The idea came to me this week and I can't get out of my head, and I thought why not share. Not heavily edited. Just vibes so far!
The tires of the small SUV crunched over the rocky, overgrown driveway. Talia rolled down the passenger window as birch and pine trees ambled past her line of vision. The earthy smell of moss and bark and dead foliage on the forest floor hit her nose. The first snow was still a few weeks off, and the trees desperately clung to their remaining leaves. The land, as they all called it, looked exactly the same.
“You doing okay?” Will murmured from the driver’s seat, one hand on the wheel the other extended towards her. She glanced back at him, at the trace of concern in his honey brown eyes, and nodded. She took his hand.
It had been three years.
Three years since she had been here. Before dad died. Before he had gotten so bad. Before he was even diagnosed. Before college or her carefree senior year. She had made the drive at seventeen, alone, in her rusty Toyota Corolla that Selene and Roman had driven years before her. One last visit before she applied to college; one last trip to say goodbye. Her dad had stopped coming out to the land long before that. So had her siblings.
The land was mom’s. Everything about it reminded them of mom. Especially the weathering cabin they approached.
The roof of the cabin was covered in leaves, pine needles, and various debris. The logs of the cabin’s exterior had seen better days. They had been restored and treated when her parents had originally inherited the land, but northern Minnesota’s winters had battered them down again. The front porch leaned to the right, wood rot likely decimating the stairs and boards of the addition built before she had even been born. The cabin needed more than a bit of work.
The cabin that was now Talia’s.
Will’s vehicle came to a stop. Her free hand instinctively reached for the gold necklace at her chest sitting on top of her khaki turtleneck.
“Do you want a minute alone first?” Will asked, his voice soft. She was still holding tight to his hand and she squeezed it in reply, dropping the necklace. His sharp jawline flexed. He wanted to say more, but he stopped himself. He leaned towards her, his tousled, sandy blonde hair falling over his forehead.
Talia met him the rest of the way, pressing a kiss to his soft lips. “No,” she whispered against his lips. “I want you to see it.”
They broke apart. Will offered an encouraging smile and Talia opened the passenger door.
She hopped down and swore as her brown ankle boots met a puddle. Muddy water splashed her blue jeans. She could almost hear her mom’s laugh in the light breeze. Wearing one-hundred-and-fifty dollar boots out here on the land. All the weekends of her childhood spent at the land had included rain boots or hand-me-down hiking boots with long socks tucked over pants. For the mud, for the ticks, for the snow. Never anything she wanted to stay clean.
Will gave her a wry smile as he came around the front of the vehicle, side-stepping another puddle with his worn sneakers. In a hooded navy sweatshirt bearing their college mascot (Go Otters!) and gray joggers, he looked delicious.
It was hard not to feel lucky around him. Their chance meeting at the one party she had attended the last day of her freshman year of college. The summer that followed where they talked on the phone every single day in between their summer jobs. Then the first day of sophomore year when he had shown up to help her move into her new apartment. They had locked eyes across the lawn of the house she would be sharing with five other girls. He had approached her, eyes blazing, and kissed her in the door frame to shouts and cheers from her friends’ families. Over a year later and it still felt that good. Will was the steady in the storm of the last year of her life.
Talia tightened the ponytail containing her thick, auburn hair, and took a steady inhale. Will’s arm slipped around her. She leaned into it, the comfort of his presence, and they approached the cabin that held a million memories. Vines snaked up the columns of the porch and across the roof. The forest reclaiming what their family had given up.
Just before they reached the front steps, Talia tugged Will to the right. She waved a hand down the sloping, wooden hill behind the cabin. There was once a clear view to the pond nestled below, but the woods had gobbled that up too. The waters were still visible through the pines, lapping against the weedy shores in the breeze.
“You failed to mention you inherited a lake,” Will said with a raised eyebrow.
“It’s a pond,” she corrected. “For tax purposes, anyway.”
He snorted.
She bit down on a smile. The trees that lined the pond were still at full peak, their bright orange and red leaves encircling the pond and holding on to the last bit of autumn.
She led Will back to the porch. Up the creaking stairs that definitely needed some maintenance, and to the century old wooden door with a modern lock. She grabbed the key from her pocket - the one that had been mailed to her by her parents' lawyer, since she had been states away when their will was read - and unlocked the cabin.
The door creaked open. Musty air greeted them. An ache hit Talia’s chest at the familiar, mismatched couches and chairs arranged around the wood stove in the living area. A cookstove, cabinets, and a makeshift sink were tucked into the back left corner of the room. A tall shelf brimming with books and games was just to their left. Afghans and spare blankets would be piled haphazardly in the cabinet along the far wall next to the hallway. A wooden ladder cut the room in half to reach the loft above.
Nothing had changed. No. Everything had changed. Only the cabin had not.
She could still picture her parents here so clearly. Her mom and her fiery red hair would be sprawled across the couch, a hand around one of her four kids, peering over their cards sneakily. She would throw her head back when she was caught cheating, her lips stained from the red wines she indulged in at the cabin. Her dad would have been in motion. Dishing out second-helpings, grabbing another round of beverages, tending to the fire.
But they were gone.
The cabin was empty; silent.
“This is…this it it,” she said unsteadily, working to find her voice. Will had been quiet. Waiting. “There are two bedrooms in the back. Kitchen.” She gestured to the corner. “The loft is where us kids would always sleep. There’s some storage up there, too.”
Will nodded, taking it all in. “This is a great space. Needs a little love, but not bad at all.” He walked deeper into the living area, peering down the small hallway. Talia wrapped her arms around herself as he explored. The memories were pressing in on her. “What about the bathroom?” Will said as he returned from his quick jaunt down the hall.
Talia pulled herself out of her thoughts with a smirk. She stepped towards the window on the left wall and pointed to the small, outlying building down an overgrown path. Will laughed aloud.
“An outhouse. Really?”
“Really,” she echoed. “My parents talked about adding running water, but we’re in the middle of nowhere. They couldn’t afford it. Getting electricity out here was expensive enough.”
Above the sink, a mirror still hung where they used to all take turns brushing their teeth and fighting to get ready. Talia blinked at her reflection, at her hazel eyes, more green than brown. At her full lips and rosy cheeks from the cold. At the bags under her eyes and the smattering of blemishes that had appeared this week thanks to her cycle and the stress over this visit.
Will came up behind her, his arms wrapping around her shoulders as he met her gaze in the mirror. “You’re anxious.”
“I-” It was no use lying. “Yeah, I am.”
“You still think your siblings will be pissed?” Will hedged.
“Oh, I know they are pissed.” Talia spun around to face Will. “Wouldn’t you be?”
“You mean, if my kid brother was handed 200 acres and a cabin in my parent’s will and there had not even been a note for me explaining why...” Talia blinked. Exactly that. How the hell could her parents have done this without an explanation for her siblings. Will grimaced. “I mean, I'd be a little pissed.”
Talia swatted at him and he chuckled. He kissed her forehead, his lips lingering. They brushed across her cheek next, trailing downwards. “Can I help you relax?”
Her cheeks warmed. “My siblings will be here any minute.”
Will pulled down her turtleneck and pressed his lips to her neck. Her eyes fluttered closed. “I can be really, really fast,” he murmured. He came back up to her lips and she sighed into him, as his tongue swiped across her lips for access to her mouth.
“Not too fast,” she muttered, and he laughed. He reached for the bottom of her sweater, and she debated which bedroom would likely be the least filled with dead moths. As he began to tug it over her head, they heard the crunch of tires in the driveway.
“The cavalry has arrived,” Talia said. Will groaned, and she stifled a laugh as they separated. The car came to a stop outside. A pit of anxiety clawed its way into her gut. She adjusted her sweater, ignoring the lingering flush of her cheeks. She laced her fingers through Will’s. “Here we go.”
“I feel like we’re headed into battle,” he said under his breath as she led him out onto the porch. A brunette with oversized sunglasses stepped out of a Land Rover, frowning up at the cabin. Frowning up at Talia.
“We are,” she muttered back as her eldest sister Rhea came around her vehicle.
“I wondered whose SUV that was,” Rhea said without so much as a hello. She donned leggings, a puffy coat, and knee-high rain boots. The passenger door opened and her husband, Kyle, stepped out in a similar ensemble.
“Hey Rhea,” Talia said with a small smile leading Will down the rickety stairs.
“Hey, kid,” Rhea replied, taking off her sunglasses. Talia dropped Will’s hand and stepped into an extremely uncomfortable, stiff hug. Thirteen years older, and always happy to remind Talia of the fact, her eldest sister had an unreadable expression as they let go. “You got the key, then?”
Obviously.
“Yeah. The lawyer sent it.”
“Good, good.”
Talia swallowed. “You remember Will?” She gave him a reassuring smile. But he was the epitome of ease as he offered Rhea his hand and a winning smile.
“We’ve met before, but the circumstances-”
“Our dad’s funeral, you mean.”
“Jesus, Rhea.” Talia looked up to the sky.
“Well it’s nice to see you again,” Will added, appearing unaffected by Rhea’s jarring presence.
“Kyle,” Talia greeted Rhea’s husband who came around the Land Rover with arms extended for a hug.
“Hey kid,” he echoed the family pet name. When he stepped back he was giving her a pitiful, almost sympathetic smile. “Been awhile.”
“AUNTIE TEE?” A shriek from inside the car was followed by the backdoor being thrown open. A nine year old with a head of white blonde hair bounded to Talia and threw her arms around her. Talia pressed her face into her niece, Charlotte’s, hair, swallowing the lump in her throat.
“I missed you, bud,” Talia said, returning the squeeze just as tight. She watched Will and Kyle reintroduce themselves out of the corner of her eye while Rhea watched the reunion of Talia and her daughter. She was closer in age to her niece than her eldest sister, and their relationship had mirrored that.
“Why didn’t you come to our Fourth of July party?” Charlotte demanded suddenly, hands on her hips. Talia glanced up to Rhea whose mouth was now in a tight line. The annual party Rhea had put on since she purchased her first home seven years ago. The first of which Talia had not attended.
“I am so sorry I missed it.” She looked from Charlotte to Rhea. “You know I stayed in Michigan for the summer. I meant to explain-”
Rhea waved away her apology. “Forget it.”
“Rhea.”
But her sister ignored her plea. “Roman was right behind us-” She stopped at the sound of a diesel truck roaring up the driveway. “Ah. There he is.”
Will had returned to Talia’s side, a hand returning to her waist. She had forced him into the lion’s den and it seemed the way he was coping was by keeping her within reach. Fair enough. The truck came to a stop and out hopped her only brother, Roman. Rhea’s twin. The same warm brunette hair. The same hazel eyes all the siblings had, though the twins were more brown than Talia’s green. He wore a flannel, a black vest, and jeans. He grinned at the sight of Talia.
“Hey little sister.”
She walked over with a smile, unsurprised when he lifted her into the air with a tight, airless hug. “Ow,” she complained, swatting at his shoulder and he set her back down.
“Will, Roman. Roman, this is-”
“I remember the handsome college boyfriend,” Roman interrupted as they shook hands.
Will dazzled with another smile. “Nice to see you again man.”
Talia’s attention was drawn to Roman’s very pregnant wife, Anna, who had somehow managed to get out of the towering truck and waddle over. “Talia,” Anna beamed at her. Another round of hugs and introductions followed. “Atlas, you remember Auntie Tee?”
Her three year old nephew cowered behind his dad who had pulled him out of the carseat in the backseat. “Hey Attie,” Talia said, dropping to his level, but the boy would not approach. Why would he when she had barely seen him over the last two years of his life. It stung. The truth of isolating herself; of avoiding them.
She straightened back up to find Will in a deep conversation with Charlotte about the iPad game she was playing. Kyle was embracing Anna. Roman and Rhea simply observed her.
“It’s good to see you guys,” she said, challenging her elder siblings stares. She could not wait to see who would bring it up first.
“It’s good to see you, little sister,” Roman agreed. “We missed you this summer at the fourth.”
“And at Charlotte’s recital and Selene’s housewarming,” Rhea added.
Talia exhaled. “College has been busy.”
“Right,” Rhea said stiffly.
Roman looked between them, and wisely changed the topic. “So how late do we think Selene will be? Anyone wanna place bets?”
“My bet is on an hour,” Kyle called over as he opened the back of his Land Rover.
“Be nice,” Anna chastised. Will met Talia’s gaze across the driveway with a raised brow. She had warned him about all three of her siblings, but the biggest warning would always and forever be in the form of Selene. As if speaking her name could call her presence, the sound of ridiculously loud music echoed off the trees around the clearing.
“On time for once,” Rhea observed as a compact sedan barreled down the rocky driveway and came to a screeching stop, dance music blaring. A flock of birds scattered.
“You should turn it up!” Roman yelled as Selene put the car in park, gesturing to his ears. “I don’t think the neighbors ten miles down the road can hear you!” The music cut and the last of the four siblings stepped out of the car with her middle finger raised at Roman.
Behind them, a cough from Kyle sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
With sleeves of tattoos on both arms, bleach blonde hair, and a nose ring, Selene was all her own. She was wearing heels. Heels. Along with black skinny jeans, a white t-shirt, and a blazer. An obnoxious ski jacket was tucked under her arm.
“Hey family,” Selene smiled as she sauntered towards them. “And Talia’s boyfriend.”
“Nice to see you again, Selene,” Will said, returning to Talia’s side, a strategic hand placed on the low of her back.
“You don’t have to lie.” Selene winked. Another cough laugh followed, this time from Anna. At least the in-laws were enjoying themselves. “Talia.”
“Selene,” she replied. Neither of them moved in for a hug.
“Auntie Sel!” Charlotte darted around everyone to reach her final aunt, Atlas at her heels. Both kids launched themselves at her. Selene smothered her niece and nephew in kisses before reaching into her passenger seat and producing a book for Charlotte and a tiny car for Atlas. The kids squealed with delight, and a sinking feeling of jealousy hit Talia. Will tightened his grip around her.
“So what’s the plan?” Selene asked as the kids scattered to enjoy their toys. She leaned back against her car, a leg propped on the door. “What are we even doing here?”
Talia’s jealousy shifted, a simmering anger replacing it. “We’re celebrating mom’s sixtieth birthday at her favorite place.”
“Which is apparently your place now, huh?” Selene countered with a tilt of her head, a piece of her blonde hair falling from the clip that held it back.
Talia shrugged off Will’s ever tightening grip and took a step towards her taller, older sister. “Do you have something to get off your chest?”
“Enough,” Rhea cut in, her voice sharp. “It’s mom’s birthday. Can we not for one damn day?”
“Gladly,” Talia muttered, turning back to Will.
Out of the corner of her eye as they walked away, Talia saw Roman put an arm around their sister. “You are always such a fucking delight, Selene.”
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need a norwegian name for your wip?
norwegian characters in english books are not that common, in my experience, but still there's some names i love that i really want to share.
for this i have chosen to lean on the newest baby name trend in norway; finding the oldest most norwegian name in your family tree and naming your kid that. this means more common/popular names like ola, ida, magnus, sunniva, etc will not be listed (though i can make a post like that too, if that's something you want to see).
a lot of these have an origin that traces back to the viking age and i tried to avoid names that came after christianity. you'll see it esp in names that have for example bjørn (from old norse for bear), thor/tor (like the god), -hild (from old norse for battle), -mund (from old norse for protection, i'm pretty sure).
i tried to keep to names that either are very rare (less than 10 people share the first name) or that are old and coming back - you have no idea how many church records i just went through to find some good old ones. hope some of these could come to use for some! feel free to message, send an ask, or leave a reply if you have questions about spelling, pronunciations, or anything else.
so, some examples that i found will be below;
traditionally girl's names;
ragna, gunhild, dagny, frøydis, ylva, solfrid, snefrid, aagot/ågot, thorbjørg, borgny, odlaug, vigdis, valborg, gunlaug, jensine, gunnvor, halldis, undis, rigmor, ellinor, torunn, elida, embla, signe, gørhild, hege, norlaug, thordis, åshild, solveig
traditionally boys names;
hjalmar, njål, brynje, jostein, preben, kyrre, sigvart, gunleif, torjus, oddve, asløv, sverre, vigmund, bjarnar, reidulf, knut, gerhardt, ingeir, guttorm, thormund, ørjan, ådne, aslak, birk, vilje, asbjørn, halvard, ståle, amund
if anyone are interest i can make a more in depth list with the meanings of these names, as i imagine finding the correct definitions with english sources might be difficult for some names. just let me know!
(sidenote, i say "norwegian", but some of these can be used in other scandi countries as well, either with the same spelling or something similar to it.)
scandis, feel free to add your favourite really old people names in replies!<3
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