Strange things are indeed happening in
We soon forgot what we were supposed to do there, and started climbing a tree instead. There were few, but thick branches to use. After a lot of sweating and swearing we reached a plateau quite high above the ground. The space was good enough for us both to rest, and so we did. We could see all the way to the lake where the ducks were swimming around trying to get to the breadcrumbs before the rats did. Despite of the nice view, and the spacious plateau, Eeva-Leena wasn’t satisfied. She thought that if we could go even higher up, there would be an even better view up there. “It is too far, and too dangerous” I said and started going down again. Eeva-Leena was not following. “I’m going further up.” She said. “But there are no branches left to climb.” I said. She just repeated “I’m going further up”. I knew there was no point in arguing against this Finn. (Finns are very stubborn.) So I left.
Two days after, on Monday, I didn’t see Eeva-Leena in lecture. Neither on Tuesday nor Wednesday. On Thursday, people started asking for her. Eventually I went looking for her in the park. As I had suspected, she was still there. In the tree. On the exact same spot as I had left her on Sunday. I said “Do you need help with coming down?” She said she didn’t need any help with a voice that sounded surprised and almost annoyed that I would even ask such a silly question, because she was obviously doing more than fine up here in the tree. She was planning on sitting there till the tree grew so high she would be able to see the roof of the library on the other side of the lake! I shook my head in despair and tried to put some sense into her. “You will starve! And if you don’t, you’ll die of loneliness or freeze to death!” But no, this Finn had a solution for everything. (Finns are also known for their practicality.) One of the gardeners had given her a sleeping bag, and people having barbecues and feeding the ducks in the lake, had given her sausages and stale bread.
I left her there, and two years after, the tree had grown so tall, I couldn’t visit her anymore. I finished my degree, and went back to my old country to work.
Eeva-Leena is still up there. Every year I go back to
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2 comments:
If I'm ever lost, I hope Gerd is the one they send out to look for me. If I was hanging from a cliff, barely holding on to a rope with some of my head chewed-off, I would be very pleased to know that the rescue squad was enjoying themselves climbing trees (perhaps making some aaaajajaaa like Tarzan). Don’t misunderstand me, I not troubled about it, I was only thinking about what flavour to put in my cup of hot water :)
i just got my hands on a laptop, which came flying down with a parachute, and would appreciate it if someone would be so kind and tell my parents where I am..?
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