Fire by Sara B. Elfgren & Mats Strandberg

Author:Sara B. Elfgren & Mats Strandberg [Elfgren, Sara B. & Strandberg, Mats]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hammer
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

PART III

42

Ida stops in the kitchen doorway.

It looks exactly the same as it did before the water damage six months earlier. The whole house is white and clean again.

Ida has always been proud of her family home. Lately, though, her perspective sometimes shifts. Then, all the whiteness makes the whole place seem soaked in milk. Together with the mist outside the large windows, it feels as if milk is oozing all over the world.

That mist. During the autumn and winter, it has been hanging over Engelsfors almost every morning. The snow lasted for a few days around the New Year, but the rest of the time it melted as soon as it landed on the ground.

Ida observes her family at the kitchen table. Mum and Dad are both eating their crispbread sandwiches. Lotta has pulled her legs up so high her face is almost hidden behind her knees. She is chatting quietly with Rasmus, who is giggling at something she says.

Looking at them like this, at a distance, Ida feels it is easy to love them. Mother. Father. Sister. Brother. Standing here, she can sense the reality of her love. It is floating inside her, light and pure. She wishes that she could encapsulate the feeling and save it.

She clutches her French textbook closer to her chest and steps into the kitchen.

‘Good morning.’

Mum and Dad mumble something in response.

Ida sticks a slice of bread in the toaster. And gets a shock when she accidentally touches the metal cover. She swears quietly under her breath. It’s going to be one of those days. It started with the mobile charger. Next, the hairdryer. Her metal element is running wild these lousy misty mornings.

Gingerly, she extracts the toast when it pops up, butters it thinly, and brings it to the table with her mug.

Mum pushes the teapot towards Ida.

‘Did you sleep well?’

‘I can’t remember, so I guess I must have.’

She meant it humorously, but Mum looks irritated. Ida regrets it at once. Now this morning is ruined already.

‘Are you working today or can I take the car to school?’ she tries all the same.

‘No, I have to go to the shop.’

Ida nods, opens her book and starts quizzing herself on irregular verbs.

‘I don’t like it when you read at the table,’ Mum says. ‘And you know it.’

‘I’ve got a test coming up. Would you prefer me to fail, or what?’

‘Mum, Ida is being negative again,’ Rasmus says.

Dad lowers his crispbread sandwich and eyes her.

‘Now, now. What kind of attitude is that, Ida?’

‘You’re to imagine you get the test back and the teacher is pleased and has ticked all your answers,’ Lotta tells her.

‘Or else I can study, like normal people,’ Ida says.

She drinks some tea and tries to stay cool. But she can feel the others looking at her.

Please don’t say anything about Positive Engelsfors, she thinks. I’ll simply die if I hear the words ‘Positive Engelsfors’ again.

Besides, is it really normal for people to study for a test these days? It seems at least half the town argues exactly as Lotta just did.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.