and at the very least the idea of an eternally happy afterlife someday had always appealed to me. More comforting to think of than what I had been told about death as a boy at least.

I wondered if that was the sort of place Otso was now that he was gone, or if we as land spirits would ever be allowed to rest like that.

Sweeping was easy enough to start with, having the doors and windows open aired the inside out nicely, leaving the rooms feeling more open and pleasant somehow. I had been here briefly after Otso's death, but I hadn't had the energy or strength to clean.