The Fells - 1. Chapter 1 - Oskar Wahl. Who else?

Chapter 1 – Oskar Wahl. Who else?

As the day came to an end and the last rays of sunlight peeked over the horizon, you could hear the sound of doors being shut and locks put in place throughout the village. For someone with no knowledge of the situation this would surely strike them as odd. You see, the village was nothing more than a small settlement, a gathering of houses and farmland in a long forgotten part of the Scandinavian fells. Why lock your door when the risk of trespassers is practically non-existent? But every action has a reason.

The village was, and still is, seated at the south side of a big fell, on the very border of the timberline. Behind it, the ground turned into a steep slope covered with scrubs and lichen. In effect a mountainous tundra that is covered in snow eight months of the year.

“What's tundra?”

“Ehm, it's... When there's no trees. I think.”

“You mean like an acre, or the beach, or the playground near grandmas? There's no trees there too!”

“No not really, I think it has to be more up north and so cold that trees can't grow or something.”

“Like the North Pole? Where the polar bears live? Is that why they lock the doors in the village?”

“Well I don't know, why don't we continue the story and find out?”

“Hmm, OK!”

“Yeah... OK.”

The land to the south of the village was covered in dense forest, largely untouched by man except for where the farmers had cut down trees to make place for their acres and pasture. Just enough so that they could get by. You see, back then the people respected the forest. It was not to be disturbed if you could avoid it. The darkness under the trees was home to the unknown and a source of many stories told from generation to generation. This was the reason for the locked doors in the village, for why people rarely stepped foot outside when the sun had set. And perhaps they had reason to be cautious?

Once in a while, always during the night, the sounds of the forest took on a different tone. It usually started with small things, like the snapping sound of twigs breaking or the muffled thumps of small feet. Eventually the small sounds would come together and build up like an orchestra until the firs and pines shuddered almost visibly in anticipation. This was the hour of the Vittra.

“I don't like this story, it's scary.”

“Don't worry, give it a chance. My dad used to read it to me and it's not as scary as it seems.”

“Promise?”

“Yeah, I promise.”

“... OK.”

The Vittra are relatives of Skogsrået, the spirit of the forest known to lure men into the woods. Unlike her they rarely seek out contact with humans and prefer to spend their time peacefully herding their invisible cattle over the fallows. Despite this the villagers often lumped them together with creatures such as Skogsrået, or the Illvittra and considered all of them to be evil and dangerous. The humans preferred to call this group “Invisible Ones” or “Vættir” and labelled them as harbingers of bad luck.

“Why? They didn't really hurt anyone right? They just had invisible cows.”

“Yeah, as long as people didn't anger them they would mind their own business.”

“Then why did the villagers think they were bad?”

“Well... I don't know. Maybe because they were different.”

The young boy looked up at his father, who was much too young to be a parent, and tried to comprehend the reasoning behind this. Noticing the confusion written over the little boys face his father let out a small sigh.

“Look Fredrik, sometimes... People are afraid of the things that they don't know that much about. Like how some people are afraid of the dark. They're not really scared of the darkness itself, they're scared of what they don't know about it. The unknown. It's sometimes the same thing with creatures, or people, that are different.”

“Oh... OK.”

The little boy seemed to mull it all over for a bit before he hesitantly began to speak again.

“Dad? If... If I'm different when I grow up, will you be scared of me?”

The young man raised his eyebrows in surprise, for a short while he was speechless. He wasn't prepared for that kind of question but when he saw the worried expression on his sons face he quickly tried to formulate an answer.

“No, I will never ever be afraid of you. And you know, being different isn't really a bad thing. Everyone is different from each other. And between you and me... That's what makes people interesting.”

<><><><><>

“Fredrik! Wake up, you can't afford to be late today!”

It took all of my willpower just to open my eyes, at seventeen you would've thought that I'd have outgrown the teenagers need for sleeping in. No such luck. If there's something I can count on it is the fact that I'll be almost ridiculously tired every morning, even on the weekends when I can sleep for as long as I want to.

I had managed the impressive feat of climbing out of bed, very slowly I might add, when my father opened the door to my bedroom and carefully peeked inside. Ever since I turned thirteen he'd been very careful not to disturb my privacy. I guess being a young father allowed him to remember how it is to be a teenager.

“Hey champ! Didn't think you'd wake up, despite my morning routine of shouting at ya.”

“Mmmm.” I said wearily. “I'm up...”

“You better haul your ass to the shower, it's school trip-day!”

“Yaay...” I said, trying to seem a little excited but failing miserably.

“Oh, c'mon. It'll be great, I promise.”

“If you say so.”

“I do say so.” my father responded cheekily. “ And who else to trust on this matter than a former child of the fells?”

“Yeah yeah, whatever.” I knew that it was useless to continue, my dad never lets up on the pep-talk. I guess that's a good quality of his, even though it annoys me from time to time.

As I turned on the shower and adjusted the temperature of the water I tried to remember what I dreamt about. I couldn't quite recall anything detailed but I had a feeling that it involved my dad somehow. The dream felt strangely nostalgic too. Deciding thinking about it wouldn't really help me remember, I quickly showered off and stepped out of the shower.

Looking at my image in the mirror I tried to evaluate my appearance, as I do every morning or even every time I walk past a mirror sadly enough.

Average.

Everything about me just screams it. Sand-blond hair that's trimmed short and light blue eyes, both typical for like every Swedish guy out there. Average body, maybe a little on the skinny side, and average everything else. Sometimes I wish I had a crooked nose or a large birthmark on my forehead, just so people would notice me more. Nothing too ugly, just a quirk in my appearance. I guess the crooked nose isn't that hard to fix but that's bound to hurt.

“Fredrik! Hurry up and get dressed!” My dads voice echoed through the house.

I towelled myself off in a hurry before running to my wardrobe. Choosing a pair of black jeans and a burgundy colored shirt with I got dressed before walking to the kitchen. My dad was leaning on the counter, sipping coffee, and looking me over as I opened the fridge.

“Stylish as always I see.” He shot me a toothy grin. “Knock 'em dead but don't knock 'em up as I always say.”

“I guess you would know.” I answered, immediately regretting saying anything.

“Ouch, that was uncalled for.”

“Yeah... you're right. Sorry.”

“No problem kiddo.” He took another sip of his coffee and the room fell silent. I was almost done with my breakfast when he spoke again.

“Anyways, I'm taking you to school today.”

“Why? I can take my bike.” To be honest, I didn't feel comfortable being dropped off by my dad in front of my whole class. Kind of childish, I know.

“'Cause it's on the way to the construction site and I want to see you get on that bus.”

“I'm not going to ditch the school trip dad...”

“Doesn't matter, I still want to see you off.”

“Just drop me off at the intersection then.”

“No can do, I'm going to take you all the way to the schools parking lot.”

“Why?”

“'Cause I want to watch you squirm.”

At this point I just shot him a look of disbelief mixed with annoyance. Knowing my dad, this was probably partly the true reason behind him taking me. I decided to keep quiet since nothing I said would make a difference, when my dad has his mind set on something he'll get it done – his way. I gulped down my juice, trying to look as defiant as possible, before I put my dishes in the sink. Dad just smiled at me when I walked past him towards the bathroom to brush my teeth.

After a few more reprimands, telling me we were going to be late, I was all set to go. We walked down the stairwell, me carrying a sports bag filled with a few days worth of clothes, and out the entrance to the apartment parking lot. As we walked up to the car I looked back at our apartment complex. It's a hideous yellow building that looks like it's made out of lego. Despite that, I was going to miss the place a little. Believe it or not but three days is quite a long time for me to be away from home. We never really travelled.

It didn't take long before we were on our way to my school. Dad was humming along to something on the radio but I didn't really pay attention to it. My mind was on the upcoming school trip. Hiking in the fells, who came up with that idea? Seriously. And I get that the ones taking the advanced PE class has to go but why the biology class too? Half of my class is filled with to be scientists that probably never even heard of the outdoors. And then there's the bus ride. More than five hours in a bus with uncomfortable seats, all the way from Stockholm to Sälen near the Norwegian border. I noticed that dad had stopped his humming and when I turned to look his way I saw him give me a sideways glance.

“So, what's up with you being embarrassed for getting a ride to school?” he suddenly asked me. Thrown a little off-guard I blurted out one of the reasons for my unwillingness.

“Astrid likes you.”

I even surprised myself by revealing this. Astrid's a girl in my class, we've known each other for quite a while though. She's often making jokes about my dad being young and available. I think she might be kind of serious about it though.

“Astrid Nordlund?”

“Yeah.”

“Your friend, Astrid Nordlund?”

“Uh-huh.”

“... Well maybe it's time for you to have a mother in your life.”

“Dad! Eew!”

“Hehehe, don't worry... I was only half serious.”

“Stop it! That's just disturbing.”

“Hehehehe, sorry.”

“Seriously...”

OK, maybe it was a little bit funny. But still, he's my dad so that's definitely not something I even want to hear him joke about. Bleugh.

“Hey.” The sudden seriousness of dads voice made me look his way once again. “Be careful up there, OK? There have been incidents of people getting lost in the fells you know.”

“Yeah, sure. I'll make sure to get back here in one piece.” Dad just smiled and nodded, satisfied.

“I don't understand how they do it, really. I mean, there's practically no forest up there. It would take quite an effort to get lost”

“Uh-huh.”

“But I guess it could be possible for a kid like you.”

“Oh, shut up!”

“Hehe, I'm just stating facts here kiddo.”

“That so? At least have the courtesy to lie sometimes then.”

I didn't really manage to hide the smile forming on my face. Even though I try to keep up the annoyed façade I actually enjoy our banter and dad knows it. Not that I would ever admit it, dads head is already big enough as it is. It's cool that we can talk the way we do though, most of my friends can barely keep up a five minute conversation with their parents without being all awkward and stuff.

Looking out the window I noticed that we were almost there. The intersection close to the school were already busy with morning traffic and a small line had formed with cars waiting to turn right. In the distance I could see the twin globes of Täby Centrum, one of the larger malls in the proximity of Stockholm and the center of my municipality. The building appeared dark with the golden light of an early September sun illuminating the sky behind it. It was then that my dream came back to me like a sudden flashback. My recollection seemed a little fuzzy around the edges but it was clear enough for me to realize why the dream felt so nostalgic earlier. The dream-story was actually a piece of northern folklore that my father used to read for me. I remember that it was one of those stories that I often requested him to tell.

As I thought back on the dream and what it could've meant the image of my fathers face floated to the forefront of my mind. He'd been young, maybe only a couple years older than I am now. But that wasn't really what struck me the most. It was his appearence. The bags under his eyes, the ridges – both a result caused by lack of sleep. And that constant smile one his lips, almost never fading. In front of my presence at least. It struck me as funny that I'd forgotten about how he used to be when I was a little kid. His appearance in my dream was a replica from my memories. I turned my head and took a good look at the strong man that had raised and guided me my whole life.

“What? Do I have something on my face?” I felt my cheeks becoming a little bit warmer at getting caught staring. I suspect that my cursed ability to blush in the most noticeable way is one thing about me that'll never change. I was simply born with it. Just like 'that other thing'.

“No, you look fine. I was just lost in thought.”

“Hehe, you're always so absentminded. Well since you don't seem to notice anything around you I can inform you that the were here and the car ain't moving.” I looked outside and he was right, which made me blush even more.

“I knew that.”

“Uh-huh, sure you did.”

“Whatever.”

I opened the car door and climbed outside. Dad walked to the trunk and pulled out my bag before handing it to me. I was starting to miss him a little bit already. Like most guys my age, that's not something I could say out loud though.

“Well, I have to get going. The foreman told me to stop being tardy. Damn geezer.”

“Yeah... OK. See you in three days then.”

“You'll have a great time, I promise.”

“Yeah.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too dad.”

We smiled and just looked at each other for a bit. Dad seemed unusually unsure of himself, but I guess goodbyes aren't a common occurrence in our family. The awkward moment didn't last very long and after giving me a quick hug he climbed inside the car and drove off. I turned around only to be greeted by the sight of approximately fifty teenagers crowding around a white bus. The bus was parked right in front of my schools entrance, blocking the large doors from my view.

I was still trying to locate my group of friends amidst a herd of hyped up teenagers, many dressed up in hiking clothes despite the obvious distance to the mountains, when someone grabbed my arm.

“Hey Freddyfrog!” My eyes met with the sight of a petite girl with green eyes and amber colored hair that had been collected in a braid and tossed over one of her shoulders. A healthy dose of freckles were sprinkled across her nose and cheeks.

“Hi Astrid, you know I don't like you calling me that.”

“Why not? I think it suits ya. By the way, I saw you with your dad earlier.”

“Mhmm, so?” I already knew where she was going with this.

“You know, he's hot. For an older guy I mean.” Sigh. Unfortunately I don't think she's joking. She says this way too often.

“I told him you like him.”

“Heh, good one.” I just smiled in response and started walking towards some of my other friends that I'd finally managed to locate.

The Biology class kids were kind of easy to spot in the crowd, mainly because they wore normal clothes. It didn't take long for me to spot Robin leaning against the brick wall of our school, surrounded by several of my classmates.

Robin Ahlqvist.

Our relationship goes way back to... well, we've been best friends since I can remember really. He actually used to call me 'his Fredrik' when we were younger. It was real cute. Anyways, Robin's my partner in crime, comrade, BFF and all that other stuff. Astrid's too I guess. Even though she sometimes, and by that I mean often, comes off as annoying.

“Yo Fredrik. What's up with people dressing like survivalists already?” he said with a wry smile.

“Haha, I don't know. They're way too eager this early in the morning.” I walk up and leaned against the wall on Robins left side. With my gaze turned back to the rest of the students I took in the whole sight of the crowd. That's when I spotted him.

Remember 'that other thing'? Well HE is the reason I ever even explored that part of me. Believe it or not but before him I'd never really thought about another person in that way. I was somehow content with keeping such stuff to, and about, myself, it wasn't something I wanted to share with others. Well... that was then and now is now. Oh right, just to be clear. I'm talking about sex. Or rather sexuality.

“You're staring.” Robins calm observation brought me back to reality.

“Huh? I have no idea what you're talking about.” I blushed furiously for the second time this morning, I really have to be less obvious while... ehm... staring.

“Suuure you don't. You had a pretty creepy expression going on there. I know you were mentally undressing him...”

“Who are we talking about? Woah! You're face is super red Fredrik!” Astrid's not the best when it comes to volume control and her voice kind of carries. A few nearby students turned their heads making me blush even more at the attention.

“Guys, just drop it...” I said weakly.

“Oskar Wahl. Who else?” Damn you Robin.

“Ooooh. Hehehe, well he IS cute. You've got good taste Freddyfrog.”

“Argh! Just... shaddup! Both of you...” Robin rolled his eyes at my obvious discomfort.

“Okay, okay. I forgot that you're a major prude...”

Oskar Wahl. One of the PE class kids. He's got chestnut brown hair that reaches down to his eyebrows and grey eyes with eyelids that seem to be a tad heavy most of the time, making him look sleepy or indifferent. He's got more muscle than I do but is slightly shorter. As Astrid so expertly observed, he's cute. For some reason I fell in love with him, just like that, and as far as I'm concerned he's the one that made me go from close to asexual to full blown gay. Of course that transition wasn't something I could hide from my two friends, not with the way that I turn crimson at the most inconvenient of occasions. Luckily for me, they didn't care one bit.

We joked around for a while, trying to find the kid with the most ridiculous outfit, until we heard the voice of our stressed out teachers trying to get attention. Figuring it was time to board the bus we grabbed our bags and went to stand in line. Since we'd been standing so far away from the bus there was a lot of kids before us in line, meaning we would get seats in the back. It took a while but after maybe five minutes of listening to the strained voices of our teachers we were finally permitted to board the bus. The sound inside the bus reminded me of a flock of seagulls or perhaps a busy market in Shanghai.

We found most of the biology class kids occupying seats on the left side of the bus so we made our way to four empty seats behind our classmates. Astrid and Robin were walking in front of me and naturally grabbed two seats leaving me to sit alone behind them. I didn't mind much though, we could still talk and stuff. I started to make myself comfortable, preparing some much needed snacks and drinks, when I sensed someone standing in the aisle to my right.

“Uhm. Excuse me. Is it okay for me to sit here?” Omigod. It couldn't be...

“Y-yeah, go ahead.”

I felt the impending blush on my cheeks and hurriedly preoccupied myself with rummaging through my bag. Looking up a little, I saw Robin and Astrid both trying to peek trough the gap between their backrests. They looked clearly entertained by my situation. I was in the middle of telling them to 'mind their own fucking business and act like normal' using my eyes when I heard him speak yet again.

“So... Fredrik, right?” Argh, I love his voice. Shit, I hope I don't embarrass myself now!

“U-uhm, yeah. Nice to meet you... Oskar is it?” As if I didn't know his name.

“Yep” That smile! “Nice to meet you too.”

We sat there in silence, my heart pounding with rapid beats to transport blood to my already red-tinted cheeks. Oskar seemed to be completely at ease though. I alternated between barely being able to form a thought and thinking too much for my own good. The PE teacher was telling us something through the microphone in the front of the bus but I couldn't concentrate hard enough to hear what he was saying. I heard the bus engine turn on and shortly thereafter we started to move. It was then, sitting beside a boy that both looked and smelled good, that I felt my attitude change a little.

Maybe this school trip could turn out to be OK after all.