poetryvlog.com - Vera & Linus

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Vera & Linus (excerpts)
by Thórdís Björnsdóttir

first:

Vera and Linus found a large and long box made from wood.

—Here I want to go, said Vera and lay down in the box.

She fit herself perfectly in, then smiled and closed her eyes.

—I will go then, Linus said and started walking away.

But when he had taken several steps he realized that he was incapable of leaving Vera behind in the box. He walked back and had a look in. But Vera was no longer there. The box was empty.

—Vera my Vera, where are you! he shouted.

He fell to his knees and set his head against the side of the box, then rose up and looked within again.

—I also will go, he said so only he could hear, and lay down in the box as well.

For Linus the box was too short and he was forced to bow his knees so he would fit. He closed his eyes and hoped that he would soon be
lost, and then one day later found again, deep underneath.

second:

Linus had a silent week.

On the sixth day Vera was fed up with having no one to speak with. So Linus decided to bring her company. The door opened into the room where Vera was sitting in chair. In came half a person, with a body from foot to waist.

Vera burst out laughing.

—I shall at least need the rest of him if we are to speak, she said.

In came the rest, sailing in the air and singing, and strangely enough, the voice could have been Linus’s.

third:

Vera and Linus built a little window for themselves. Inside the window two children, a boy and a girl, were fighting over a ball. They snatched it from each other growing more and more angry until they fell to fighting. They kicked and yelled, pulled each other’s hair, and wept while trying to get the ball from each other.

—On whose side are you? asked Linus.

Vera thought for a second. But at that moment the ball escaped from the children and rolled towards the window. And Vera and Linus saw that it wasn’t a ball after all, but the head of a third child who seemed to have been a girl.

fourth:

Vera came home with a thing that she locked inside a small chest.

—What is the secret? asked Linus, excited.

—I cannot tell you, Vera said. And you may not peek.

Absolutely NOT!

Days passed and Linus continuously thought of what the secret could be. He could not stop thinking about it no matter how hard he tried. But Vera refused to speak of it. Whenever Linus mentioned it, her manner changed and she would ignore him. Eventually Linus could stand it no longer. When Vera was away, he opened the chest. But at that moment, the image of his Vera started to fade in his mind, more and more.

Until she transformed into the wind.
And the wind.

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