The Frozen Girl by Mie Kjærgaard

Author:Mie Kjærgaard [Kjærgaard, Mie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781079409703
Publisher: Mie Kjærgaard
Published: 2019-07-22T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

I LAY BAT in her crib, it’s over in the corner, beside the window. Remembering last night, I decide I don’t want the door closed, and I won’t risk the draft blowing it shut, although how on earth that happened, I have no idea. I have the door in front of me, one hand on either side, a lever in each fist and slowly I work it back and forth, pushing upwards until it slides off its hinges. I tilt it against the wall. There, it can’t blow closed now, it can’t get stuck.

I haven’t lit any lamps, the street lights illuminate my cozy apartment, there is a flickering of blue light on the ceiling. Living in close proximity to the hospital, I’m used to sirens, but having the sirens suddenly go quiet outside my building, it’s eerie.

Before I go to bed, I can’t help myself, I have to see what’s going on, I go to the front room. The ambulance is still there, its rear doors open. There are police cars and the taxi. Some other cars have been moved over to the side, a huddle of drivers seem to be talking to a police officer, there is a lot of pointing going on but no heavy-set woman taxi driver as far as I can see and no bag-lady.

Two lanes are being funneled into one, the right-hand one. The taped off area allows a photographer to take pictures, there’s a sheet covering the body of the woman, or what’s left of her. I imagine the long lines of headlights are backed up, well past the hospital.

Should I call the police? Tell them what I witnessed? It’s pretty open and shut, the drivers will all say the light was green, but I bet the taxi driver still feels awful. After all, she killed someone.

At least I didn’t kill a baby, she’ll be able to say to herself, I hope she finds some consolation in that.

I decide I don’t need to call it in. The bag-lady, she’ll give a statement, she was closer to the accident than me. I try to shake it off, enter the kitchen, flip the light switch on, and search the fridge for something nice. Leftover lasagna? Naw, it’s gone moldy. How could that happen already? I thought Silje made it freshly this morning.

I take from the fridge the lever paste, leverpostej the store delivered, it came with the other groceries. Putting a slice in the microwave, I like it best warm, I push the button starting the oven, thinking how lucky I am to be alive, to have a daughter and two wonderful friends, one of whom can cook. A happy DING, then I heap it onto a slice of rye bread and add some pickles. Grabbing cutlery from the drawer, I carry my food in and place it on the sofa table.

I notice something is missing. I need a new candle for the Christmas decoration, it’s burned all the way down. I get one

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