When the final separation came, we didn’t talk about it. We pretended that it had no meaning when I packed all my clothes. Just a short visit to Norway.

Linn’s things were left behind. Those I didn’t dare touch— it would have been too obvious, too final.

I didn’t look back as the car drove away, leaving behind all that we had found together—chairs and lamps and tables. The view and the sounds of the sea and the trees.

Siri, who understood everything better than we, stood behind the curtain and cried.

But we didn’t cry. Not then.

You cannot imagine how much we hoped in the beginning.