Solitude | [eng]

03/04

On the morning of the 4th of March, Einar woke up ready to go fishing at the river. He remained in bed for a couple of minutes before getting up, then went to the living room, in front of the fireplace, where Eldur was sleeping. He bent down and petted him behind the ears.Eldur slowly opened his eyes and just turned his head as a sign of gratitude. He got ready, and after a hurried breakfast, they left the house and headed towards the river, together with Eldur.Upon reaching the river, Einar took out the fishing rod, which he had taken from his tool shed. He started fishing, but his mind was strangely elsewhere. It was in another time. It was in the past.There was the sun, reflecting its light on the white snow. Einar was dressed warmly, it was December. He was on a ski slope, with them. They all had ski suits and all the gear. His beloved Svana and little Thora were with him again. Although he didn't fully remember their faces, he could clearly see Svana's red jacket, blending with the color of her hair, and Thora's yellow one, with asymmetric braids under her hat peeking out of the jacket hood.Einar held Thora's hand, accompanying and watching over her. They had just finished one of the easy slopes and were heading to the next one. That slope was after one of the difficult ones, and they had to cross an avalanche-prone area, but the stretch was very short, and actually safer than it might seem. However, that didn't matter that day. Indeed, after the snowfall of the previous day, the slopes were unstable, with the possibility of snow giving way, causing an avalanche. Unfortunately, that's what happened. It occurred in a moment, Svana and Einar didn't even have time to realize it, they didn't have time to protect Thora. A white sea had already engulfed them. The warmth of Thora's hand suddenly disappeared, and all Einar could do was sink into the cold and darkness.When he woke up, he was in a hospital bed, Svana and Thora were not with him. It was there that he learned of their tragic fate.Einar spent many weeks in that hospital, he had to recover, he had to rehabilitate. But he would never recover from the news of their disappearance. Einar's world had collapsed. It had given in, it had crumbled under his feet at the speed of light.Einar suddenly snapped out of it, he was back to his quiet life. The river water flowed, and its noise punctuated the solitude of Einar. Solitude only interrupted by Eldur, who sometimes barked, running along the riverbank, chasing anything that moved. Then suddenly Eldur, as if he knew what Einar was going through, sat next to him and started rubbing his head against his leg."Thank you, Eldur," Einar said, as warm tears streamed down his face, slowly cooling in contact with the outside air.