Part 1 of Sommarøy

Sommarøy Part 1

It was on my Graduation day that I discovered Sommarøy. 

Calderwood told me there was a Careers Fair after our Conferment. I said I would go with him. We met in the University Cloisters 10 minutes or so after the ceremony. We were the only graduates without family guests.

‘This is all really boring. The whole thing and that includes the last 4 years.’ Woodie said.

No one liked Calderwood. Shadows seemed to orbit his eyes even when he laughed which wasn’t often. He’d sat beside me a few times in lectures and insisted I shorten his name to Woodie. One day he called me buddy. It was the closest he came to warmth and University was a lonely place so we became buddies.

We stood on the freshly cut lawn looking but not at each other. Despite the grey skies the Cloisters were noisy with excitement and colourful hoods. At last I saw Penelope. I knew she wouldn’t come over because of Calderwood. I suggested we join her.

‘You go.’ Woodie said.

She stepped away from her family and met me halfway. I congratulated her on graduating top of the year.

‘Thanks. Congrats to you.’ She said.

Penelope took the same degree. In first year she came for lunch one day and Calderwood showed up. She never joined us for lunch again. She always sat beside me in the Library when I was there alone and gave me books with post-its where I should read. Her lecture notes were perfect. When we were working on assignments I sensed her staring at me. If I looked up she would blink and smile. 

I explained about the Careers Fair and asked if she wanted to come. She nodded towards Woodie.

‘Perhaps I’ll visit later.’

‘You helped so much.’ I said. ‘I wouldn’t have got here without you.’

She shook her head then looked at me the way she used to in the library. ‘I loved you for four years. Enjoy the Fair. I’m sure you’ll find a great job here or maybe abroad.’

She walked back to her family.

Calderwood came over. 

‘Gloating about being top of the class no doubt?’

I didn’t say anything. My mouth was dry.

’Look at the time. We should head to the Fair.’ He said

The clouds had swollen into fattened bin bags as we walked towards an office block directly opposite Central Station. Before going in we bought burgers from a street vendor. Calderwood crammed it in his mouth and asked about Penelope again.

‘Her family seemed nice.’ I said.

‘When are families ever nice?’

A busker stopped singing and held out a cap. Calderwood flung the remainder of his bun into it. 

‘God I need a job that pays well.’ He said.

The Fair was busy. Most of the Graduates were jostling for attention at Hedge Fund and Finance stands.

On the edge of the queues near the toilets, two tables had been taped together and a makeshift banner hung from the lights.

Sommarøy – Escape Time

‘Pathetic.’ Calderwood said. His eyes grew darker indoors ‘Didn’t they have enough coloured crayons? I’m going for a Hedge Fund job. See you later in hospitality for beers.’ 

He shoved other grads aside till he got to the front. 

The man at the Sommarøy table was typing on his tablet. He had a long beard and tanned arms.

‘We have no free pens and little money, I’m afraid.’ He said without looking up. 

‘What is it? Sommarøy I mean.’

He stopped typing. His name was Harsvold and he told me that Sommarøy was on the tip of Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. 

‘Do you know where Norway is?’  He said without impatience.  ‘Or Scandinavia even?’ 

I shook my head. ‘I only know what I’ve been taught.’

He described the beautiful beaches on Sommarøy. 300 people lived there. Then he talked about the sun. 

‘From May till August, 67 days, the sun does not set on Sommarøy.’

‘So I suppose there’s no night?’ I said.

‘Correct. But it also means time ceases to matter in the same way it does for you. We are in fact, a time free zone.’

‘That’s not possible.’

‘Come to Sommarøy.’ Harsvold said. ‘You will understand, clearly, the impossible is possible.’ 

We talked about a research job then Harsvold shook my hand. He wrote down travel arrangements and other details on a large sheet of paper.  

‘Are you excited?’

‘I am. I am excited.’ I said

Harsvold returned his tablet to its sleeve. Sommarøy village only had sufficient funds for one researcher. He rolled up the banner and left.

Calderwood had drunk three beers by the time I arrived in Hospitality. Empty tumblers rolled on the floor at his feet.

‘I’m now an Hedge Fund Trainee. A horrible job with horrible people. Uncomplicated I’d say.’

I told him about Sommarøy and my job as a researcher.

‘Researching what?’

‘Time. I think.’

‘Time?’ He gulped another two tumblers of beer one after the other. ‘Time I left.’

The rain pounded the Central Station canopy. Calderwood vomited into some planters. He wiped his mouth and began texting.

‘Well enjoy Subaru. My train’s due.’

‘It’s Sommarøy.’ I said and watched him disappear onto the concourse. 

Dirty water coursed down uneven lines of sandstone tenements and flooded the drains. I thought about Penelope and what she said at the Cloisters. I wanted to tell her about Sommarøy but she wouldn’t be there now. I used my Graduation hood as an umbrella and ran for the 3 o’clock bus to my parents’ house.

I shouted Hello at the door placing my wet shoes beside father’s. Covered with a skin of dust they lay neatly below his coat. 

Mother sat at the rear of the house by the bay window. She was taking a cigarette from a large carton. After blowing out waves of smoke she nodded.

‘Well then. You’re the finished article.’ 

I pushed aside her cigarette packs to make space for coffee. She kept her gaze on the window while I sat nearby with my mug listening to the rhythm of singeing tobacco.

‘I haven’t seen Dad in a long time.’ I said.

Mother exhaled. Smoke channeled between curls of yellowy hair. 

‘You’re wondering where he is, when will he return? Perhaps he won’t return? Has he gone and by gone has he left to live elsewhere or has he died?’

‘Yes. That’s what I’m wondering.’

‘So. Which is most likely?’

‘I think he is dead.’

‘Very well.’ She said. ‘That is how we shall proceed.’

I sipped my coffee. ‘Why are his coat and shoes still in the hallway?’

Mother tilted her head slightly as though seeing something through the window but then leaned back a little to tip her ash.

‘I thought that might be what you wanted.’

‘I don’t understand.’ I said.

She lit another cigarette. 

‘What will you do now that you have graduated?’

I told her about the Fair, about Harsvold and Sommarøy.

‘It’s a Gap year, an adventure for me after years of studying I suppose.’

‘Oh my.’ She said. ‘A once in a lifetime experience to discover your limits and later when the time is right, call it wisdom.’

‘Is that you giving me your blessing?’ I finished my coffee.

She laughed coughing hard into a stained handkerchief. From amongst the cigarette cartons she held something up for me to take. It was father’s wedding ring.

‘No doubt you’ll invest it with all sorts of emotional value.’ She said.

The ring felt a little too tight so I laced it through my neck chain then left to prepare for Sommarøy.