More than yesterday [dennor]

Chapter 1

"A storm was coming
but that's not what she felt.
It was adventure on the wind
and it shivered down her spine."

- Atticus
.

Norway, 1934

.

Summer came fast, as if spring was never even here. This was the first real summer day that held a strong message of "enjoy it". It was not even the midday and the Sun shined brightly from the cloudless, clear sky. Sun rays painted the landscape in colors and held it in a warm embrace. Looking left I saw the field sway, like seaweed in the bottom of an ocean, as a gentle breeze flew over it like an invisible force. The wind played with my hair and then, it played with the leaves of the trees on the other side of the road. Then it stopped playing with them and continued its journey, leaving the leaves lonely, and disappeared to make its way to the open oceans. I don't know what kind of journey it has. Important or without purpose. I've always felt like the winds are exhales of the Earth. That they made their way trough the lands and seas, reminding people of life. Reminded of their own journey, which nobody knows anything of. Just like we don't know the journeys of the winds. Just like I don't know the journey of my own.

A butterfly flew from the field towards me. As if it knew I wanted to see it better, it flew over me and fluttered its orange wings, and soon disappeared to the wide world . Lycaena virgaureae. Scarce copper. One of my favorites. I blinked my eyes a few times and sighed dreamily, strolling by the bumpy country road before my eyes.

I was making my way to the town. My home isn't far away from it, only few kilometers from the city. I live with my mother, little brother Emil and his father. My own father died in diphtheria when I was only a baby. Two years later my mother married an Icelandic man and soon after that Emil was born. So at home, we speak both Norwegian and Icelandic.

This whole "walking outside in a beautiful weather", was to be honest my mother's suggestion. By suggestion it means that I have no other choice. I don't usually spend my time outside or far away from home. I like to read in our garden, or by the fire and of course I had to help with the livestock and harvest. If I go outside far away, I go usually with Emil. However he had other plans for today.

After some time I reached the town. The change is always so radical. While in the countryside the peace is everywhere around you, in the city the noise is massive. All the cars' engines and people chatting and talking. It was crowded, and to my eyes it was huge. The different shops were bustling with people. Some women were vigorously chatting in a cafe on the other side of the road and some couples seemed to be taking a walk in the crowded town. The buildings I've seen many times before, looked different in this summer daylight. The market was filled with people buying food such as strawberries or potatoes, whatever the crop has given. It all looked very different since the last time I visited the town. So different I didn't have time to react before I stumbled on a bump on the street and fell.  Before I figured out in which kind of state I was, I heard quick footsteps coming closer.

"Need a helping hand?" Said a deep, but kind voice. 

I lifted my eyes from the ground and found myself looking up at a pair of happy blue eyes, that were framed with a childish handsome face. The eyes held a youthful and perhaps even a sly glint in them. But otherwise, they were full of life. The eyes were light blue, a colour that was supposed to calm down. I doubted it though. Despite the light blue serenity, the eyes were holding such a wavy sea inside. But not wavy enough to drown. The man flashed a wide smile. It looked so happy and real, as if he had no worries tugging at the corners of his mind or heavy burdens to carry in his heart. He had ash blonde hair that seemed to be sticking at every direction possible. The whole appearance of the man was all pure joy. If happiness took a form of someone, it would be him.