Who is this child, unseen and broken, never clean, never heard or spoken of, consumed by terror, drowning in fear? Nothing breaks more than her heart. There is no one to save her, to help her through the horror. Her day bleeds, her night screams. She is the child of the people born from our … Continue reading We Are The Child

Harriet Saturday Jon sat back in the old green armchair, picking again at the hole in the arm. ‘Poor Snorri,’ he thought. ‘To lose another father.’ “Do you think at least he had Loftsson to talk to? The way I still have you to talk to?” He ached. Anxiety grew from a seed at the … Continue reading Chapter 30 – Harriet

Kings Jon’s Room Thursday evening The very elderly, like Jon, and like Mrs. Branbury, were regarded with celebrity at The Lodge. Though what difference was there between an eighty-five year old and a person that had made it to ninety-nine. It was all about the state of mind. Body too of course, if one had … Continue reading Chapter 29 – Kings

Mrs. Chin Thursday afternoon “I go home,” she said in a whisper. Mrs. Chin sat in her wheelchair in the doorway to her room. “Soon,” she said. Jon smiled at her as he made his way past. Mrs. Chin’s smile broadened, her face was kind and serene. The thin sagging skin of her face seemed … Continue reading Chapter 28 – Mrs. Chin

Grettir is ready to fight in this illustration from a 17th-century Icelandic manuscrip Grettis Saga https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grettis_saga This is one I particularly enjoyed. Grettis saga Ásmundarsonar (also known as Grettla, Grettir's Saga or The Saga of Grettir the Strong). It details the life of Grettir Ásmundarson, a bellicose Icelandic outlaw. Overview Grettir's saga is considered one … Continue reading Grettir’s Saga