Page 126 of The Secret to Belonging

leave some bills on the table

to cover your international calls

tuck the rest in your passport wallet

slide it down the inside of your shirt

palm trees line the streets

oleander blooms yellow and magenta

everything is Technicolor

one way?

the ticket agent asks

one way

do not enter

no U-turn

you are powerless over your parents

they are powerless over your brother

you will go forward

they won’t hold you back

you smile at the ticket agent

one way

when you board your final flight from Oslo to Nordland

the flight attendant greets you in English

just visiting or is Norway your final destination?

endelig destinasjon, you answer på norsk

ja vel, she says, velkommen hjem

welcome home

SOMMEREN EFTER (THE FOLLOWING SUMMER)

It’s almost midnight. The sun is wide awake.

Lise and Erik play along the shore, gathering stones and pointing at puffins. Berit and Elinor wave from the kitchen window, where they are adding whipped cream and strawberries to a freshly baked bløtkake.

“Hei hei!” Terje and Bjørn call to the children from the boat. The fishermen grin and hold up stringers of cod and halibut.

The cupboard in my chest is gone. Busted up and burned in last winter’s bonfires. In the space that remains, my lungs expand with fresh arctic air. My heart beats healthy and strong, like a Viking’s. My arms are full of hot-pink wildflowers.

Espen comes from the side of the house carrying a stack of split logs. He feeds the campfire, then places a grill across the flames. He smiles at me. “God Sankthansaften.”