Chronicles of the Coast, or Solveig’s Song. Realistic fantasy
Larisa Sugatova
A student travels to an island, where she finds herself in an alternate world. There are warriors fighting with swords and bows, there are dangerous diseases. The girl has to make a choice: go home or help people. The book has been included in the long list of teen book contests and Bookworld Journey 2022.In the second part, Fox and her friends confront the invaders. Fall in love with one of the brothers and lose. How will the brothers’ relationship play out, and how will Alice end up doing?
Chronicles of the Coast, or Solveig’s Song
Realistic fantasy
Larisa Sugatova
© Larisa Sugatova, 2022
ISBNВ 978-5-0059-3761-2
Создано в интеллектуальной издательской системе Ridero
Chronicles ofВ the Coast
(PartВ One)
We are all broken. And it is inВ the places ofВ fractures
we are often the strongest. E.В Hemingway
Prologue
Dark mountain ranges protruded behind me. The sun illuminated them with that soft evening light that was about to leave this world, giving way to twilight. The first stars were already visible in the high sky, I stared into the distance for a long time. From up here, the view was beautiful, touching the innermost strings of my soul. The smooth, sunny road on the dark blue sea shone with its bright brilliance, and I thought about how I was waiting for Danny, like Solveig for her Per Gunt. Only Danny hadn’t been driven away; he’d been forced into the abode. And I am guilty of that, though unwittingly. «Where are you now, Danny? How I long to hold you, to look into your gray-blue eyes and see in them the reflection of my feelings. Are we destined to meet again? I’m back, I’m here. But you’re not here You’ve gone far away. Will we ever see each other again?» – That’s what I thought, standing with my back to the high mountains, when suddenly a quiet voice, like the rustling of the wind, pulled me out of my deep reverie. I shuddered. It wasn’t just a word. It was my name: – Fox…
I turned back around, and my legs stopped responding. I thought I was going to fall off the cliff, but I didn’t. Strong arms picked me up, and all I could whisper, barely audible: – Danny. Yes, it was him. The one I’d dreamed about on long, sleepless nights, the one whose smile with the little scar above his upper lip had so often kept me awake, and whose sly, squinting eyes beckoned me into the unknown. My arms wrapped around his neck. My breath stopped, my heart almost stopped, and everything around me became unimportant. – My Lisa! – he said in a hoarse, broken voice. – I’ve been waiting for you! – I exhaled. We stood in each other’s arms for a long time, and the embrace was warm and so long-awaited, it seemed like an eternity now our friend.
Chapter 1 I’m Going to the End of the World
Life doesn’t stand still, everything flows, everything changes. It would seem so simple, a river of time flowing. But sometimes something unexpected happens that we never thought it would.
People have always strived for the unknown. I, too, wanted toВ go on aВ distant journey. When the opportunity arose, IВ really hoped that it would be exciting and enjoyable.
Construction detachment was toВ be my summer practice. IВ transferred toВ the second year ofВ the paramedic department and inВ the near future IВ planned toВ tie my life toВ work inВ the ambulance service. The choice between working for aВ month inВ the admissions office ofВ our college or going toВ the cold Sea ofВ Okhotsk toВ harvest fish for two months was almost obvious toВ me.
Some vague doubts tormented me, but IВ did not listen toВ them, and IВ decided toВ go halfway across the country toВ the Far East. IВ should have wondered if it was necessary toВ leave my family and home and go toВ the ends ofВ the earth.
I wanted to see the world, I tried to think so, although there was a more compelling reason. I didn’t know how things would turn out at the time.
At the end of July I packed my simple luggage – a small bag with things and went to the regional center, where I studied at the place of our meeting. There we got on a bus and drove to the next town, where the airport we needed was located.
At first the streets ofВ our city floated byВ the bus windows, then large wide fields, birch woods, sometimes alternating with small towns and villages. InВ Novosibirsk, at the airport, we were pleased toВ see aВ large plane. It is much more pleasant toВ fly on such an airplane than on aВ small one. After aВ few hours during our connecting flight we were able toВ relax and have aВ snack. AВ couple ofВ hours later the plane was waiting for us again.
AВ few hours ofВ flight and finally the clouds disappeared, then there were little boxes ofВ what looked like toy houses, the plane shook aВ lot, and my ears perked up occasionally. The long-awaited landing.
InВ Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk we found an unpleasant grey sky and drizzle. We left the warm, dry plane and immediately felt the full brunt ofВ the wet and dampness all aroundВ us.
The air, filled with moisture, seemed toВ envelop us inВ watery dust, turning now into aВ dense fog, now into rain. From the airport inВ Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk we took the bus toВ aВ local hotel.
For aВ few days we had toВ wait for the boat, as it turned out, it sailed twice aВ week toВ the island we needed toВ get to. The three days passed pretty quickly. Walks around the small town brightened up our wait.
We arrived at the seaport inВ the morning. The warm rays ofВ sunshine warmed everything around us. They were aВ surprise after the constant shallow, cold rain. AВ bright yet translucent light flooded the pier. It was an unimaginably beautiful sight. The turquoise-colored light came from the water and was striking inВ its splendor, the hint ofВ green inВ it adding toВ the mystery. Apparently so much green hovered inВ the air because ofВ the sun reflecting off the sea water. Fat seagulls were loudly shouting over each other like bazaar vendors. We had toВ wait half aВ day toВ board the ship.
During the wait everyone managed to get burnt under the scorching rays of the sun. My clothes were sticking to my chest and back, and my stomach was rumbling. The girls and I were propped up in the corner of the building by the water, which was also green with a faint whiff of mud. I leaned my back against the wall, hoping to get some coolness from the concrete slab, but it didn’t help much. My short, dark blue shorts, tight around the hips, and the white T-shirt allowed some of the breeze to blow. These are my favorite shorts. My father brought them back for me from a business trip when he went to Belarus. A white T-shirt in the heat was the best thing I could choose from my poor closet to wear in this heat.
AВ light breeze occasionally brought aВ little relief, pleasantly cooling my bare neck, arms, and legs. IВ gathered my soft blond hair into aВ ponytail the morning before we took the bus toВ the port.
– Girl! Hey!» I turned around and saw a strange-looking guy from our troop smiling at me. Embarrassed, I smiled back, nodded and looked questioningly at my traveling companion Lena. She shrugged her shoulders:
– I don’t know him. I think he’s from Polytechnic.
AВ few students walked by, chewing pies as they went. The smell ofВ food hit my nose, aggravated my hunger, and my mouth filled with saliva.
– I suggest we run out for pies, girls,» I looked questioningly at my new friends. We discounted and sent messengers. In ten minutes the delicious pastries were melting in the mouth of each of us. We were very hungry, and the pies were delicious.
Finally the boarding was announced. A buzz of excitement swept through everyone. Half-asleep, soaked from the heat, we stepped onto the ship. I felt that my life was somehow incomprehensibly changing. Something had happened, though nothing had changed around me. The sun was still shining brightly, and the glitter of the water hurt my eyes a little. With relief and joy we went to our cabin. With one of the girls we had stuck together all the way from the point of departure. She was one of the girls I became friends with, Lena from Polytechnic. We were joined by two other girls from another department at my college. We get acquainted, Alla and another Lena. They are midwives. It doesn’t take us very long to swim. They say it won’t take more than a day, tomorrow we’ll already be there.
The ship departed from the pier, everything was so unusual. IВ stood on the deck for aВ long time. There are many ofВ our students here, IВ did not know all ofВ them, but IВ recognized their faces. Our construction team is made up ofВ students from different universities ofВ the region. From my group IВ was the only one, but it did not embarrass me. We got toВ know the girls from our cabin and aВ few others, and we kept inВ touch, because inВ the days before we had shared aВ room inВ the hotel, while waiting for the boat.
The water surface behind the stern was blue-black, with no hint ofВ green. The ship was inВ the open sea, there was black water all around. How everything changed when the shore disappeared from view. We were standing next toВ aВ boy from our troop. He was from Biysk. We admired the view, discussed the water and the sunset. AВ sunny road now appeared on the black smooth surface.
– Beautiful, isn’t it? – he asked, pointing with a nod at the setting sun reflected in the water.
– Yes, it is! – I nodded.
– Have you ever noticed that names have colors? Every name is different, he asked.
– Always. For example, Vladimir’s name is light blue, Peter’s is black, and Marina’s is red. We discussed this at length. It was strange that someone shared my thoughts on the matter. I hadn’t encountered people like that before.
Touching the locket around my neck with my fingers, IВ put my palm around it. The silver one, with the blue stone inВ the middle, was aВ gift from my father that reminded me ofВ home. My father passed away three years ago because ofВ aВ heart attack. IВ took it very hard. Now my mother and little nephew Maksimka were at home, and IВ missed them desperately.
ByВ the evening ofВ the next day we saw land on the horizon. Hooray! IВ really do not mind the trip, but poor Alla since sailing yellow-green, not eating anything at all due toВ nausea. And the girls and IВ went toВ aВ restaurant, where we ordered ourselves aВ crab salad.
When the ship stopped, everyone was waiting for their turn toВ leave our temporary shelter. We boarded the barge, sailed up toВ the pier, and went ashore. В«Whale VillageВ» IВ read the inscription inВ big letters above the entrance toВ the pier. We were swaying mercilessly from side toВ side on the ground, and we walked and laughed merrily.
Chapter 2: The Island
We are here. It is a sparsely populated island at the edge of the world, cut off from the mainland by the waters of the Sea of Okhotsk. The ship comes twice a week. The nature here is harsh, but it’s July, so it’s warm and there are a lot of sunny days, but it often gets cloudy or there’s a fine, water-dust-like rain.
Near the bluffy shore, not far away is an old wooden two-story building, aВ dormitory for workers. An elderly female employee ofВ the plant, who met us there, directed us toВ it. The four ofВ us, two Lena, Alla, and myself, took aВ room.
On aВ sunny day we decided toВ go toВ the sea inВ aВ company ofВ about ten people, walked for aВ bit more than aВ minute and came down the path, going steeply down toВ the stony seashore.
We settled about ten meters away from the water, sitting huddled on small pebbles. The boys took out their tattered cards and suggested we play a game. Oh, no, I knew how to play, but I didn’t like it. I learned how to play in summer sports camp, the girls and I used to play volleyball seriously in high school, and we had fun during quiet time sometimes. We got to talking about books:
– Have you read The Master and Margarita? – One guy asked.
– Yes. And have you read Remarque? – I answered.
We were discussing who liked what.
Someone ventured into the water, alerting everyone with aВ wild shout, how icy the water was. It was the Sea ofВ Okhotsk, cold and harsh.
We had a good time, I even got a tan for the day, although I’d never been much attracted to tanning before, but that was in the middle of the continent, and this was by the sea. I liked swimming. We had a nice rest.
We were hungry, like hungry wolves. We came back and went straight to the canteen for dinner. Noodles disappeared from our plates in an instant, despite the fact that there were also noodles for lunch. That’s the kind of food we had, because it was the ninety-second year, we even brought noodles with us.
IВ liked it very much on the shore. InВ the evenings, after work at the factory, IВ often went there toВ watch the sunset. The sun was reflecting off the water inВ such aВ beautiful way, the silence all around was soothing and made me think about my life and about many things inВ general. The words ofВ aВ song came toВ mind: В«The sunny road sounds inВ Norwegian SolveigВ».
On one ofВ such evenings IВ felt sorry for myself, IВ wanted toВ go home soon. IВ looked for aВ long time at the sea surface, with the dark waves crashing into each other, and the white foam on the small stones that remained after the water running back, which reminded me ofВ my lace collar on the school uniform, which my mother knitted.
The words themselves formed into poems:
The Sea ofВ Okhotsk splashes at my feet,
The waves crash against the rocks ofВ the shore.
What does the west wind whisper toВ me?
How soon can IВ return home?
IВ can only see the endless sea inВ the distance.
IВ must have patience, and theВ will
Let it not leave me, let it not leaveВ me,
And aВ little more strength and hope.
Hope that very soon,
The Sea ofВ Okhotsk will be gone.
Not far from the place where we were sunbathing recently IВ found aВ big stone and was sitting on it for aВ long time. It was pleasant toВ feel the warmth ofВ the last rays ofВ sunlight inВ the afternoon, if the day was clear. InВ front ofВ me stretched the dark smooth surface ofВ the sea, with the waves slightly murmuring.
The months and years would pass.
Unnoticed, and then,
Forgetting all the hardships,
Maybe we’ll remember
# When we’ve lived on an island
And longed toВ go home as soon as possible,
How we went camping inВ Kurilsk
And hoped that aВ great ship wouldВ come
That aВ big ship wouldВ come
And we hoped that aВ big ship would come and take us all back.
But, however, time will pass,
And the burden will be forgotten
