Post by puffinwhisperer on Mar 9, 2011 20:52:46 GMT -5
HAPPY HALF-BIRTHDAY BELA~ <333
From the highest point on Nólsoy, they could see the entire island, from the village nestled around the bay to the sheer drops of the cliffs, straight as the mast on a longboat and seven times longer. Granted, that wasn’t very impressive; Natalia and Egil would venture out every day and explore their land, as far as their young legs could carry them. Two inches taller than him and nearly a year older at nine, she was the one who always decided where their expedition would take them each day, whether they were to go down to the beach to look for seashells or climb Eggjarklettur, the one mountain on the island. On one particular Thursday, they had done just that, watching the waves break on the cliffs below.
“Egil, do you know the story of the troll?” she asked. The sky was an undecided overcast, cloudy but not promising rain, and occasionally the sun would peek out through a hole in the clouds like a chipmunk hastily scurrying out of its burrow, then disappearing back nearly as quickly as it had come. Egil scanned the heavens, keeping a watch for gulls and puffins. He actually had already heard about the troll—several times, in fact—but he knew from past experience what the correct answer to her question was.
“No, I don’t.” He didn’t mind hearing it over and over, really, since Natalia was a good storyteller. Appeased, she stood up and took a deep breath to ready herself and get into character.
“All right,” she began. “Once, not very long ago, there was a troll who lived on Nólsoy. He was hideous and half as tall as the mountain, and his jaw jutted out like this.” She demonstrated, scowling and making the most horrendous face she could conjure. “One day, he got it into his troll head that he should connect our island with another island, and so he took the biggest rope you could imagine and tied one end to the caves under Nólsoy, and then he tied the other end to a cave on Saltoy—“
“Sandoy,” Egil butted in, correcting her. She rolled her eyes and, in rebuttal, said, “It doesn’t matter what the name of the other island is. I bet the troll didn’t care one bit.
“Anyway, he was determined to get these two islands together. And so he pulled and pulled on his rope, but the islands wouldn’t budge. He figured he wasn’t working hard enough, so he pulled even harder—but then his head popped clean off and landed on Sandoy! Like this.” She grabbed Egil’s head and tried to pop it clean off to show him exactly how it happened, but he sprang to his feet and twisted out of her grip.
Folding his arms across his chest stubbornly, he puffed, “I’m not a troll, and my head’s going to stay on.”
Natalia flipped her long, blond hair over her shoulder. “I know you’re not a troll, silly. It’s just a story, after all.” She sat back down on the grassy face of the mountain, gazing down upon the town but then moving her line of sight out toward the looming lands to the northwest that dominated the horizon. He followed suit, placing himself only a few inches away from her. The tall, lush grass provided ideal cushioning from the rugged stone underfoot.
“Egil, when are your brothers coming back?” she asked. Now it was his turn to roll his eyes.
“You know,” he said matter-of-factly, “If you love them so much, you should just move in with us and call them your own brothers.” But she shook her head at this.
Morosely, she replied, “No, I just miss my brother and sister. Ever since they went off to Norway, it’s like my heart feels empty. Besides, your brothers are funny. Nikolai is always telling Mathias to shut up.” She giggled at the very thought.
Yes, this was all too true, thought Egil. “Well, I don’t know when they’ll be back from raiding. Probably the same time as every year, in autumn. And if they don’t, we’ll wait until next year. After all, they’re big. They can take care of themselves.”
Natalia knew that Egil idolized his brothers, and she couldn’t help but share the affection he felt for them. Suddenly she perked up. “Oh, what if they go raiding in Norway and they meet my brother and sister? Wouldn’t that be perfect? Then they could all come back to the Faroes and we could all be together again.” Her smile was bright enough to melt up even the most frigid glacier; Egil felt his heart warm at the sight.
“When I’m older, I’m going to get my own longboat,” he declared, putting the fantasy he had spent years spinning to words. “I’ll sail all across the North Sea, to Denmark and Norway and Iceland. Mathias even told me once that there’s a land west of Iceland, and I’m going to go there too.” He closed his eyes and imagined it perfectly, braving the waves, sea-serpents, and Thor-sent storms in order to win fame, glory, honor, and gold.
Natalia pouted, never standing to be one-upped. “I’m going to get a longboat first. I’m older, remember?”
“We’re both nine right now,” Egil pointed out. The way their birthdays fell, there was almost a month an a half window where Natalia waited to have her next birthday for the year, so they were technically the same age. She stuck her tongue out at him, unable to come up with a suitable retort.
“Still,” she said after a moment of silence. “Doesn’t it sound nice to get off this island, to go out and see the world?”
He nodded, though he didn’t have any qualms with staying here. Yes, he would like to travel abroad like his brothers, but he wanted somewhere he could return to in the winter, and that place was Nólsoy, his home. Their home. But he didn’t voice his concerns. “As long as you take me with you, Natalia. I don’t want you getting lost and falling off the edge of the earth,” he said with a sheepish smile.
Grinning back at him, she replied, “All right. Sounds like a plan.”
Seven years later, they did just that.
In the spring, when the frost was first beginning to turn to dew on the grass blades as the sun peeked in from the east, they married. Not one person on the island was surprised, and nearly everyone came to the feast afterwards. The blessings of the gods of fertility and life were invoked. Mathias got drunk, made a fool of himself, and was dragged off to bed by Nikolai. Egil held Natalia’s hand the entire time.
When a few weeks had passed, he came to her with good news. “Mathias said that he and Nikolai are staying home this year,” he explained, and her face lit up as she guessed what he was about to say.
“They’re letting us use their longboat?” He nodded, and she pulled him into an embrace, more exuberant than he had ever seen her.
“This is great,” she whispered. “We’re finally getting off Nólsoy.”
“If you wanted to get away so badly, I would have asked my brothers sooner,” he replied, his smile a reflection of hers. His next words were cut off by her kiss, and he figured that whatever he was going to say didn’t matter enough for him to remember.
Plans were made, possessions were packed, and Egil’s family gathered in the harbor to see the two, plus their six-man hired crew, off. The sun hung high in the blue fields above, and the sparkling light rode across the waves of seawater, pulsing with each wave. Final goodbyes and farewells were said, and the sail was unfurled, pulling the longboat out to the great unknown ocean.
Natalia found Egil’s hand and intertwined their fingers. “Today we begin creating our world,” she said resolutely. “From now on, we can go anywhere and do anything we want.”
He caught her gaze and peered into her eyes, the same stubborn violet he had known nearly his entire life. “Together.”
“Yes, together.”
From the highest point on Nólsoy, they could see the entire island, from the village nestled around the bay to the sheer drops of the cliffs, straight as the mast on a longboat and seven times longer. Granted, that wasn’t very impressive; Natalia and Egil would venture out every day and explore their land, as far as their young legs could carry them. Two inches taller than him and nearly a year older at nine, she was the one who always decided where their expedition would take them each day, whether they were to go down to the beach to look for seashells or climb Eggjarklettur, the one mountain on the island. On one particular Thursday, they had done just that, watching the waves break on the cliffs below.
“Egil, do you know the story of the troll?” she asked. The sky was an undecided overcast, cloudy but not promising rain, and occasionally the sun would peek out through a hole in the clouds like a chipmunk hastily scurrying out of its burrow, then disappearing back nearly as quickly as it had come. Egil scanned the heavens, keeping a watch for gulls and puffins. He actually had already heard about the troll—several times, in fact—but he knew from past experience what the correct answer to her question was.
“No, I don’t.” He didn’t mind hearing it over and over, really, since Natalia was a good storyteller. Appeased, she stood up and took a deep breath to ready herself and get into character.
“All right,” she began. “Once, not very long ago, there was a troll who lived on Nólsoy. He was hideous and half as tall as the mountain, and his jaw jutted out like this.” She demonstrated, scowling and making the most horrendous face she could conjure. “One day, he got it into his troll head that he should connect our island with another island, and so he took the biggest rope you could imagine and tied one end to the caves under Nólsoy, and then he tied the other end to a cave on Saltoy—“
“Sandoy,” Egil butted in, correcting her. She rolled her eyes and, in rebuttal, said, “It doesn’t matter what the name of the other island is. I bet the troll didn’t care one bit.
“Anyway, he was determined to get these two islands together. And so he pulled and pulled on his rope, but the islands wouldn’t budge. He figured he wasn’t working hard enough, so he pulled even harder—but then his head popped clean off and landed on Sandoy! Like this.” She grabbed Egil’s head and tried to pop it clean off to show him exactly how it happened, but he sprang to his feet and twisted out of her grip.
Folding his arms across his chest stubbornly, he puffed, “I’m not a troll, and my head’s going to stay on.”
Natalia flipped her long, blond hair over her shoulder. “I know you’re not a troll, silly. It’s just a story, after all.” She sat back down on the grassy face of the mountain, gazing down upon the town but then moving her line of sight out toward the looming lands to the northwest that dominated the horizon. He followed suit, placing himself only a few inches away from her. The tall, lush grass provided ideal cushioning from the rugged stone underfoot.
“Egil, when are your brothers coming back?” she asked. Now it was his turn to roll his eyes.
“You know,” he said matter-of-factly, “If you love them so much, you should just move in with us and call them your own brothers.” But she shook her head at this.
Morosely, she replied, “No, I just miss my brother and sister. Ever since they went off to Norway, it’s like my heart feels empty. Besides, your brothers are funny. Nikolai is always telling Mathias to shut up.” She giggled at the very thought.
Yes, this was all too true, thought Egil. “Well, I don’t know when they’ll be back from raiding. Probably the same time as every year, in autumn. And if they don’t, we’ll wait until next year. After all, they’re big. They can take care of themselves.”
Natalia knew that Egil idolized his brothers, and she couldn’t help but share the affection he felt for them. Suddenly she perked up. “Oh, what if they go raiding in Norway and they meet my brother and sister? Wouldn’t that be perfect? Then they could all come back to the Faroes and we could all be together again.” Her smile was bright enough to melt up even the most frigid glacier; Egil felt his heart warm at the sight.
“When I’m older, I’m going to get my own longboat,” he declared, putting the fantasy he had spent years spinning to words. “I’ll sail all across the North Sea, to Denmark and Norway and Iceland. Mathias even told me once that there’s a land west of Iceland, and I’m going to go there too.” He closed his eyes and imagined it perfectly, braving the waves, sea-serpents, and Thor-sent storms in order to win fame, glory, honor, and gold.
Natalia pouted, never standing to be one-upped. “I’m going to get a longboat first. I’m older, remember?”
“We’re both nine right now,” Egil pointed out. The way their birthdays fell, there was almost a month an a half window where Natalia waited to have her next birthday for the year, so they were technically the same age. She stuck her tongue out at him, unable to come up with a suitable retort.
“Still,” she said after a moment of silence. “Doesn’t it sound nice to get off this island, to go out and see the world?”
He nodded, though he didn’t have any qualms with staying here. Yes, he would like to travel abroad like his brothers, but he wanted somewhere he could return to in the winter, and that place was Nólsoy, his home. Their home. But he didn’t voice his concerns. “As long as you take me with you, Natalia. I don’t want you getting lost and falling off the edge of the earth,” he said with a sheepish smile.
Grinning back at him, she replied, “All right. Sounds like a plan.”
Seven years later, they did just that.
In the spring, when the frost was first beginning to turn to dew on the grass blades as the sun peeked in from the east, they married. Not one person on the island was surprised, and nearly everyone came to the feast afterwards. The blessings of the gods of fertility and life were invoked. Mathias got drunk, made a fool of himself, and was dragged off to bed by Nikolai. Egil held Natalia’s hand the entire time.
When a few weeks had passed, he came to her with good news. “Mathias said that he and Nikolai are staying home this year,” he explained, and her face lit up as she guessed what he was about to say.
“They’re letting us use their longboat?” He nodded, and she pulled him into an embrace, more exuberant than he had ever seen her.
“This is great,” she whispered. “We’re finally getting off Nólsoy.”
“If you wanted to get away so badly, I would have asked my brothers sooner,” he replied, his smile a reflection of hers. His next words were cut off by her kiss, and he figured that whatever he was going to say didn’t matter enough for him to remember.
Plans were made, possessions were packed, and Egil’s family gathered in the harbor to see the two, plus their six-man hired crew, off. The sun hung high in the blue fields above, and the sparkling light rode across the waves of seawater, pulsing with each wave. Final goodbyes and farewells were said, and the sail was unfurled, pulling the longboat out to the great unknown ocean.
Natalia found Egil’s hand and intertwined their fingers. “Today we begin creating our world,” she said resolutely. “From now on, we can go anywhere and do anything we want.”
He caught her gaze and peered into her eyes, the same stubborn violet he had known nearly his entire life. “Together.”
“Yes, together.”