Hilde stood in the snow, naked. The cold stung her foot soles like a thousand needles. She shivered uncontrollably and gasped.
She and Caspar were on their honeymoon. In a small town with an unutterable name, a few miles within the arctic circle, they were staying in a log cabin, a little away from the main hotel. Everything looked just like the photograph from the magazine they had loved so much. It was the middle of December and the temperature a steady -20. The sun never came up. Close to noon the pitch black sky shifted to a deep blue, but soon turned black again. It didn’t matter. They were here for the long nights and the northern lights.
Today was their last day. Time had flown by. Although their plan had been never to leave the reindeer skins in front of the fireplace, they weren’t able to resist their enthusiastic guide, Petvi. The Reindeer Policeman took them to a reindeer farm and proudly showed them his own goathi, the traditional Sami hut. This morning he went ice fishing, but Hilde took a pass.
Caspar hated leaving her alone, but she practically forced him to go. ‘When else are you going to do it?’ She could enjoy herself for a few hours. As long as they spent their final night together and hopefully catch a glimpse of the northern lights that had eluded them so far.
Hilde decided to hop in the sauna built into their cabin. She turned it on and took off her clothes. She also removed her ring and carefully placed it on the pine stool next to the hearth. She didn’t take off the pendant made from reindeer antler which she bought at the airport six days ago.
She got into the sauna and surrendered to the salubrious heat and enjoyed the view of the gloomy forest through the tiny window. A squirrel darted by. She had an idea. She would run outside, into the snow, cool down and then get back into the sauna. Wasn’t that how the Swedes did it?
She put on her robe. At the cabin door she took three quick breaths and opened it. She ran down the porch and stepped into the snow. Two, three steps. She shivered. This wasn’t too bad. Giddily, she shook off her robe and spread her arms. She exhaled and felt the cold air tingling her skin. She inhaled. The cold struck. Her breathing halted. She realised her mistake immediately. Her arms convulsed. Her chest cramped. She needed to get back inside, but her legs didn’t respond. Her heart’s rhythm fluttered. ‘Come on,’ she admonished herself but nothing happened. In the back of her mind she was almost amused about the lack of panic she felt.
A couple of miles north Caspar saw a green film glimmer over a sapphire blue sky. ‘Petvi!’ he exclaimed and pointed. Petvi nodded gravely and adjusted his collar, ‘Aurora bad omen. Souls of the dead. Better not talk about.’
