Aliss at the Fire

I, I’m going out onto the fjord for a while, Asle says

All right, Signe says

It’s gotten a bit lighter out, Asle says

Yes it’s probably as light as it’s going to get these days, Signe says

Light enough to go out for a while, in any case, Asle says

Yes you don’t need that much light either do you, Signe says

No, Asle says

So I’m going out for a while then, he says

Go ahead, Signe says

Since you never seem to get tired of rowing out in that boat of yours, she says

I get tired of it sometimes, Asle says

You do, Signe says

Yes, Asle says

But then why do you row out in your boat, you do it almost all the time, Signe says

I guess I just do it, Asle says

You just do it, Signe says

Yes, Asle says

You don’t even really want to go out in the boat, Signe says

No, Asle says

But can’t you just stay home then, Signe says

I could, Asle says

You could, Signe says

Maybe I like being out there in the boat, Asle says

and they both look down, both stand there and look down

You don’t want to be here with me, that’s why, Signe says

No it’s not that, Asle says

But that boat of yours is so small, Signe says

I like it, Asle says

I’ve had it a long time, for years, it’s a good boat, a nice wooden boat, you know, he says

Of course I know, Signe says

Actually no, it’s a toothpick and it’s dangerous, it seems to me, she says

I’ve seen much better boats, she says

I like this boat, Asle says

But couldn’t you get yourself a bigger boat, a safer boat, Signe says

I don’t want a new boat, Asle says

Why do you like this boat so much, Signe says

I knew the man who built it, and he built it for me, Asle says

He built boats his whole life, the man who built it, and he built one for me, he says

I went and looked and the boat while he was building it, he says

Yes, Signe says

Yes you remember that, Asle says

That’s how it was, Signe says

Johannes in the Bay built it, yes, Asle says

That was his name, yes, Signe says

Johannes in the Bay, everyone called him that, Asle says

And now it’s been a couple years since he died, he says

The years go by so fast, don’t they, he says

Johannes in the Bay built boats his whole life, and my boat was one of the last ones he built, he says

But didn’t you ask to have your boat built smaller than the boats he usually built, Signe says

Yes well, Asle says

A little smaller, he says

I wanted a boat that was a little smaller, he says

Why? Signe says

I thought it was nicer like that, Asle says

But then it probably isn’t as stable as other boats, Signe says

No not entirely, Asle says

and she sees him go over to the hall door again

You’re going, Signe says

and he stands and looks at her

Yes, Asle says

But, Signe says

Yes well you know, Asle says

Yes I’ll just go out for a walk, the wind is too strong to row out onto the fjord today, he says

Sounds good, Signe says

Just a little walk, Asle says

Yes go for a little walk, go ahead, Signe says

The wind is terrible, and it’s pretty dark, even now, when it’s as light as it’ll get all day, she says

Yes, Asle says