Enar's Vacation - Open Beta

Chapter 2

Brunolf sneered. “Nah, no idea. I'm sure it's just some traditional mumbo-jumbo – it can't be that serious. You should ask Hasse.”

“What? No! No way.” Enar gasped. “What if he gets upset?”

“I don't know, maybe he'd shut up and refuse to talk to us.” Brunolf shrugged. “You should try it. We'd get some peace and quiet.”

“No, no... there was something else I wanted to ask though.” Enar sat up straight and started shuffling his way closer towards the front of the cart.

He sat himself down on top of a sack of apples just behind the driver's seat, between the two old men sitting there. Brunolf also moved over, settling in beside him.

“Excuse me Mr. Hasse,” said Enar. “Sorry to interrupt, but there was something I was wondering about, and maybe you could tell me?”

Hasse turned around with a big grin and patted himself on the chest. “Sure lad. Sure. I know all there is to know about these hills, and the rest I can make up on the spot and it'll be right too.”

Beside Enar, Brunolf sniggered.

Enar rubbed his palms against his hips and swallowed. “Uhm, so, yes. I was wondering... I've seen all these little houses along the road. I thought people out here would live in burrows?”

“Noticed that did you? Well lad, it's simple really.” Hasse chuckled and leaned his elbow on the back rest of the seat, ignoring the road completely. “See, to dig a burrow, man needs a hillside, right? And to have a hillside, man needs a hill, right? Now lad, if you want to live where there's no hills, what do you do? Well, it's easier to build yourself a house than to build yourself a hill. That's how it is.”

“Yes, well, that does make sense.” Enar nodded. “But why would anyone want to live here when they can live in a nice hillside burrow? Isn't that the way it's supposed to be?”

Before Hasse could say anything Jorg cleared his throat and turned around to face Enar and Brunolf. “Not all of us are all the same. You know this from the city. Some like one thing while others like another. It's the same out here. There are those, like me for example.” He put a hand on his chest. “...who enjoy spending their evenings contemplating the mysteries of an unbroken horizon – not to mention admiring the spectacular sunsets.”

Enar looked out over the fields, the horizon a straight line from anywhere to wherever. “I guess that makes sense too.” He sighed. “I didn't think about that and I don't think it's for me. I want to try living in a burrow. I've never done it and I've always imagined it would be very nice and cozy.”

“Oh, it's nice alright” Jorg replied “I just prefer the wide open space of the plains. I know it's not the norm, but it brings me the peace I need.”

Hasse snorted and turned back towards the road. He jostled the reins a little, but it didn't seem to have any noticeable affect on their progress. Rosalove kept plodding along and the plains drifted by at their same old pace.

Jorg raised an eyebrow and grinned at Enar and Brunolf. “I'll only be with you as far as Grums. It's probably another fifteen, maybe twenty, minutes or so, and after that you'll be off into the forest and up in the hills. There you'll see burrows of all kinds, large and small. There will still be buildings above ground, but people will mainly be living in burrows there. It is, after all, the traditional way.” The old man grimaced and nodded towards Hasse. “Those who live down here are generally considered a bit strange and eccentric, but they're good fylkin just like you and me.”

Enar nodded again. It did make sense. He just couldn't picture himself living here. He wanted a little burrow, in the side of a hill, with a round door and a round little wife. That'd be the life.