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Here is my new story. It's the fifth chapter of the saga "Finnish stories". I advice to read first "Finnish stories: Confessions", "Finnish stories: changes are needed", "Finnish stories: tears of joy and sorrow" and then "Finnish stories: lies and betrayals". Otherwise you will not understand this story.

Main characters: : Janne Happonen, Arttu Lappi and Harri Olli
Secondary characters: Matti Hautamäki, Janne Ahonen, Veli-Matti Lindström, Tami Kiuru, Jussi Hautamäki, Ville Kantee, Olli Muotka and Anssi Koivuranta.

Time of the action: 2025-2026

Like ever, it's a fiction and everything comes from my strange imagination.

I wish you a pleasant reading time in my fantasy world and I'm looking for your comments in the feedback thread.

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1. Friends meeting at a birthday party

January 15th, 2025

It was a very cold Sunday in Finland. The snow was covering the whole country. The lakes and the sea were frozen since a month and the temperature was close to minus 25 degrees. No bird was signing outside even if the sun was there for a couple of hours. A very cold wind was blowing from Lapland. The trees seemed to dance. The ice was covering the branches and the electrical wires. Janne Happonen was equipped like for a polar expedition. He hated it. He wished he was a week ago in holiday in the warm Brazil of his wife. Why was he living in that cold country? He was scratching the windows of his car and the engine was on to warm the inside. He would have preferred to stay at home and watch some sports at TV but he was invited to a birthday party and he couldn’t refuse.

During that year not much happened for him. Ana, his daughter, was really talkative even if she was just producing some sounds. He thought that when she would be able to talk she would never stop. She was like her mother. Maria was a lovely housewife. She was taking care of the baby but also of the house. In the neighbourhood the atmosphere changed. People were not spying their neighbours like previously. The situation became insane and the honour of Janne Ahonen, Havu’s direct neighbour, had been hurt. That spying and misunderstanding of situations caused a lot of problems. Havu had still some difficulties to totally forgive Veli-Matti Lindström who said that he was not the father of his baby but Rane who had to leave Kapylä. Nevertheless the Lindström and Happonen were good neighbours. They had some barbecues together and some nice talks but it was definitively not the same. They learnt to hide their private life and to be careful to what they said.

Janne had a secret that he didn’t dare to share. He was talking with a ghost. More than a year ago he heard a voice talking to him. At first he thought that he was too tired or becoming crazy but on January 24th he discovered that this voice was the voice of Matti Hautamäki, his dead friend. He was so happy to be able to talk with him again. But they were some forbidden subjects. Matti refused to answer questions about life after death, how it was to die and how was it possible that he was back. But this voice was a problem. Janne had no more privacy. The ghost was coming at anytime and Havu went pretty angry when Matti interfered when he was in the bedroom with his wife or in the shower. “You have really no respect! Can you think a bit before to talk? You’re not allowed to participate to these moments! If you are not able to do it, go away and never come back!” Janne said one day. And Matti really disappeared. For Janne it was surprising to be suddenly alone. First he thought that Matti was frustrated. But after a couple of day he wondered where he was. Maria didn’t understand why her husband seemed to be worried and always looking around. He was also asking if she felt something cold. She didn’t get what he wanted to say. They were in Finland and winter was cold. She came from a warm country and she was more sensitive to cold than most of the other people. Some days after the Christmas holiday they spent in Brazil, Janne heard again the voice. He was relieved. “Thanks for coming back,” he said to his best friend.

“Is the car ready?” Maria asked from the main door of the house. That day she decided to wear only white clothes. She had a wool hat with a flower, a scarf, a long coat, gloves, ski pants and boots. Janne liked it because it was contrasting with her skin colour coffee and her long black hair. “Yes, it is. You can come,” he answered. She went in again and came two minutes later with little Ana in her arms. Janne couldn’t stop smiling when he was looking at his little princess.

On the other side of the road the family Lindström was far to be ready. “Kimi!” Katrina screamed. She was exhausted. Her second son was never listening to what she said. He decided that he wanted to watch cartoons naked. He was running in the whole house to escape his mother. “If you don’t wear your clothes you will not have candies for two weeks!” she threatened. The little boy was laughing. He knew that she would never keep her threaten. When she was a little girl Katrina had a dream. She wanted to have a daughter. Girls are kind and they are little princess. When her first son was born she was happy. Then she second, Kimi was always problematic. She didn’t know what she did to have such a difficult baby. He never wanted to sleep, he was screaming all the time and the situation was getting worse years after years. Some years later she wished to have a girl but her wish didn’t come true. When she was pregnant for the fourth time she was sure to have a girl. She ate the right food, she exercised, she read many magazines but finally she had a fourth boy. She was disappointed even if she loved her children. When the neighbour gave birth to a girl for her first baby she was jealous. What did she do to don’t have a girl?

“Mom, I’m too hot,” Oliver the oldest son complained. He was ready with his jacket closed and the hat until his eyebrows. “You can go outside and do a snowman,” she allowed. She knew that her husband was outside warming the car and taking off the fresh snow in front of the barrier. “Mom, I want to wear my green shirt with Tweety not the red one with Speedy Gonzales,” Alexander complained. It was her third son. He was six years old. “It’s okay. Let’s wear your Tweety shirt,” she said totally tired. She opened his wardrobe and took the green shirt. She helped him to wear it when suddenly she heard someone crying. It was Juha, her youngest son. She breathed out and went down stairs. “What’s up?” she asked when she saw the 5 years old boy sat on the floor, holding his teddy bear and crying. “Kimi hit me!” he said between two tears.

Veli-Matti opened the door and was surprised to see his son running naked to the upper floor. “What’s going on? Are you almost ready?” he asked his wife when he arrived in the living room. “If you can tell to your son to get dressed I’ll appreciate,” she begged. Her hair was unbrushed. She didn’t have time to add some make-up and she wore simply. She just had a dark trouser, a white t-shirt and a wool pink shirt over it.

Tiia Ahonen was in front of her mirror making the perfect make-up. For her the physical appearance was really important. She chose her clothes with method. Nothing was a coincidence. She was wearing a black turtleneck with a pearl necklace. She had a white trouser and black court shoes with little pearls. When she finished her make-up she added a black flower in velvet in her hair. She wore three white gold and diamond rings and a bracelet. She smiled and thought that she was probably one of the most beautiful women over forty years old of the capital. She looked at her phone. She was still on time. But she decided to stay home a little bit longer. The most wanted people are always late and she knew that she would be the most beautiful girl to that birthday party. She hoped that her ex-husband would be there and that she would make him jealous. Since they were divorced each of their meetings was a competition. She was doing her best to be always the winner. She was pretty, not him. She had a nice car, not him. She had a rich boyfriend, not him. But last time she met him he had something that she didn’t have: happiness. She wondered how it was possible that he was happier than her. And he dared to laugh on her. She was frustrated. She was determined to have her revenge.

Anssi Koivuranta was choosing his clothes. He was designer in the snowboard department of Halti and he got many clothes for free. His wardrobe was close to explode. He thought that he should spend some time and to check if he could get rid of some. He really loved that young style. In his mind he was still a teenager. He chose an orange shirt with a free rider printed. His hair was a bit too long. He knew that the following week he would cut it a little bit. But the length wasn’t the main problem. The previous month he coloured it in blue and at that moment it was a mix of purple, turquoise, greenish and grey. He took a blue hat and covered his hair. It was much better.

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All the ex-jumpers were invited at the 40th birthday of Harri Olli. But it was a special birthday. The previous winter Harri wanted to know what his wife was doing in the basement of their house. She was there for hours and refused to tell him what she was doing. He didn’t support it. He also felt abandoned. She didn’t care of him anymore. He rented a flat in Vuosaari at the east of Helsinki and started little by little to move there. He also wanted to divorce because there was no future with Nina. She was really obsessed by her secret project. He was most of the time outside hanging around in bars and one day he met his ex-teammate Tami Kiuru. The exchanged their bad experiences with their wives. Harri helped Tami to escape in January the previous year. Little by little they became more than just friends. The easiest solution would have been to divorce and leave. But Harri wanted absolutely to know the truth. And Nina was determined. Nobody would know what she was doing before she decided to make it public. One day Harri broke the window and entered in the forbidden room. He was shocked by what he saw. It was beyond his wildest nightmares. He took some pictures with his phone but before he had time to send them, Nina arrived. She wanted to erase his memory with a serum but she didn’t plan that his heart would not like it. He had an attack and his blood pressure rose sharply which carried along an aneurysm rupture. The consequences were dramatic. His brain was only working a little bit and he was almost always lost in his own world. His memory seemed to be gone. And many nervous connections were not responding. Each movement was difficult to do. It was the reason why he spent almost his whole days in a rehab clinic in Espoo, sat in a chair in front of the window. Talking was also very difficult. He pronounced very rarely some words. Nina was happy in a way. She was sure that her secret would remind secret but she was sad to see what happened to him.

Tami was in the room of Harri and helped him. He was brushing his hair. “Today is a special day. I’ve invited all your friends for your birthday. They were really happy when I called them. I’m sure that you will enjoy. It’s not that often that you have so many visitors.” But he didn’t answer. His sight was fixing a point somewhere in front of him. He was lost in his thoughts. The door opened and Nina entered. “What are you doing?” she asked surprised to find Tami in the room of her husband. “I help him to be ready to welcome his guests,” he answered. She crossed her arms and looked severe. She had a brown suit, squared glasses and her blond hair was in a pony tail. “He is still my husband and I decide that he’ll spend his birthday with me.” “Nina, please. It’s important for him to see his friends. And why are you coming now. You almost never visit. And don’t you remember that he wanted to divorce? I don’t think that he’d like to spend his birthday only with you. But you can join. The party is in the big room upstairs. Most of the guests are already there.” She was not really happy about it but finally accepted.

Upstairs the four little Lindström were running around the table and Katrina was going crazy. She also felt ashamed. She thought that the others had probably a bad opinion about her. Nina entered and smiled when she saw the battlefield. “I’m so sorry. I told them to be quiet,” Katrina apologized to Nina. Anssi was happy to see his ex-teammates. He just met some of them during the gigs of their rock band. “I can tell you that that one will be a rock star or a movie stuntman,” he said to Veli-Matti while he was observing Kimi jumping from a chair to another. “Probably... he is a rebel and I’m already a bit nervous for the future. School is difficult and he will probably do a lot of stupid things when he’ll be a teenager. I just hope that he will still listen to us,” Vellu commented a bit desperate when he saw that his kid was a real trouble maker.

In the corner Janne Happonen started a conversation with Nina. “I was really busy these last weeks and I didn’t come to visit. I’m sorry. Do you know if he made some progress?” “Don’t worry. I know what it means to have a busy life. You have a strange job and you have a little baby. You know I think that he didn’t notice it. He is most of the time mentally absent. If he is in the real world he can do some exercises with his hands. The problem is that he is really clumsy and he gets angry very quickly. It’s not rare that he throws away the objects that are closed to him. Eating is really a problem. He wants to do it himself but the way from the plate to his mouth is too long. And again he gets angry. It’s hard to say if he makes progress. There is so much to do. It seems to be impossible. He will maybe never leave this place,” she confessed. “If we can help in a way or another just let us now. I don’t like to see him alone in front of the window. He is still a human being.” “Havu, it’s really kind of you. But more than half of him is dead. Now the left over is just prisoner from a body who doesn’t work properly. He can stay like this for forty more years.”

Some minutes later, Tami arrived with Harri and everybody smiled except the children who continued to play. Katrina and Vellu tried to tell them to be quiet but it was mission impossible. Most of the people gave their wishes with a honeyed voice like if they were talking to a child of three years old or to a person totally stupid. Some others wished him the best for the future or regretted to don’t come over more often. But Harri didn’t react. He was in his own world. His head was leaning a bit on the left, he had a stone face and his sight looked absent. He had a dark yellow shirt with a wool jacket on the shoulders and a fleece was covering his legs. His hands were like dead wood on his tights. “Hey guys, I just thought that now you are all over 40,” Anssi reminded with a wide smile on his face. He was only thirty six. The other didn’t react.

At the same moment Tiia arrived like in a fashion show. She looked around and was surprised that nobody looked at her. They were looking at the kids, greeting Harri or talking together. She felt frustrated. Even her friends Katrina and Nina didn’t look at her with jealousy. How was it possible? She was the prettiest woman in that room. She was looking quickly for someone. She was really surprised to don’t see her ex-husband. Something was strange. It was not in his habit to be later than half an hour.

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Arttu Lappi arrived late as usual. He apologized saying that he was lost and the others smiled. He was always giving that excuse. But he was forgiven. “Are we all here?” Veli-Matti asked. “No, Janne Ahonen is not here,” Tiia replied. “Oh that’s right. Does anybody know if he is coming?” Vellu asked. “I couldn’t reach him. It was said that his phone number was not in use anymore and he never answered my emails,” Tami explained. “He never answers emails. I don’t know why he has an address,” Tiia complained. “Last time I saw him was... oh my God... last June. He told me that he was quitting his job. Immediately. He used a word to greet me that I will not pronounce here,” Vellu explained. “He told me last time that he needed some time far from this country full of hypocrite and selfish people. He said that he had a dream and wanted to make it true. I’ve no more news and it was also in June,” Janne Happonen said. “Maybe you can check in the people database?” Arttu suggested. “He is not missing and there is no good reason to use it. Should I remind you that this software is not a toy but a tool for the police to solve crimes or to investigate on missing people,” Janne added. “But maybe he had an accident like Harri and can’t contact us. He is maybe lost somewhere in a wild country,” Vellu suggested. “I hope that his close friends and his family would have contacted the police or the local embassy to say that he was missing,” Havu added. “You were his closest friend and apparently he is not in touched with his family. Tiia ignored that he was not here. He quitted the Kroisos also in June. By the way, where is Ville?” Anssi asked.

The previous evening Ville Kantee was in town in a bar like every Saturday evening. He found some friends and they had nice discussions until late. They drank also a lot. He came back home only in the early morning. He was deeply sleeping when suddenly his phone rang. He complained and covered his head with his pillow. But it was impossible to sleep any longer. He caught his phone on his night desk and saw that Anssi was calling. “Fuck!” he said when he saw his name and the time. He promised to come to the birthday party and he was late. He jumped to the shower and wore the first clothes he found. He hoped that they were not too dirty. Yeah, Ville was living by night, especially in the weekend. He was not like the other family guys.

Ville arrived an hour later and apologized. Everybody was sat around the table drinking some tea or coffee and eating a piece of cake. “Hey man! Welcome to the club 40!” he said while he gave a slap on the shoulder of Harri. This impact brought Harri to the real world. He was looking at people around the table. But almost nobody noticed that he was back. Kimi was screaming. He wanted another piece of cake but his mother refused. Then he got up and hid under the table. He was hitting the legs of everybody and his parents felt ashamed. He exited between Harri and Tami. When he saw that Harri was looking at him the little boy screamed very high. “Shut up!... And bugger off!” Harri said in a loud and shaking voice. Everybody looked at him silently. They were shocked. Harri couldn’t look at them. The view of all these eyes fixing him was too difficult. He preferred to look at his hands. “Hey man! Welcome in the real world! I see that you didn’t forget the most essential words. I prefer the stupid Harri to the clever one,” Ville exclaimed. “So guys, do you like the cake?” Tami said to force the others to look elsewhere. “You are all... hypocrites... and... I’m not... stupid,” Harri murmured but almost everybody heard it. Nina got up from her chair. She seemed to be pretty unhappy by the few words her husband pronounced. “Harri, you are tired. It’s time to go back to your room. Thank you for coming,” she said to the audience.

Before to leave, Janne Happonen went to the room 42. Harri was sat in his chair looking by the window. Janne felt a bit bad. It was like if he was punished. He took a chair and sat next to his former teammate. After few silent minutes he put his left hand on the right hand of Harri. “I wanted to tell you that you did nothing bad. Everybody in the room is shocked by Nina’s reaction. We all understood that this kid was not behaving well. His parents are really sorry,” Janne told. “Why is he here?” Harri murmured still looking at the window. “Who? What are you talking about?” Janne said after have had a look outside. “Let him go. Please, let him go,” Harri whispered. “Can you see... him?” Janne asked a bit surprised after a moment of thinking but Harri was back in his world. Janne got up slowly, still looking at his former teammate.

Far from Finland, Janne Ahonen was laid down on a deck chair watching at the sunset on a beach. He was drinking a cocktail and was just wearing a short and his sunglasses. What a nice place to live! He took his phone and looked at the temperature. It was 24 degrees. For fun he checked the temperature in Finland and smiled. It was minus 24. A young girl with long brown hair in bikini sat on his chair. “Janne, I miss Finland. Don’t you think that we should flight back?” she asked in a sweet voice. “Are you sure? But here it’s the paradise. No more cold weather, no more snow. No more problems. What do you miss from that fucking country?” he asked quite surprised. He was living there with her since the previous summer. He was so disappointed by the behaviour of people he thought that were his friends that he felt the need to leave the country. His honour had been hurt by housewives in the neighbourhood of Käpylä. They invited a story saying that he was the father of the baby of Maria Happonen. But he never had an affair with her. A husband who didn’t accept that fact that his wife wanted to divorce used these bullshit to send Janne to jail for rape and violence to his wife. Janne was very angry because one of the housewives who bullshitted was the wife of Veli-Matti Lindström, his boss. For him it was impossible to work for the husband of the person responsible of all that mess. One day he decided to quit everything and to start a new life abroad with his Finnish girlfriend he met when he was in prison. He never talked about her to his friends and family because he wanted to avoid their comments about the age difference.

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2. Painting

April 16th

Janne Happonen was happy. He finally finished to build the little play house of his daughter in the garden. It was a traditional wooden house like the summer cottages near the lakes with a little terrace. Inside there was only one room with a window and a door. The house was one meter thirty five high. He was thinking that his daughter would play there for hours in summer time for the next ten years and maybe longer. He got up and checked if the roof was solid. It was the case. He was really satisfied because he was not very good with his hands. Then he thought of the colour. Most of the houses were dark red with white windows. But his house was green with the white windows. He thought that it could be nice to have a mini house the same colour. He brought back his tools to the garage, washed his hands and drove to Bauhaus.

That shop was big and it was easy to find everything you needed for gardening, construction, cleaning, bathroom and so on. He found easily the painting department. The shelf for the wood painting presented a large range of colours. He looked at the green and there were three possible samples. How to choose the right one? He took his phone and looked for a picture of his house. But even there he couldn’t decide. He went to the info desk and waited for his turn. Before him there was a tall man with a pony tail and a young girl with curly brown hair. Maybe a father with his daughter. Apparently they ordered a lot of painting. Yellow, orange and light green. But Janne was sure that it was not the green of his house. It was too light. He would describe it as lime. These colours were quite refreshing and he was thinking of the delicious fruit cocktails Maria was doing during summer. Oh he missed so much summer. He was happy that winter was over but spring meant a lot of work. It was the cleaning period.

When the two people turned, Havu had a shock. “Janne?” “Janne?” the guy answered. “What are you doing here?” Havu asked. “I’m buying some painting for my bar. And you?” Janne Ahonen answered. His skin was brownish like if he had been recently in holiday in a warm country. His hair was pretty long, in a pony tail and coloured in light brown and blond. He was looking like a rock star and wanted probably to look young and cool but the wrinkles on his face where reminding that he was almost forty eight. “Who is this lovely girl with you if I may ask?” Havu said. “Oh yes. It’s Leena, my... my friend,” he said with an embarrassed voice. Havu knew immediately why. The girl seemed to be around twenty years old. But he preferred to don’t ask questions about it. If Rane wanted to share some details he had to decide it himself. Havu already lost him as friend and he didn’t want to lose him once more. If Janne wanted to be his friend again.

“You said that you are buying painting for your bar. May I ask you which bar?” Havu asked. “I will open soon my own bar in town. I’ll be my own boss.” “That’s nice but there are already plenty of bars in town. It’s hard to start from nothing. Are you sure?” “Havu, why do you doubt? I’ve a great concept and no other bar is proposing the same. Look at the colours I bought. Does it seem to be for a bar for drunken middle age guys?” Rane asked. “No, not really. Well I wish you good luck. When do you open? I’d like to be there. And where is it?” Havu asked curious. “It’s in Kamppi on the ground floor of the shopping centre. We open on April 29th just before Vappu.” Kamppi shopping centre is situated at the centre of the urban and night life. Around there are plenty of bars, discos, bowling and restaurants. During the weekend that area is almost only frequented by young people. Janne chose a good place to have his bar. His clients would be young and active. “Sounds great. Do you need help? For the painting or anything else?” Havu proposed. “It’s kind from you but no. Everything is fine and will be ready on time. See you on the 29th,” Rane said before to leave. Havu had a strange feeling. Rane was cold and didn’t look really happy to see him. What did he do? Havu has always been fair and loyal. After the problems created by the rumours, Havu apologized. He promised to never again doubt of his friends. He knew that Rane lived a real nightmare. He was probably still not forgiving. Havu thought that he probably needed some more time.

After the Easter weekend which was beautiful and hot the little family Happonen went to the city centre to do some shopping. Janne didn’t like it at all but his wife showed his old trousers in the wardrobe and he accepted to buy new ones. For him they were still okay but Maria didn’t agree. Janne preferred to don’t argue on the fashion subject because he had no chance to win. “Shopping is nice. It’s a moment of pleasure,” she said. “Well... it’s a loss of time. Can’t we go to the park?” “No way! Come on.” And they took the elevator to go to the second floor of the shopping centre of Kamppi to the men shops.

After almost two hours of torture it was the freedom. They took the elevator to the ground floor. “I’d like an ice cream. What about you?” Maria asked. “Well... yeah. Why not?” Janne answered. The ice cream bar was in the back and they had to cross the whole shopping mall. Suddenly on the right Janne saw a shop which was closed. There were some light green panels hiding the inside. It was written Happy Hangover Bar opens on April 29th! Janne couldn’t stop laughing. “What happens to you?” Maria said a bit worried. “I just go to say hello to a friend,” Havu said while he pushed a bit the green wall. He saw that Janne Ahonen was sat on the floor painting an orange in wood. He had a white suit full of different colours. It was quite hot in the little bar and it smelled bad. Rane probably sweated a lot. “Hi, how is everything going?” Havu asked. “Pretty well. I’m a bit stressed. I’ve to finish everything before Thursday. There are so many details,” Rane explained. “I like a lot the name of your bar. But why “Happy Hangover”?” “When I was drunk I was always thinking that the next morning is horrible. Headache, stomach pain and so on. I always wondered how I could get rid of it. And once after a drinking night on the ferry to Stockholm I went to the shopping centre, Gallerian, if I’m not wrong and I drank a fruit juice. And then the hangover almost disappeared completely! When I was in Gran Canarias I was working in a beach bar preparing all kinds of cocktails for the Finnish tourists. I noticed that the fruit drinks had a great effect on them. Then I thought: why not in Finland? Everybody is drank in the weekend and don’t know how to get rid of the hangover,” Ahonen explained. “This is great and I’m sure that you will succeed. Are you sure that you don’t need help?” “Sure, thanks Havu.” “May I invite you for dinner? You can come with your friend if you want. And also with your dog if you have one.” “You’re funny. I don’t have a dog. I never say no to good food and nice talks. I’d like to go home and take a shower before to come,” Rane said. “No problem. You can come at seven. Is it okay?” “Yep. See you.” Janne Happonen was happy that his former roommate accepted.

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Janne Ahonen arrived a bit late. He didn’t ring immediately at the door. He was looking at the house and noticed that almost nothing changed. He looked at the door of the little flat and smiled. He wondered if someone was living there. On the other side of the road he saw that a bike was abandoned in the garden as well as many other toys. When he looked at the house he saw the curtain moving. No really, nothing changed. He was quite certain that in less than ten minutes the whole neighbourhood would know that he was there with an unknown girl. He knocked at the door and his friend welcomed with a hug. Maria exited the kitchen and jumped in his arms. Janne was surprised but liked it. “It’s so nice to see you again. I really missed you. Do you still know how to dance salsa?” Maria asked. She was teaching him that dance for a couple of months before his life totally changed. “I think that I will need a bit of time to remember it but I’ve not forgotten everything,” he told with a smile. “Oh Maria, let me introduce you Leena, my friend,” he added a bit shyly. Janne Happonen was smiling. He was quite sure that she was much more than just a friend. Otherwise why did he come with her? She was smaller than Maria and much younger. Havu was quite certain that she was around twenty. She had curly brown hair, blue eyes, a light skin and very attractive lips. Her cheeks were pinkie. She was wearing a light pink shirt which was trendy at that moment with a black slim jean. She had some love bugs on her socks. Havu thought that it was cute and funny.

Maria prepared a feijoada a speciality from Rio de Janeiro. It was a stew of beans with pork and beef. “Normally we use some pork trimmings but I know that here in Finland it’s not really common to eat and some people refuse to eat it. Don’t they, Havu? Anyway. But I can tell you that it’s delicious. So I replaced with sausages, bacon and smoked ribs. I hope that you will like it,” Maria explained with her warm voice. The guests were really curious about the dish and couldn’t wait for the first bite. The meat was accompanied with mashed potatoes and salad. They were drinking a red wine from Chile. The atmosphere was relaxed and everybody was happy. Maria was talking the most but it was in her character. Leena was a bit shy and needed some time before to talk. “What do you think about the new propositions of the government for young people?” Janne Happonen asked to the young girl. She was surprised that he asked directly a question to her. She was not at ease to see all these eyes fixing her. Her cheeks were reddish and her hair was covering half of her face. “I think that it’s unfair,” Ahonen answered before to drink a sip. “Yeah I agree,” she replied very shyly. “Havu! Don’t you see that you make her feel uncomfortable,” Maria exclaimed.

Before the dessert the both Janne went outside for a smoke. “I didn’t know that you were smoking,” Ahonen noticed while he was lightening his cigarette. “I just smoke sometimes a cigar. But no, I don’t smoke,” Havu explained. The sky was dark and it was pretty fresh. The snow didn’t melt completely. It was dirty by the sand, the stones and the pollution. It was not anymore the beautiful white snow of January. “Janne, what are you doing with that teenager?” Havu asked. “She’s not a teenager.” “Well... maybe but she behaves like a teenager. And she has no general culture,” he complained. “What? You say that just because she couldn’t answer your question about politics? Many people don’t care about politics. Ask the neighbours around and you’ll see.” “I’m sorry. But tell me. She’s your girlfriend, isn’t she?” Havu asked directly. “Yes and I don’t care about your opinion. I know exactly what you have in mind. Keep your comments for the bullshitters of this neighbourhood. They will love it. And you are not better than me. Do you know what they are saying because you are married with a Brazilian? And with a dark skin?” “You have no clue of what I’m thinking. And I’ve no problems with my neighbours. At the beginning they were judging. Not anymore. They learnt to know her and they like her. I just hope that you found the right person. You deserve it. But I’d like that you remember that I’ll be always your friend and you can come whenever you want.”

As soon as they were back Maria almost ran to the men with a wide smile and she was excited. “Is everything okay?” Havu asked, surprised to see his wife being so. “Janne, you have to show to Leena how you dance well salsa,” she announced. Rane coughed and looked really surprised. “But I haven’t dance since a year and a half. I need some training. I...” “Don’t find silly excuses. Come with me.” She caught his hand and they went to the computer room. She slapped the door. “Do you remember? One, two. One, two, three. Let’s train a bit,” she said.

“Is Maria always so energetic?” Leena asked Havu. “Well... not always luckily but often yes. After a long day at work she just needs five minutes to recharge my batteries. She’s incredible. I love her positive attitude. I’m the ice and she is the fire. But I’m not as cold as many Finns. I’m just slow to be relaxed and open. May I ask you how you met Janne?” Havu asked while he finished his glass of wine. “When he was in prison. I had to do a project for school about unfair situations. I said to my teacher that I was not interested in quarrels in divorced couples to know who will have the children. I wanted an interesting project. The next day he had dinner with his brother who is working at the prison and he talked about Janne’s situation. He said that he was not dangerous and that he can be a good subject. Janne accepted and I had four meetings with him but always with my teacher in the room because you know...” “Yeah, never let a young girl with a prisoner. And he was accused of violence on a woman and rape. It’s totally understandable. But how did you really meet him? I mean personally,” Havu specified. “I sent him a couple of letters and he answered. Well it was a bit strange but I really felt something. I love his personality, his fragility and he is so rock’n’roll!” “That’s nice. He is a good guy. Not perfect of course,” Havu smiled and she laughed. “Are you working?” “Soon. I will work in the bar. I’m very excited. The concept looks great. I hope that people will like it too,” she said.

Suddenly the door of the computer room opened. “So guys, are you ready to see the greatest show of the year?” Maria announced. “Really? Wow! I can’t wait,” Havu said while he sat in the sofa with Leena. The partner of Maria didn’t seem to be that confident. Havu knew that if Janne failed in front of his girlfriend it could be a big humiliation. Ah men and their virility. Maria turned on the music and caught the hands of Janne. The first steps were not very relaxed and synchronized but the following ones were much better. Janne was so happy when the song ended. He was quite sure that the performance was a disaster. “You were fantastic!” Leena exclaimed. She got up and jumped in the arms of her Janne. Havu was happy by what he was seeing.

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3. Alcohol, tippaleipä and heavy hangover

April 30th

All the Finns were running in the shops to buy some food but especially to buy alcohol for the celebrations of Vappu. Vappu is the student day in Finland but there is no age to celebrate. On that day the Finns would drink litres of sparkling wine and beer. “Why are there so many people in the shops? No war is announced,” Maria complained to her husband. “Well, tomorrow it’s the first of May and the shops are closed. Finns are not used to it. Especially in Helsinki. And it’s the effect. Everybody is in the shops to buy plenty of food for... hum two days. I know that it sounds stupid but you can do nothing about it,” he explained a bit bored. He didn’t like to do shopping and especially when the shops were crowded. They had to wait a long time at the cashier because the queue was really long. Two times, someone forgot to weight a vegetable and had to run to add the sticker. Havu was getting impatient. He wanted to go home and drink some beers. His wish became true an hour later.

As very often the weather was nice until Vappu and that year wasn’t different. The clouds were covering the country and the rain arrived before 5pm. Havu was looking at his garden, a can of beer in the hand. He took his phone and called his neighbour. “Hi Vellu. Do you think that it’s a good idea to go to the centre? It’s raining now.” “Are you afraid of drops of water? Come on. Let’s celebrate like teenagers! Don’t tell me that you didn’t find your hat?” Veli-Matti Lindström asked. After have been graduated in high school all the Finnish students receive a white cap and wear it each year for Vappu. “Yeah I have it. Do we meet in town or at my place? What about the others?” Janne asked. The ex-jumpers were supposed to celebrate in the centre on the Esplanade near the Amanda Havis statue in the middle of the students. But the rain was modifying the program.

Half an hour later the living room of the Happonen family was crowded. A bottle of sparkling wine was already empty. On the table there was some tippaleipä - a spiral-shaped sweetened pastry only for Vappu -, crisps, olives, little sandwiches with salmon, ham or cheese and little sausages. Anssi Koivuranta came with a guitar and was playing some songs. Ville Kantee couldn’t resist and sang. “Wow! I love it! Really nice!” Maria exclaimed when they finished. But Tami thought that Ville was not a talented singer. The TV was on but they pushed the mute button. They were following the ceremony. The students were washing the statue. “Havu, you should wash Maria. She can be our statue!” Ville exclaimed. “I think that you are already drunk. You’re so stupid,” the husband answered. “No, you should be our statue!” Anssi proposed. He went to Maria and asked her for a couple of accessorizes. She seemed to like the idea and participated to the plan. They came back with a bucket full of water and a brush to wash the floors in wood. “Oh no guys!” Ville protested but the others liked the idea. “Not on the carpet!” Janne requested. Anssi took the brush and Vellu the sponge and started to wash Ville in the living room. Arttu was laughing so much that the others thought that he would suffocate. “I’m Amanda,” Ville said with a smile. He seemed to have accepted the fact to be a statue. Then at the TV the students wore the statue with a kind of cape. Anssi took a pink paréo and put it around the hips of his friend. Then he put the top of a bikini and stupid sunglasses. All the spectators were out of laugh. Tami Kiuru took a picture. It was unbelievable. “Give me your camera. I’ll take a group photo,” Maria said. All the friends went around Ville who was happy to be the centre of attention.

At 6pm the students put the hat on the head of the statue. Anssi took the hat of Ville and put it on his head. “Hauskaa Vappua!” everybody wished while they wore their hat and drank a sip of sparkling wine. Maria was the only one to don’t have a white hat. But instead she wore a straw hat. “Oh Havu, what happened to your hat? It’s yellowish,” Anssi asked. “Well... I’ve been young and stupid before you. I guess that I drank beer from the hat at some point,” he explained with a wide smile. When the third bottle was empty they drank beer. “Should we go to Helsinki? It’s not raining anymore,” Arttu asked after have had a look at the window. “I’m getting drunk. I won’t be able to drive back home,” Tami complained. “Guys, we are all drank. Nobody drives. You can sleep here or in Vellu’s house,” Janne proposed. “For sure. Don’t hesitate to call me. I’m going home. Havu and Maria, don’t worry for Ana. She is with Katrina. I wish you a nice night. Drink for me,” Vellu said before to leave. “Come on guys! Let’s go to Helsinki. We should be able to walk to the tram stop,” Ville said. They all wore their rain jackets and left with a beer or two in the pocket plus their white hats on the head.

In town all the bars were crowded. In front of the doors of the clubs there were long lines. They would probably have to wait more than an hour. “I’m cold. Fucking weather,” Ville complained. He was still wearing his summer skirt over his jeans which were still a bit wet. “Don’t worry we will enter soon. Wait here,” Tami said near the entrance of the Tivoli club. He was talking to the security guy at the entrance. All the others were looking at them with attention. Suddenly he made a sign in the direction of his friends to come. “Have a nice evening,” the tall guy from the security wished to the group. “How did you do that?” Anssi asked curious. “I know the owner of the club,” Tami murmured. They let their coats in the cloakroom and went up stairs. The decoration was baroque but the music was present. Some hip-hop, electronic and international pop hits were played. Almost all the students were wearing their hats and the overalls of their school. All the colours were represented: white, green, red, purple, black, light pink, yellow. The dance floor was crowded and there was no free table. The whole club was crowded and the queue to the bar was long. But the barmaids were really fast. Janne had some difficulties to follow their pace. Maybe because he was a bit drunk. Less than fifteen minutes later they all had a glass in their hands. “Happy Vappu to the eternal teenagers!” Ville said while they shook their glasses.

“I need to pee,” Anssi said after have finished his glass in less than five minutes. In front of the men toilets there was a queue. But it was nothing compared to the women’s queue. When he entered in the room a guy walking in the other direction stopped in front of him. “What?” he said. The guy was probably more drunk that him. “Are you Anssi Koivuranta?” Anssi was surprised to hear his name. “Maybe. Why?” The guy looked still young but wasn’t a teenager. He was between 25 and 35 years old. Anssi didn’t have all this capacities to analyse the person. “It’s me, Olli. Olli Muotka.” And the two former teammates hugged. “Wait for me,” Anssi said when he entered the room which smelled really bad. The floor was wet and there was toilet paper on the floor.

“Hey guys. See who I found in the restroom,” Anssi announced with a wide smile and a hand on the shoulder of the young guy. His hair was twenty centimetres long and light brown. He had a beard of three days and a rounded face. His hat was askew. He was wearing a dark blue and white lined t-shirt and a dark trousers. He looked like a sailor. “What have you done, man? You’re not fit for the season. The coach will not be happy,” said Ville Kantee when he saw the beer belly of Olli. “I don’t care anymore. I’m not a jumper. I’m the coach assistant,” he replied and Ville laughed. “This is a good one.” “No, that’s true. Have you watched last season?” There was a huge silence. The former jumpers were scared to notice that they were not following anymore the sport that they loved so much. “I’ve watched the Four Hills Tournament. But I haven’t seen you. Maybe because of the snow storm?” Arttu Lappi asked. They laughed and ordered another glass.

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Arttu was the first one to feel bad. He was not used anymore to drink that much. And the samiakki shot was too much. He had to run to the bathroom. Ville laughed but he was not better. For him it was even worse. He didn’t have time to reach the bathroom. Maria was a bit shocked to see that she was the only one to don’t be drunk. She was a bit but she didn’t feel sick. She was just tired and had a headache. The other guys were saying stupid jokes, repeating ten times the same sentence and almost falling. Anssi tried to seduce a young girl but they only thing he got was a slap in his face. Maria wanted that Havu went home but he was decided to stay. She would definitively never understand why Finns needed to be drunk to have fun. At that moment they looked ridiculous and she was ashamed. But when she looked around it was not better. She was scared to note that she was probably the only one in the club to be almost sober.

At the same moment Janne Ahonen was in his flat. He took a quick cold shower to be awake. He drank a dark coffee and then drove his scooter to Kamppi. For him a new day at work was starting. He saw that some people were sleeping on the benches, some were trying to walk and some were puking. He thought that most of the people would have a heavy hangover. For him the situation was perfect. He opened the back door and prepared his bar. He turned on the lights, the soft music, prepared his machines to press the fruits. He checked that everything was at the right place. At five o’clock he opened the grid. He just had to wait twelve minutes before to serve the first hangovered clients.

“We should go home now. The club is closing,” Maria begged. The guys were in a bad shape. They probably had their worst drinking night of the year and maybe of the decade for some of them. “Let’s go to the bar,” Havu said in a voice that was not his. “Enough drinking! The trams are running now. Let’s go home!” Maria insisted. “No, to the Happy Hangover bar,” he replied. The group of friends needed more than half an hour to walk three hundred meters. When they arrived they saw that a group was leaving. It was perfect. They sat heavily on the couches around the table. Maria went to the bar. “Hi Janne. Can you please help the guys there?” she asked showing the group. Arttu and Havu were almost sleeping. “Yep, I’ve the best cocktail for them. The wake-me-up.” He prepared the glasses with his special recipe with a smile on his face. When they were ready he came to the table with a trail. “Happy hangover guys,” he wished.

The guys were looking at the glass. The liquid was quite thick and red. Anssi took it and smelled. He winced. It didn’t seem to be a good drink. He drank a sip and cough. “What the Hell is that? That’s fucking disgusting!” he complained. Olli was intriguing. The cocktail didn’t seem to be really nice and the reaction of Anssi was not really encouraging. He breathed deeply and drank it bottoms up. His face became reddish and he made a growl while he put the glass back on the table. “Janne, do you want to kill us?” he asked while he relaxed on the sofa. “Nope. Wait a couple of minutes and you’ll feel better,” Ahonen said while he gave a glass of water to Anssi and Olli who finished their glass. “Come on guys. Do you want to get rid of your hangover or not?” the owner of the bar said to the others who were almost sleeping with headache and stomach pain. Arttu caught courageously his glass and drank the mishmash. He didn’t like the taste of tomato juice, paper, Tabasco, vodka and probably other ingredients. But it was really efficient. After fifteen minutes they felt much better. “I’m almost sober!” Anssi exclaimed. Maria tried to convince her husband to drink it to but he was deeply sleeping.

“It’s nice to see you again after so many years. We should meet more often,” Olli told to the group. “But we are. It’s up to you to join us,” Tami replied. “Where are the others? Do you know?” the coach assistant asked. “Well... Jussi is in prison,” Ville said. “What? For which reason?” Olli asked surprised. “He killed the girlfriend of his brother,” Arttu admitted. Olli seemed to be shocked. He couldn’t imagine that Jussi could be able to do it. “And I guess that his brother will never forgive,” he added. The others were looking at each other. “You don’t know it?” Anssi asked. “What?” “Matti’s dead.” Olli was even more shocked. How could he ignore it? Ski jumping was such a small world. Everybody knows everybody. “What happened?” he asked after a few minutes. “He was sick. A cancer, apparently,” Janne Happonen answered. He was coming back to reality when he heard the name of his deceased friend. He was the only one with Jussi to know the truth. The others had to believe to that lie. It was to protect Matti’s memory. Janne remembered that Jussi said at the funerals that he suffered enough. No need to tell more. “The hangover reminds me Harri. Do you know what is he doing?” Olli asked. “Well... he is almost dead,” Ville said. “It’s not true! He is as alive as you and me!” Tami jumped. He couldn’t support this kind of remarks. Olli didn’t dare to ask more. “Harri had an accident and he is partially handicapped,” Tami specified. “I’m sorry. I hope that he will recover... if it’s possible,” Olli murmured. “He will. He is strong.” “I don’t think so,” Ville added and Tami was furious again. “Don’t quarrel here guys, please,” Arttu tempered. “I’ve a great idea!” Anssi exclaimed and all the others were looking at him. “You should join our band. We need a second singer because Janne left us,” he explained. Olli coughed. “Well... I’m not very talented. I’ve to say that I’m a very bad singer. But I’ll come to your gigs with pleasure,” Olli said. “Can you play an instrument?” Ville asked. “I played the drum when I was a teenager but it’s long time ago,” he explained. “It’s perfect! You can play the drum and I play the bass,” Anssi told. He was the drummer of the band but his favourite instrument was the bass. And he preferred to be closer from the audience. “Next training session is next week Saturday at 2 in Anssi’s cellar. Give us a call if you are lost,” Ville advised.

“Let’s go home now. You can sleep at my place or in Vellu’s house. We need some rest,” Havu said when he felt better to the rest of the group. “Thank you Janne for the cocktail. It’s horrible but it works really well,” Havu said to Ahonen while the group was leaving the bar. “You’re welcome and don’t hesitate to comeback even if you don’t have a hangover. I’ve also good fruit juices,” the owner promoted. “We will for sure,” Arttu replied.

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4. Ups and downs like the waves of the Baltic Sea

June 21st

Arttu Lappi was proud of him. His house was clean and the table of his living room looked good. There were some appetizers and drinks. Only the guests were missing. The first one rang few minutes later. “Hi man. I found your house very easily. No need of a GPS. This is for you,” Anssi gave a bottle of whisky and Arttu thanked. He also smiled because he knew that Anssi was referring to his excuses when he was late. Some minutes later everybody was sat in the living room. Everybody had a can of beer in the hand. Arttu stood up and looked at his audience. He was the manager of the band, the Kroisos and he had to make an announcement. “Is anyone dead?” Ville Kantee asked because Arttu looked so serious. “No, no. Guys, I’ve great news. I found place for our next gig!” Arttu exclaimed with a wide smile. “Fantastic! When and where?” Ville asked. “In three week on the Viking Line Amorella! The trip is for free and we’ll get 10% on the drinks sales.” The band members didn’t know if they had to be happy or not. To play on a boat from Turku to Stockholm seemed to be nice. They were sure to have people to see them but the problem was that the audience would be totally random. They hope that the age average would be around thirty-thirty five.

Three weeks later

Anssi Koivuranta was waiting for his band mates in the train station of Helsinki. It was very early. But he was not alone. The cleaning staff of the station was already working hard to erase the dirt of the previous night. The first workers of the city arrived with the first commuter train. Some looked awake and some others were missing their bed. But it was an ordinary Tuesday morning. Anssi looked at his train ticket to verify if the date and time was correct. It was. The InterCity arrived a bit before twenty to six. He took his bag and walked to the car number three. He pressed the round button and the door opened. He smiled when he noticed that the seat was situated at the top floor. He climbed the stairs and walked in the corridor. He was even happier when he saw the seats the band had. They were in the middle with four seats, facing each other and a table in the middle. He put his bag over the seat and sat. Some other passengers entered silently. Some were whispering to don’t break the morning silence.

Few seconds before the departure, Anssi saw a man running on the track. He couldn’t stop smiling. The man climbed the stairs in a huge noise and was swearing. “What the fuck! I hate early trains!” Yeah Ville Kantee made it. He was in the train. “Welcome on board. Did you have an alarm clock problem?” Anssi asked, hiding a smile. Ville almost threw his bag over the seat and sat heavily in front of his friend. “No, it’s because of my friends. I was in a bar last night and at 5 we had to leave. This idiot of owner wanted to close! Then we went to the McDonald’s to eat something. There were some girls and we made jokes. These dummies didn’t like our sense of humour. Pfff. Anyway. And then I looked at the clock and realized that I had three minutes to catch that fucking train. I’m here! For the best or the worst!” he screamed and some people didn’t seem to appreciate his behaviour. “Where is Olli?” Ville asked while the train was slowing down to stop in Pasila. “I guess Pasila or Espoo are closer stations for him. I don’t know where he lives,” Anssi said.

Ville was looking through the window. His forehead was touching it. “Hey! Olli!” he screamed, knocking at the window. “Olli! Olli! What an idiot. He can’t see me. Is he blind?” “Calm down Ville. He is coming,” Anssi said while he took his iPod from his pocket. He thought that the trip would be long and it would be probably impossible to sleep if Ville stayed in that state. “Hey dudes! Already awake?” Olli said when he arrived. He unzipped his jacket and put if over the seat near his bag. He sat next to Ville. “I brought some drinks,” he announced and Ville jumped. He was so happy. “I love you, little girl!” And he kissed him. Olli said nothing but was surprised. He never expected Ville to do it. Once the controller checked the tickets they opened the cans of beer. After the first sip, Ville burped and the others laughed loudly. Some other passengers were smiling, some were shocked and others just ignored. When the train stopped in Espoo, Ville was knocking at the window. “Hey girls! Look here!” Once they were in the train he drank another sip. “Why are girls so stupid?” he complained. “Looked who’s here,” Anssi said when he saw the two girls in the corridor. Ville whistle at them. They were wearing black leggings and long shirts. Of course, the guys had a look at their bottoms. “Fuck you!” the blond girl with too much make-up and a piercing in the nose answered. “Wow! I like bad girls. Rrrrr,” Ville answered and she answered with a middle finger. Anssi and Olli couldn’t stop laughing. “You are so successful with girls, Ville. I understand better why you are single,” Olli flouted. “Shut up, idiot and give me another beer,” Ville answered more quietly.

When they were near Karja Olli took the newspaper of the previous day he didn’t have time to read from his bag. When he noticed that Ville was also trying to read it he asked if he wanted that he read it loudly. “Oh yes! With your own comments!” Ville proposed. “Well... one of the politicians has been seen in a nightclub with a dancer. Wow! Look at the picture! She doesn’t have boobs! She has watermelons! And the guy looks so small!” “Maybe he likes domination. Is it written if he survived to the...” Ville looked around to see if there were no kids. But he saw the faces of the other passengers who didn’t dare to express their anger. “Okay, Olli. Next subject. The passengers are impatient,” he said with a smile before to sit. “A goat became crazy in a farm and bit three kids,” he read. The three friends couldn’t stop laughing. “Maybe it was my mother in law,” Anssi said between two laughs. “Imagine, she is always complaining about the neighbours, about me and she wants to know everything. She speaks like this.” Anssi stood up and was doing an imitation. Ville and Olli were red and almost crying. Anssi was so funny. They were really noisy. Only them were talking. But because they were polite and Finns, nobody complained even if they all wished that they stopped.

The nose of Ville was tickling. He knew that he would sneeze soon. Then it stopped. He took some crisps in the package that Anssi just opened. Then the tickling was more important. He turned his head on the left and sneezed. He was relieved. “What the Hell! Ville! You are disgusting! Look at my shirt!” Olli complained and his friends couldn’t stop laughing. Olli was looking at the disaster. On his red and blue lined shirt there were pieces of crisps and mucous. He took a tissue and tried to clean. “You should change shirt,” Anssi suggested. “Definitively. And anyway. It was ugly. I hope that you have a better one,” Ville replied without apologizing. Few minutes later the shirt of Olli looked almost clean.

Anssi finished his can of beer and burped. The others laughed and some other passengers too. “Hey let’s do a little competition!” Ville suggested. “Oh no. Tell me that you are joking?” Olli asked even if he knew the answer. Ville opened a new can of apple cider and tried. The others laughed. “Your turn,” he said to Olli. “That’s stupid.” “Come on! We are stupid since we sat in that train. A bit more, a bit less stupid, now it’s not important,” Ville convinced and Olli did it. But he was surprised that it was so noisy. Anssi was crying and his face was red like a tomato. “Oh Olli... there is no... no doubt... you are the winner!” he said with some difficulties. He had to breathe deeply and slowly to calm down. He erased his tears with his shirt. “You are the world champion. No better, the Olympic champion,” Anssi added when he was calmer. Many passengers exited the train in Turku and were really happy about it. But none of them said something to the group of friends. Before to arrive at the terminal Ville noticed that a girl was eating an apple. “Hey girl! We have the apple in common!” he exclaimed, showing his can of apple cider. But he didn’t get the expected answer. She showed her middle finger. “Again! Fucking girls,” he complained, crossing his arms.

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The band arrived at the terminal just before 8 o’clock. They were all half sleeping. Turku is situated at 200km from Helsinki on the West coast. The terminal was at the extreme West of the city. The three friends were looking for Arttu Lappi. “I think that it was a bad idea that he drove the bus,” Ville said. “Yeah, he is always lost. Let’s hope he will make it,” Anssi replied. Less than five minutes later they saw the old minibus arriving. “You made it!” Ville congratulated the driver. “And you too. I go to the car check –in. See you in the boat,” the manager of the band said. Some minutes later, the three guys were in the main lobby of Viking Line. Ville was looking at the people at the check-in that wasn’t as big as the one in Helsinki. There was no real trend. There were young people, families as well as old people. “It will be great!” Anssi said with enthusiasm. Olli Muotka was a bit nervous. It would be his first gig. His hands were moist but he tried to stay calm.

Right after the check-in they had the privilege to enter the boat before the other passengers. They were pushing the trolleys with the material from the car deck to the backstage at the upper floor. A crew member showed them how to access the backstage. “This space is for you. Another band is coming so don’t cross that line. Here is the program. You are scheduled at 10 o’clock. You can play half an hour to forty minutes maximum. And don’t play too loud. Here are the keys for your cabins,” he said. The keys were magnetic cards with some letters, the date, number of cabin and a drawing of the boat. “I can’t wait for the tax-free shop to open,” Ville said with a smile. “I can’t believe that we will play at 10 in the morning! Arttu, what is that for a show time?” Anssi complained. “It’s a promotional show. Play like if it was a normal concert. If the audience likes it, they will maybe come to one of our gigs,” Arttu explained.

At 10 o’clock, the curtain of the Fun Club raised. Olli Muotka, the new drummer, played the first notes while the others had a quick look at the audience. Ville couldn’t believe it. The seats were almost all occupied by almost exclusively people over sixty years old! Nevertheless he played like for a normal audience. After the first song it became surrealistic. The old people went to the dance floor and were dancing tango and other traditional dances. At least they seemed to be happy and to appreciate. But for the musicians that show was a nightmare. They were playing rock music for young people. Not traditional Finnish music for grandparents. Ville decided to modify some of the lyrics. He replaced some words by lalalalala and the old ladies were singing with him! Anssi tried to don’t laugh. He was concentrating on the strings of his bass. Olli was so focused that he never looked at the public. It was almost the same for Arttu who has still some difficulties to play all the songs. At the end of their performance the spectators applauded. “Thank you everybody! Stay active and fresh and you’ll live till 100 years old! Forever young!” Ville greeted.

When the curtain was down again they couldn’t stop laughing. “Arttu, is it a joke? I can’t believe it!” Ville complained. “But look! They love us!” Ville crossed his arms and breathed deeply. “What is the next step? To play in a nursing home?” “Ville, this is promotion. And you never know who will be on the boat before the check-in. This morning we had an old audience. But on the way back I’m sure that it’ll be younger. We’ll play at 11pm. And wasn’t it nice to see how happy these people were?” Arttu asked. But Ville didn’t answer. He was upset and left. Arttu wanted to follow him but Anssi stopped him. “Let him go. He needs to think and relax. In my opinion this gig was interesting. It’s the first time I signed an autograph to an eighty year old lady. She was as happy as a kid. Arttu, you know what?” “No...” “Thank you so much for spending time for the band. I think that if you were not here we would just play twice a year in a bar. This experience is new and interesting. I’m sure that during our next meeting we will all be happy to have played here,” Anssi told about his opinion.

They spent the rest of the day to drink the cans they bought in the tax-free shop. There was nothing else to do. The ship was slow and it stopped only an hour and fifteen minutes in the Swedish capital. It wasn’t enough to go to town. And the weather was quite bad. It was grey and windy. The rain was coming. On the way back the waves were bigger and the boat was moving up and down. When they were walking in the corridor the passengers had the impression to be drunk. In the cabin 5255 the four musicians were sat on the beds, drinking beers and eating crisps. “We should have real food in a restaurant,” Arttu suggested. “We have everything here.” Ville looked in the bag next to him. There was some cheese, smoked meat, chocolate, cookies, candies and drinks. It didn’t look like real food but they didn’t care. “Don’t drink too much before the show,” Arttu advised. “Yes, Mom,” Ville replied while he opened another can.

An hour before the show they decided to go to the Fun Club. But the way seemed to be long and the boat was moving a lot. Too much for Olli who hit his head on a wall. Ville and Anssi laughed. “Why is the boat moving when I’m close to a wall?” the coach assistant complained. “It’s probably because you are drunk. Guys, are you able to perform a decent show?” Arttu asked his crew. He was a bit worried. He remembered the last show of the previous band which was a total disaster. And there, only Ville was drunk. Arttu hoped that everything would be fine.

When the curtain rose they were happy to see that the audience was younger than during the way to Stockholm. The old people were probably sleeping or trying to sleep. Outside there was a storm and the waves were bigger. The glasses were moving alone on the tables. The lamp over the black jack table was swinging. But the musicians didn’t care and started their show. Like expected Ville was not singing right. Anssi missed some notes and Olli was improvising. Arttu did his best to save the songs but there was nothing to do. And he was not enough talented. Some people were living the club, some others were ordering a cocktail while some were booing the band. At the end of the show only about twenty people were left. “Thank you guys!” Ville almost screamed in the microphone.

“Well, apparently the young people were less interested to our music than the old ones,” Ville noted while they were packing the instruments. “Are you kidding? We were just really bad. That’s all,” Arttu commented, upset. “But it was fun,” Anssi said, trying to stay positive. “It’s our fault. We knew that we were unable to play well after some drinks. Last time was a disaster. Do you remember that we said that if it happened again we split the band forever?” Arttu reminded. “Oh please! It was my first gig. I want to have more. We are a great band,” Olli tried to convince. “In the cabin, we’ll have a crisis meeting,” the manager ordered. “Again!” Ville complained. “Yes, again,” Arttu repeated.

In the cabin, Ville, Olli and Anssi were sat on the bed, looking at Arttu which was pacing. “Guys, do you really want to continue with that band?” “Yeah sure,” Olli replied with a shy voice. “I’m serious! Look, tonight we have been ridiculous. If someone reports our performance to a magazine we are dead. Do you get it?” Arttu insisted. “Arttu, we are doing that for fun. It’s nothing serious. We don’t have the ambition to perform in a stadium, to tour the world and to have thousands of fans. We are just a group of friends sharing the same passion. For me it will be great to just play in small bars or in the garage of friends. Are you sure to manage the right band?” Ville asked seriously. “I’m sorry. I thought that you were responsible adults but you are just teenagers. I can’t continue with you. I quit.” “Arttu, you can’t quit just because of a bad show. We are having fun. And you are doing a great job. Without you we would probably just have one or two gigs per year. Let’s go back to the club to listen to the other bands. I’m quite sure that they are not much better than us,” Anssi proposed and the others accepted.

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5. The mysterious equation

August 12th

Like three times a week, Tami Kiuru was visiting Harri Olli after work. It was a nice summer day. Tami crossed the main lobby of the clinic and went to the terrace. He looked at the pensioners but didn’t find his friend. He checked the place near the window where he was almost always. Nobody. He knocked at the door of his room and opened it before to get an answer. Harri was sat at the table. The room wasn’t big. There was a bed with a night desk, a little bathroom and a table with two chairs. There was a painting of flowers in front of the bed. The window was a bit open and he could hear the birds. On the wooden table there was a piece of paper and a pencil on it. He looked at the sheet. It was full of calculations done in an unsure handwriting. “What is this? What are you trying to figure out? Or to tell us?” Tami asked while he sat in front of him. Harri had the head down, looking at the table or his hand. Tami got up and touched his shoulder. “I’m here little angel. Can you hear me?” he asked gently. Harri raised his head and looked at Tami who smiled. He knew that he had to capture his attention as long as possible.

“Today we will play. Here is a memory game. You will have to remember three pairs: the tomatoes, the cats and the trees. Look carefully and try to remember where they are.” Tami knew that this game was really difficult for Harri but he knew that it helped. On the table he made three rows with two cards. Before Harri could go back to his own world, Tami turned the cards. “Find the tomatoes,” he ordered. Harri didn’t move but Tami saw that his eyes were moving. He was probably trying to remember. Slowly he moved his right hand and touched a card. “Can you turn it?” Tami asked. Harri put his finger on the card and tried to turn it with his clumsy fingers. He wanted to turn that card. But why did it refuse to turn? He tried again. Tami saw that Harri was close to become angry. “Wait, I turn it for you,” he said before a disaster. “Look,” Tami said while he showed the design. It was a tomato. “That’s fantastic! I’m proud of you! Try to find the second one.” Again, Harri was searching with his eyes. He needed more time. It was probably because the cards were turned since more than ten minutes. He concentrated a lot to find the first one and already forgot the other cards. He showed a card and Tami knew that it was not the right one. “Are you sure?” he said to force him to choose another one. He was happy that his friend understood what he meant. After some hesitations he chose another card. Tami turned it for him and smiled. “I knew that you were able to do it. I’m proud of you.” It was their life. Full of little victories. But Tami was sure that one day Harri would leave that place. He just needed time and help. And he was ready to spend all his free time there. “Let’s go outside now. The weather is wonderful. And I think that you deserved to have an ice cream.”

Some weeks later Tami saw that there were papers on the table. He took them and saw that there were again full of calculations. On the papers on the top of the pile the handwriting was surer. He compared and saw that the beginning was always the same but not the end. It was like if he wanted to solve a complex equation. He took the most recent paper and went to the common room. It was a rainy day and the patients were all inside, playing games, watching TV or like Harri, looking at the storm outside. Tami took a chair and sat almost in front of him like he always did. But not totally in front to don’t block his view. “Harri, can you hear me?” he said while he touched his hands. He jumped, surprised and looked at his friend. “Hi...” he said in a low voice. “Hello little angel. I missed your voice. How are you today?” he asked to forced him to talk. “F...fine.” “That’s good to here. Today I’ve another game. I will show you some pictures and you will tell me what you remember about it. Okay?” And Harri nodded. The first picture was Tami himself. Harri moved his sight from the photo to his friend. “Okay, this one was easy. What about that one?” Harri took the picture and brought it almost to his eyes. He frowned. “Me? Whe... When?” he asked with difficulties. “Yes, it’s you when you were young. Do you remember which sport you were practicing?” Harri looked at the window. Tami touched him to force his friend to stay with him. “No... I... I don’t... remember.” A tear appeared in his eye and Tami saw it. “It’s okay. It’s not dramatic. It will come back. You were a ski jumper. Like me, like Happonen, Lindström, Ahonen, Koivuranta. Like almost all your friends. Look at this picture. It’s you in the sky of Oberstdorf. The Four Hills Tournament. Does it remind you something?” There was a heavy silence. Harri clenched his fists and his teeth. How could he don’t remember?

Before to continue the game Tami showed the paper with the calculations. “Harri, what is it?” He had a look at the paper and seemed to don’t understand it. “You have written it. Nobody else can do it. What is this equation about? What are you trying to figure out?” “I... I don’t know. This voice... tells me... to... to solve it... it’s... it’s part... of a project...” “It’s good Harri. Very good. Do you know which project? Who is the voice?” “I don’t know.” Tami looked at the pictures he had in his hand and picked one. “Is it her?” he asked. When Harri saw the picture of his wife he looked scared with the eyes wide open. “I’m here. Nothing will happen to you. Why are you solving an equation for her?” “I... I don’t know,” he repeated. “It’s okay. I think that you need a break. Let’s have a drink together,” Tami proposed.

At home Tami was looking at the equation. It looked really complex and his mathematics skills were poor. It’s not that he never studied or was bad but he didn’t calculate something more complex than a division since years. He wrote the beginning in Google but nothing helped. He didn’t know what the variables meant. It could be anything. He also wondered how Harri could remember how to do it and not that he was a ski jumper. He thought that one of the reasons was the threat. Nina probably didn’t know how to do it and needed urgently his help. That requested was traumatic. He wondered if the project of Nina was stopped because of this unsolved equation or if she continued. He wanted to know more but he had no friend which was good enough in mathematics to understand it.

The next day he went to the university and explained his problem to a professor in mathematics. “Hum... this is not mathematics. It’s a chemical equation. It looks like to be a reaction between molecules. You should ask my colleague the professor Lehtiniemi. He is in the room 262.” “Thank you for answering my question,” Tami said before to leave the room. The room 262 was at the end of the corridor at the second floor. The ground was dark and the walls were off-white. The doors were in dark wood with an aluminium handle. He knocked and waited. Some minutes later the door opened and he discovered a small man, half bold with grey and white hair, a thick moustache, blue eyes, a dark blue shirt and a dark trouser. “Please come in and take a sit. How can I help you?” the professor said before to sit in his comfortable leather chair. Tami was in a wooden chair that he wanted to leave as soon as possible. The room was small with a window and books everywhere. It was a total mess. The old man was correcting some papers. Maybe the first homework of the academic year. “Let’s see this equation,” he said when Tami gave it to him. He looked at it for long minutes. He was trying to understand it. “Where did you get that equation?” “A friend of mine has amnesia and he wrote it. Nobody knows from where it comes from. He is a scientist. He was working on the genetic mutation of some bacteria affecting the penguins,” Tami explained. “Well... the problem is that I don’t know what the variables mean. But it seems to be a reaction. As far as I understand it, it’s an equation to know the effect of the addition of a certain amount of oxygen in blood. But like I told you, it’s impossible to know what it is about without the meaning of the variables. It can be anything. And this equation is probably part of something.” “Can you solve the equation? Apparently my friend didn’t find the solution,” Tami asked. “No, I can’t. I’m sorry. I hope that the memory of your friend will be back because he is really good,” the professor concluded.

Some days later Tami went to visit Harri. He was again sat in front of the window. “Hey man. How are you today? Have you seen the storm last night? The thunder was beautiful. From the window I could see them falling in the sea. Harri, are you with me?” Tami asked, looking at his eyes. He was fixing something outside. It was like often. He was physically there but not mentally. Tami touched the hands of Harri to enter in contact with him. He felt that his hands were cold. He checked quickly if he was still alive. “Harri, don’t do that again. You scared me.” After these words Harri moved a bit and looked at his friend. “Hello,” Tami said with a tender smile but Harri didn’t pronounce a word. “Last week I read your thesis. I’m really impressed. It’s really good. I don’t get everything of course but the subject is very interesting. It’s a pity that you never had time to write the conclusion. But for me you are professor Olli. My little genius. Tell me something. I looked at your calculations and analysis but there was nothing common with the equation you draw last week. I thought a bit and I deduced that this equation was maybe for Nina. Do you remember anything?” But that day was a bad day for Harri. He was prisoner in his body and couldn’t communicate. Tami knew that he was trying to talk. It reminded the seriousness of the accident. But he felt something in his eyes. He saw some fear. Tami promised to himself to find out the link between that equation and Nina.

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6. Harri was right

September 5th

Maria was baking some blueberry cookies. It was really hot in the kitchen because the oven was on and outside it was just over fifteen degrees. The previous day she went with Katrina and the kids to Nuuksio the national park in North of Espoo to collect berries. It was the right moment. The fruits were numerous, full of sugar and big. Probably than the following week some would turn bad. It was a pity. These berries were delicious. But it’s known than in Finland only one third is picked. The two women with the help of the kids collected eight kilos. Once they were at home, they had to take off the leaves, branches and the sand before to freeze most of them. Maria was also doing some jam for the winter. Blueberry jam was one of his favourite. She also made some blueberry-wild strawberry. She poured the dough for the muffins in the moulds and then, hop to the oven. She mixed the jam in the pan and tasted. It was delicious. She switched off the cooker. She took a spatula and pushed the jam from the pan to the glass jars. She covered them and brought them to the table of the terrace to cool down.

Janne Happonen was driving his car home. He was exhausted. That week had been a disaster from the beginning to the end. He wanted to forget it as soon as possible and to sleep. Just before to arrive to his destination, a kid jumped in front of his car. He pressed the break as strong as possible and hoped to have avoided an accident. He opened the door and said loudly. “Are you okay?” He closed the door and checked. It was Kimi Lindström. He was sat on the road at less than twenty centimetres from the car and was smiling. “Don’t do that anymore. It’s dangerous. You can be injured. I don’t want to see you at the hospital. Why did you do it?” Havu asked while he was squatting. The little boy only raised his shoulders. “Get up and go to play in the yard. But I will talk to your parents,” the adult explained. “They don’t care,” the boy answered. “Oh no. They care. Can you make a promise to me?” The little boy was looking at Havu with a smile. “Never again,” Janne said. The boy got up and ran to his yard. Janne knew that it was useless and he would do it again. He just hoped that he would not be the one to injure or kill him. He wished also that his parents realized that he had a dangerous behaviour. Well it was a bad day and he saw that he still needed to drive fifty meters to be home.

“Hum... smells good. When can I have one?” Janne said when he sat on a chair of the kitchen. “There is still five minutes of cooking and then twenty minutes of cooling down,” she replied with a sweet voice. “Come here. I want a dessert now,” he said while she sat on his knees. He hugged and they kissed. “Baby, may I ask you a question?” “Sure, my love,” he answered before to kiss again. “I’m a bit worried about you.” “Why? I’m okay,” he replied. “You lived some difficult moments and you never really talked about it. I think that you should talk about the loss of Matti to a professional,” she suggested. “What? But he’s gone since almost three years. I’m fine. I don’t need to go to a psychologist,” he answered a bit angry. “So tell why are you telling his name when you sleep? And here, you are angry. Please accept some help. I don’t want to lose the Janne I love.” “I’m fine.” “You have a stressful job and you see some horrible things that nobody should see. And recently you lost your friend Harri. I know that it’s hard to see him in that situation,” she added. “Harri is not my friend. Nobody is his friend. Do you remember what he said at his birthday? He said hypocrites. He was right. Nobody wanted to go to his birthday. We went there because Tami insisted. Harri has never been sociable and he will never be. He can die, I will not go to his funeral because I’m not an hypocrite! I’ve to go,” he said before to leave quickly the house.

He didn’t drive very far. He stopped at the first bar he saw and ordered a beer and a vodka. He sat in the corner and looked at the bar, lost in his thoughts. “Calm down. You are fine. Nothing is wrong with you,” the voice said. “Shut up, Matti. I just had almost a fight with my wife. I need to be alone. Can you do that for me?” he begged. “You are desperate and almost burned out. Look where you are and what you are doing. Does it remind you something?” Matti asked but Janne stayed mute. He knew exactly what he meant. He remembered the evening at the Molly Malones bar when he found Matti totally drunk after his girlfriend left him. He drove him home and spent the night with him. In the morning they had a conversation about his behaviour. But Janne was not ready to hear any advices. “Are you stupid like me or are you a good father and husband?” the ghost asked. Janne looked at the two glasses on the table. He wondered if he should drink them or not. He took the little shot glass and when his lips touched it he put it back on the table. “I’m proud of you,” Matti said. “Please, leave me alone,” Janne insisted while he wore his jacket. “But tell me. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in Hell? Why are you in my head? Oh, I got it. You want a second chance and you think that I’m stupid enough to give you my body. It won’t happen. You should really go away. Look at what you did! I almost had a fight with my wife because of you! Now it’s enough! Go away and never come back!” he ordered. The other alcoholics in the bar were looking at him. “Hey Antti. Why is he talking to himself so loudly?” one said. “I don’t know. He is maybe drunk.” “But he didn’t drink.” “Maybe he’s a crazy guy who escaped a psychiatric asylum,” Antti guessed while Havu left the bar.

Some minutes later he opened the door of his house quietly. His head was a bit down. Maria was looking at him. She didn’t know if she had to be angry or relieve that he was back so early. “Maria, I’m sorry. I apologize for my behaviour. I was an idiot. Do you forgive me?” She smiled and she hugged when she heard these words. “This is the Janne I love,” she replied before to kiss.

Some days later after work he went to visit Harri. “Hi. I brought some chocolate. I don’t know if you like them. Well... I’ve to admit that I don’t know you. You can say that I’m a hypocrite to come and visit as a friend. I won’t be angry. You’ll be right. But here, I’ll be sincere. We have nothing in common and we have never been friends. We will probably never be. But I’ve to say that we have nevertheless a little something in common: Matti.” After that word Harri was looking at Janne. He was in the real world. “You were right when you told me to let him go. I did it. Let’s hope that he will not come back,” Janne told. “It’s too late,” Harri murmured. “What do you mean? He will be back? Again in my head? What do you know?” “I know. But I don’t know what I know.” Janne was surprised to see that Harri was in a good day. He was mentally present and he was speaking almost fluently and it had a sense. “What have you seen in the secret room of Nina?” Janne asked. He was quite sure that it was the link. Harri screwed up his eyes like if he was dazzled by the sun that was not there that day. Janne put his hand on the one of Harri to keep the contact. “Calm down. You are safe,” Janne said. He felt that Harri was stressed. He had probably plenty for images in his head. He was remembering. But he seemed to be afraid. Of what? What he saw or of Nina? “Harri, nothing will happen to you. I will never talk to Nina. She won’t know that I came over. What do you remember?” He saw that he wanted to say something. His jaw was moving but no word came out. “Is Matti also talking to you?” “No...” he whispered. “How did you know that he was in my head?” Janne asked. Harri shook his head but didn’t answer. “Harri stay with me! Please, answer. Tell me what you know,” he insisted, holding his wrists. But he just saw some tears running on his cheeks. “I’m sorry... It was not my intention,” Janne said while he took the white tear handkerchief that Matti gave to him before to die. “Leave me alone. You and Matti,” Harri said after few minutes. “I’m really sorry...” Janne murmured before to leave the room.

_________________

7. The room in the basement

October 14th

Nina decided to visit her husband to check how he was and what he remembered. For her it was capital that he didn’t reveal what he saw in the basement. She was so close to succeed that she didn’t need problems at that moment. She knocked at the door 42 and saw him like ever, in his chair in front of the window. On the table she saw some papers. She had a look and found the equation with at the bottom of the page, the solution underlined two times. “Finally you did it. Congratulations. At least you are still useful,” she said before to sit next to him. “Will you kill me now that you have the solution?” he asked still looking at the window. “Oh my little angel no. How could I kill you? You know that I love you. It’s so sad now at home. I miss you so much.” “Hypocrite. I know that you don’t love me,” he replied quietly. “It’s wrong. Who told you that? It’s Tami. I’m quite sure. He tries to convince you that I’m the bad person in that story but it’s wrong. And don’t forget that he is not your friend. Nobody is your friend. You are alone. I’m the only one who cares of you. Tami wants something from you. I still don’t know what. Don’t talk to him.”

“Do you remember the day of the accident?” she asked. He was fixing something outside but she knew that he was thinking. He was stressed. A drop of sweat ran from his temple to his jaw. His hands were moist. She counted his pulses on his right wrist. His heart was beating quite fast. “What do you see? You can tell me. Nothing will happen to you,” she reassured. “I broke the window... I fell... it was dark...” “Yes, continue,” she encouraged. “Then... I couldn’t breathe. I felt the pain... in my chest...” he told the eyes wide open. “Do you remember what was in the room?” she insisted. “No...” he answered in a low voice.

“Harri, in this room there is nothing bad. It’s my photo lab. The room needs to be dark to develop the pictures. Do you understand? You were under shock because I was developing pictures of rats and mouses dissections. I used a macro lens and it’s why it was so detailed. I killed nobody. I had to keep it secret because I know that you are against the animal experimentation. Look at the pictures. It’s the room in the basement,” she said while she gave him two pictures of the room. He took them in his shaking hands. His eyes were quickly running from a photo to another. “Yes, Harri. It’s the truth. Forget your thoughts about monsters, ghosts and other silly ideas. You can keep the photos and show them to Tami. It’s him that wants you to imagine that there is a monster at home. Monsters don’t exist and you know it. Where is your critical scientific sense?” she insisted but didn’t get an answer. He was back to his world. At least she had enough time to tell all what she needed to tell him. She smiled. She was satisfied and left.

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8. Open war

October 28th

Tiia Ahonen was decided to have her revenge. She wanted to make suffer her ex-husband. He had to be jealous of her. Not the opposite. She wore some sexy clothes: a light pink shirt, a white slim trouser and the latest shoes she bought. She chose her more expensive jewellery and made up her face like a movie star. She knew that he couldn’t resist. She drove her car to Kamppi and went first upstairs to do some shopping. She bought some clothes and a necklace. Once it was done she went to the ground floor and walked to the Happy Hangover bar. At that time of the afternoon there were not many customers. At the desk there was a young girl. She was cleaning a blender. She was wearing a light yellow mini skirt with a light purple top. She had colourful socks and had snickers. Her hair was in a pony tail which was touching her shoulders. Her brown hair was curly. “Excuse me,” Tiia said and the girl turned. “Good afternoon Madame. What would you like to drink?” she proposed in a sweet voice. Tiia looked at her. She looked fresh with pink cheeks and a lovely smile underline by a cherry gloss. But what drew her attention was her belly. She wondered how Janne could prefer a fat girl to her. “Is your boss here?” the blond lady asked. “No, he is coming at five,” she answered and Tiia left without ordering. But before to exit the shopping mall she thought that a little discussion between girls could be interesting.

“Finally I will take a pineapple smoothie,” Tiia ordered. The girl took some pieces already cut of pineapple and introduced them to a blender. “How is the business going? Today there is not many people,” Tiia noted. “There are more people in the weekend and in the early morning. The hangover drinks are very popular. The business is running really well.” Tiia was thinking of the next question. She had to find a default. “Where are the fruits coming from? Are they bio?” The girl took a booklet which was at the other side of the bar and showed it. “Most of the fruits are coming from Gran Canarias. The owner of that bar is also the owner of the trees. Everything is bio and fresh,” she explained. “Oh really? I’m impressed,” Tiia answered with jealousy. She drank a bit of her smoothie with the stroke. She wanted to complain but it was impossible. The drink was so good. It had the real taste of the fruit with natural sugar. “But I guess that the local production is not sufficient to cover all the needs of the bar,” Tiia replied. “Yes, it is. And next summer the production will be extended to another field. We will also have papaya.” “But you know, Finns don’t care. They don’t know these exotic fruits. It’s waste of time and money.” “Not at all. Many customers are asking questions and they are very curious,” the young girl explained. She wondered who that woman was. She thought that she was maybe a competitor or someone from the administration to check if the goods were alright. She hoped that Janne would come soon to help her to answer the questions.

Janne arrived some minutes later by the back door. He murmured something to the girl and then started his day at work. “Oh Tiia. What a surprise. Do you like your drink?” he asked while he was fastening his apron. He was wearing an orange shirt with Happy Hangover bar written in dark green. His hair was in a pony tail and was coloured in dark blond. He looked good but tired. He had rings under his eyes. “You seem to be quite tired. Did you have a party last night?” she asked before to drink a sip. “No I was working. I’m here till we close. I go to sleep for few hours and then I’m back here at six. Then I go back to sleep at nine. The problem is that there are some street reparations at the moment and it’s pretty noisy. Especially the pneumatic drills,” he explained. “Poor you. And yeah I like my drink. But... it’s nothing special,” she criticized. He had a quick look to estimate what she was drinking. He took the list of drinks and showed to her. “Look. Here it’s the simple fruit juice and here the smoothies. Nothing special of course. An orange juice is an orange juice. But can you feel the taste of the fruit, the sun and the vitamins. Close your eyes and have another sip... So? Don’t you have the feeling to be in holiday in a warm country and biting in a fresh pineapple?” he asked. “Janne, it’s marketing. I see that you learnt well the lesson,” she replied. “Well, let’s go back to the card. Here are the cocktails. They are much more original. Look at that one: pineapple, mango, coconut and mint,” he told in a voice which was inviting the imagination. “I will have to come back to try it,” she said. “You can have one now if you want.” “No, sorry. It’s too much calories. I’m in diet,” she answered. “Calories? Come on! It’s just fruits. There is no added sugar, no fat, no preservative, nothing not natural.” “I don’t want to be fat like your girlfriend,” she replied almost disgusted. “Sorry for you but I prefer my fat girlfriend who is funny than a skeleton obsessed by her appearance.” She didn’t appreciate the comment. How could he dare to do it? She was prettier, cleverer,... she was perfect. “She is just a toy and she believes all what you say. You must feel confident and clever. But it will never change the person you are. You will never be happy with such a girl. She is too young and she has no experience,” Tiia listed. “And you, you are selfish. You only think of yourself. And why are you here? I thought that you were the happiest person in town. Why are you interested in me? If you come back, please come to try the list of drinks on the right,” he said while he showed the card. It was the drinks to heal the hangover. “I’m not an alcoholic.” “You don’t need to be an alcoholic to have a hangover. You just need friends and a lot of fun in a bar or a club. Or maybe if you are alone and crying while you are drinking all the strong alcohol of your mini bar.” “You’re disgusting. But I forgive you. I know that in a couple of weeks, you will need a cocktail because you will find her in your bed with a young boy,” she answered with the nose up. “Wait here,” he said before to go to the storage room.

Few seconds later he was back with his girlfriend. “Tiia, this girl is Leena my girlfriend and she is not fat. Yeah you got it, I know. Are you okay? Suddenly you look pale. I think that you need more make-up. And maybe some Botox. I can see your wrinkles. And now I will send you directly to your plastic surgeon: we are engaged and you are not invited to the ceremony.” Tiia took her bag and left the bar. She was so angry. Leena laughed like she probably never did. “Oh my God Janne! You are excellent! Her face was changing colour and the Botox... I can’t stop laughing!” she exclaimed between two laughs. “I told you that she would never give up. She will always try to destroy our happiness. Be ready. The war starts now,” he warned. “We are a team. She is alone,” Leena added while she held his hand.

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9. Dangerous behaviour

December 9th

The snow was already covering the country and the houses were decorated. The streets had beautiful lights to guide the people in the darkness and the kids were really excited. They were writing their gift list to Santa Claus, explaining that they have been kind the whole year. Kimi Lindström knew that it was a lie. His parents were always complaining as well as his teacher and he was punished very often. Nevertheless he always got the gifts he wanted. He wondered how it was possible. Maybe Santa wasn’t watching at him. He looked around. Nobody was looking at him. He took the pen and drew something under the table. When he finished his list he gave it to his mother and went outside to play. Oliver and Aleksander were doing a snowman while Juha was in the living room playing with his wooden train. He didn’t like his little brother. He was behaving like a girl and crying all the time. But he was an easy prey to try new stupid things. But that day he opened the barrier of the garden and went to the street. In his right pocket he had a catapult and in the left one he had some stones. He was sure that he would have a funny afternoon.

On the window of the family Uusmäki he saw his first target. There was a cat licking its anterior legs. The little boy took a stone and armed the catapult. He closed his left eye and fixed the animal with his right eye. When he was ready he dropped the elastic. The stone hit the window and the cat jump in the snow and ran away in a meow of unhappiness. Kimi took a snow ball but missed the cat which was running too fast. He laughed and continued his walk.

Katrina was looking by the window. She saw two of his sons and one was at home. She opened the windows and asked if they saw Kimi. The answer was negative. She wore her jacket and opened the main door which was on the street side. There was nobody. “Kimi?” she asked loudly. A sparrow flew away but nobody answered. She regretted that her husband didn’t agree that the kids had to have a mobile phone. Veli-Matti said that it was useless. They would lose it or send too many SMS. He didn’t get that it was also to know where they were. Now they were old enough to go out themselves in the neighbourhood. She hoped that he was playing nearby. “Boys, we are going out for a walk,” she said when she went to the yard. Oliver and Aleskander complained because they wanted to finish their snowman. “We’ll finish it with Dad,” she replied.

Katrina didn’t know if she had to call all the mothers. Many of them were already thinking that she was a bad mother and if she requested for help it would comfort them with their opinion. She convinced herself that her son wasn’t far away. “Oliver, come closer. We are crossing the road,” she warned her oldest son which was playing with a wood stick. Some streets further they met Aino, a very active mother in the community. “Oh Katrina, may I ask you if you can bake 500 cookies and help Erja with the decoration of the tables,” she asked. “Yes, sure,” Katrina answered with a smile. “Thanks,” the neighbour said before to continue her walk. Katrina thought that she was close to cry. She had already a lot to do with her boys but she had to participate to the organisation of the Pikku Joulu of Käpylä. She was already sewing the imp hats with small bell for six kids for the song to Santa Claus. Only four days were left. She had no time to waste. At that moment she was determined. She had to find her son very quickly.

Suddenly she saw him, sat in the snow. “Oh you are here! I was so worried.” But then she was scared. He had blood around his mouth, on his nose and on his clothes. “What happened sweetheart. Are you injured?” she asked worried. “No, I was hunting. Do you want to taste?” he said with a smile when he showed the dead bird he had in his hand. “Oh my God! What have you done?” The other boys were crying for the poor little bird. Their brother bit its belly and dug up the feathers. “It’s some chicken for dinner,” the little boy answered. “No, it’s not. It’s a sparrow. You must not kill them,” she explained while she hid the bird in the snow and covered the blood. She took a tissue and cleaned his face. “Let’s go before someone notices what you’ve done. I’m very angry. You’ll be punished.” But he smiled. He knew that he won’t be punished for long and that Santa Claus would be generous with him like every year.

Right after dinner Kimi went to his bed room. He was punished. His father opened the door and sat on the bed next to him. The little boy took a teddy bear which he held. “Tell me why have you done that to this poor little bird?” Veli-Matti said after some long silent minutes. “I don’t know. But it was fun,” Kimi answered. “Fun?” Vellu repeated, under shock. He really didn’t get the behaviour of his son. He hoped that what happened was an accident and would never happen again. “God created birds to sing in the morning to wake us up, to eat the mosquitoes and to fly in the sky. We are just here to see and listen to them. We are not supposed to kill them. It’s the same for all the other animals.” “So, why do we eat chicken?” “Kimi, there are two categories of animals: the ones that will feed us and the others which are free in Nature or are our close friends like cats and dogs. Animals feel pain like us. To kill that bird was like killing one of your brothers. Can you promise that you will never do it again?” Vellu asked. “Okay...” “I want you to promise,” the father insisted. “I promise,” the little boy answered with the head down. “Good. But you are still punished. No cartoon for you. Go to brush your teeth and be ready to go to bed.”

For Christmas Kimi didn’t get what he wanted. He was not very happy about it. But all his brothers were jealous about his unique gift. It was a lovely rabbit with falling ears. It was colour caramel. “You can choose his name,” Katrina told to her son with a smile. Juha was already trying to catch the animal which was afraid. For him that ball of fur was a new friend and he wanted to hug. “No, no. Not that way, Juha. And you have to ask your brother if you can play with the rabbit,” Katrina interceded. “It’s name is Diablo.” “Oh that’s sweet,” his mother commented. “I hope that he will take care of it,” Vellu murmured. Katrina looked at him and hoped the same.

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10. Show must go on

January 21st, 2026

Olli Muotka was proud of him. His first and last gig with the band had been a disaster and the members refused to continue. He thought that it was a pity. That band was a good excuse to meet friends, to enjoy music and to share it with an audience. Secretly he organized a concert a bit special. He was the coach assistant of the Finnish ski jumping team and he spent his weekends on the hills of the world. He couldn’t skip a competition to play with his band mates. It was the reason why he decided that they had to travel with him and to play in a place that had a long story with the band: Zakopane in Poland. The band played there more than ten years ago and the public really enjoyed. He contacted the owner of a bar who loved his idea. The room was booked. He just needed to convince his friends.

It was in early December that he took his phone to call his band mates. Anssi accepted immediately. He thought that it was a great idea and it would be interesting to play abroad. Arttu Lappi refused as soon as he heard the name of the band. He said that it was dead and would never reborn. Ville Kantee also refused. He was bored to be accused to be the bad guy of the band and to ruin the shows. “But Ville, you’re a rebel! It’s your rock’n’roll attitude!” Olli insisted but Ville didn’t change his mind. After that phone call Olli had to think of a solution. He didn’t want to cancel the gig. But he also needed at least a singer and maybe an extra musician. “I can sign and play the bass at the same time but it’s true that we need an extra musician,” Anssi told by phone.

Olli took a piece of paper and wrote the name of some friends that could join the band. He called Janne Ahonen because he knew that he was a good singer. But he refused because he was busy with his bar but he liked the idea. He wished good luck and hoped that the gig would happen. The next one on the list was Janne Happonen. “Are you kidding? I can’t sing and I’m untalented to play instruments,” he replied. Olli breathed deeply and called the third name. It was Veli-Matti Lindström. “Me? To play with the band? Well I can play keyboard and classic guitar but nothing else. And don’t ask me to sing.” “That’s perfect! Anssi will contact you and you can learn the songs with him. I’m touring the World Cup and I think that I’m not gonna make it before the gig which is in Zakopane. Anyway. I know the songs by heart,” Olli explained. “My wife will kill me. In the weekend I’m supposed to help her with the children,” Vellu complained. “I promise to do some babysitting in summer,” Olli proposed and Veli-Matti laughed. “Are you sure? Do you promise?” “I promise.” “I think that you will regret it,” Veli-Matti concluded.

On January 21st they were in the backstage of the bar checking the instruments. Anssi was reading once more the lyrics. He wanted to be perfect. Veli-Matti was playing with his fingers in the air, the eyes closed. “Are you ready guys?” Olli asked. “Yes, sure. I’m very excited,” Anssi told. “I hope that i won’t mess up,” Vellu added a bit worried. “No, it will be fine. And the songs sound really good with the keyboard,” Anssi comforted. At ten o’clock they entered on the stage. Anssi had his hair coloured in orange with a green headband, a black t-shirt with a pink guitar, jeans with holes and Converse. “Hello Zakopane! It’s so nice to see you again. How are you?” the singer asked to the public who answered. They played three songs before to have a little break. “At the drum, Olli Muotka, the coach assistant of the Finnish team. At the keyboard, Veli-Matti Lindström, former ski jumper. And me, I’m Anssi Koivuranta, former Nordic Combiner and ski jumper. Do you like the show?” he asked with a wide smile and the audience answered with screams of joy. The members of the band were really happy. The gig was a success. They continued to play with the audience composed by fans, groupies, the ski jumpers who didn’t qualify for the competition of the next day, coaches and other team members.

After the gig many people went to congratulate personally the musicians and to ask for pictures and autographs. The members couldn’t believe that they made it with only three members. Some people asked them when the next gig was scheduled. “Well... we don’t know yet. But we’ll publish it on our website,” Anssi answered. “Guys, I’m so happy. It was fantastic,” Olli said with a tear of joy in his eye to his band mates. “Show must go on!” Anssi exclaimed and the others agreed.

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11. Second chance

March 16th

Maria Happonen was in front of her computer, looking at the new trends for summer. She was taking notes in a book. She was an interior designer and she had to know what was new. She was also receiving every months a couple of magazines on the subject. At that moment she was looking at the new fabrics. She was imagining curtains, lamps or sofas with these fresh colours. She was also thinking if she should change the design of a room. She was quite certain that if she asked Havu he would not be agree. He was quite rigid and didn’t like changes. But she was quite sure that if she was able to change a room in one day he would like the result. She looked at the computer room and thought that it could be perfect. She didn’t like the dark brown old fashion bookshelf with drawers. She wondered what was there. Probably some useless staff that hadn’t been touched since they moved there. She got up and opened the first one. There were boxes with snowflakes or Olympic rings. She took one and opened it. It was a bronze medal from Salt Lake City. She wondered why it was there and not near the other medals. Then she remembered that her husband only had a team silver Olympic medal. And it was in Turin. She opened a box with a snowflake on the cover. It was a gold medal. Why Havu never showed these medals? Was he too shy to admit that he was a great ski jumper? But she was interrupted by the ring of the doorbell.

She went quickly to the door because she didn’t want that the visitor rang again and that Ana woke up. She was quite sure that it was Katrina or another girl from that neighbourhood. Her surprise was huge when she discovered a man with flowers in his hand. “Good afternoon, Maria,” he said with a smile. “Who are you? How do you know my name?” she asked suspicious. The man was wearing a hat and a long brown coat. He had wool gloves and a scarf. He had a turned up nose and brown eyes. He seemed to be in his 40s. “It’s a bit cold today. May I come in?” he insisted. “Who are you?” she repeated, ready to close the door. “I’ve to apologize for what I did to you three years ago.” “Go to Hell,” she said while she wanted to close the door but he blocked it. “Maria, I’ve changed. I’m not anymore the monster I was. Give me a chance to say how sorry I am,” he told in a very calm voice. She looked at him for a while and didn’t know what to decide. In her religious education she learnt to forgive. And here that man came to ask her forgiveness. “Okay, if you promise to don’t be bad.” “I promise,” he answered.

“Please sit on the sofa. I make some coffee.” When she was in the kitchen, she switched on the machine and wrote a quick SMS. She came back to the living room few minutes later. She sat in front of him. She preferred to have the table between her and that guy. “You know, when I was in prison I understood a lot of things. Especially that my behaviour was totally wrong. I got some help and now I’m a new man. I’ve learnt compassion, the good and evil and so on. I’ve found what I want to do of my life.” “That’s good,” she answered while she drank some coffee. “I’m clean now. I’m not a drug addict anymore neither an alcoholic. You can check my arms.” “I believe you.” “I’m so happy to be a good guy again. Now I want to help people,” he explained. “That’s nice of you. How?” she asked while she had a quick look at the clock. She sent the SMS less than ten minutes ago. The conversation had to stay friendly at least ten more minutes. “I will visit the youth centre, the centre for teenagers in difficulties. I will listen to their stories and try to help them to solve their problems before to become criminals. It’s a program from the church. Isn’t it great?” he asked very enthusiastic. “Yes, it’s great. These young people need some advices of experimented people. Not only from parents, teachers or priests. When will you start?” she asked. “When everybody I offended will forgive me for what I did. Maria,” he said while he kneeled on the carpet at less than two metres from her. “Please forgive me for what I did to you on March 23rd 2023. It was the bad Jussi under the influence of drugs which did it to you. I was upset for a silly reason and I lost control. Please, forgive me,” he insisted with the hands joint.

At that moment the door opened and Janne arrived, very angry. “Get out of my house immediately!” he said while he caught the collar of his shirt. “Janne, wait. Don’t do it,” Jussi Hautamäki articulated. The shirt was struggling his neck. “I need that she forgives me,” he said but Janne didn’t care. He threw him out in the snow and then threw his coat and his shoes before to close the door. “It’s finished, my love. He won’t come back,” Janne said in a sweet voice when he hugged. “Did he touch you?” “No... he wanted that I forgive for what he did,” she told. “Pfff... he doesn’t deserve it. He can go to Hell,” the husband replied. “But it was three years ago. He has been to prison. He paid. I think that he deserve a second chance,” Maria said. “What? Did you forget what he did to Cassandra? I will never, never forgive. This guy is persona non grata in this house. Am I clear?” “Janne, it’s between him and me. Let me solve this,” she said while she opened the door. Jussi was still there. He was cleaning the snow from his socks before to wear his shoes. “I forgive you for what you did to me. I hope that you will start a new life and be happy. But please, never come back,” she said.

“I’m proud of you. You had the right words. I’m sorry for my excessive reaction,” Janne said when she was back. “You say that I’m impulsive but you are not better than me. I think that a part of you is becoming Brazilian,” she noted with a wide smile on her face. “I think that it’s my Finnish primitive instinct. To protect my family is the most important thing in my life.” They smiled and kissed. “Tell me something, why are you hiding some of your medals?” Janne was really surprised and didn’t understand. “What? But they should all be at the same place. Some are missing?” “I found a gold medal and some Olympic medals. You never saw them to me. Janne you should be proud of you!” she exclaimed with a wide smile. He thought a bit before to understand. “If they were mine, you could be sure they’ll be with the others. It’s the medals of Matti.” “What? But why are they here? We should give them to Jussi.” “Maria, no. I promised to Matti that they’ll be safe. It was his wish. He told me that his brother will sell them. Never talk about them to anyone. They have to say there,” he explained and she promised.

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12. Friends meeting

March 29th

Janne Happonen was in his bed reading at the diary of Matti Hautamäki. He got it more than three years ago when Jussi was emptying the flat of his little brother and he still didn’t finish reading it. The problem was that it was a total mess and the handwriting was sometimes unreadable. He had the impression that Matti used a code. Some texts were songs, some others just keywords. To understand the meaning of the texts was hard work and very often after a day at work Janne didn’t have the envy to read that diary. But that day he was looking for something. Tami Kiuru invited him and Arttu Lappi the next day in a café to talk about Harri’s wife and her secret. Janne remembered that almost two years ago Harri visited him and said that he was suspecting Matti to be too close from his wife. He didn’t have an affair with her but something else. Nobody knew what. In the diary Janne noticed that the texts about Nina were really mysterious. What was Matti hiding? Why did he never talk about her when he was alive? And the phantom of Matti never answered questions about it either. He decided to try again. “Matti? Are you here?” He waited but didn’t get an answer. He wasn’t surprised.

Suddenly Janne rose a bit in his bed and took his yellow Stabilo pen. He underlined the words: I've sold my body and my soul. To the devil? “Matti? Are you here?” Janne hoped that the ghost would answer that time. These words were strange. Janne stayed silent and thought. He remembered how Jussi was furious that Matti gave his money to someone else. He thought that it was Havu or Cassandra, the girlfriend of Matti who got it. He was so furious that he killed Cassandra. It was the reason why he went to jail. “Matti, what have you done?” Janne asked but he didn’t get an answer. The ghost seemed to be definitively gone since a couple of months after they quarrelled in the bar. What did it mean? In a way he was happy to don’t hear that voice anymore but on the other hand, it was pretty useful. He had a secret friend and he gave some good advices. Janne preferred to ignore how he knew them.

The next day the three friends had a meeting in the Ekberg café in Bulevardi street in the design district of Helsinki. This café was one of the oldest of the city and it was offering the most delicious bakeries. Tami Kiuru was the first one. He came earlier to eat at the lunch buffet which was excellent. It was a vegetable soup with three different kinds of breads, salad, dessert, tea and coffee. He had plenty of time to read the newspaper and to observe people. Janne Happonen arrived a bit before 2pm. He wore some nice clothes because he knew that that café was frequented by people from the high society. Not the tourists or the basic people. “Hi, you look great today,” Tami said while Havu took off his coat. “Thanks.” He smiled and was happy that his friend noticed that he made an effort. He sat and ordered a cappuccino with a pulla. It was not really original but he was too lazy to get up and have a look at the bakeries behind the window. Arttu Lappi arrived later. He looked lost for a few seconds and then walked to his friends. Before he was able to pronounce a single word Havu said: “Yeah we know. You were lost in the neighbourhood and didn’t find a free parking spot closer.” Arttu was mute and surprised. Then they all laughed. “You’re really good Havu,” he exclaimed while he sat. “I think that you should travel with the public transportation. There are the trams 3B and the 6 going to that street,” Tami advised. “You’re right. But you know me. I’m able to travel in the wrong direction,” Arttu laughed.

“Okay guys. Let’s go to the point. We have to save Harri and I need your help,” Tami announced. “To save him of what?” Janne asked perplexed. “His memory is coming back and he is talking a bit more every day. The problem is that he seems to remember something about the secret room of his wife in the basement of their house. She gave him some pictures of a photo lab but I’m sure that it’s fake. If it was true I don’t get why she had to keep that room secret and have a digital code lock on the door,” Tami explained. Arttu was lost. He didn’t get the point and Havu didn’t seem to understand either. “Harri is in that situation because of Nina. She is protecting her secret and Harri is a victim. Look at what she did to him. I can’t imagine what else she is capable of.” “What is that story with the secret room? What is she doing?” Arttu asked. “We don’t know. Harri probably knows but at the moment he can’t describe it. Nina will kill him before he remembers anything important,” Tami murmured. “That’s crazy. Are you sure? Who told you that story?” Janne asked. “Harri. He was living with me for a couple of months and he told me almost all what he knew.” “You and Harri? Does it mean that he is separated?” Arttu asked. “There is no more love between him and Nina. She is obsessed by the secret room. Harri wanted to divorce but because of the accident, the papers he prepared are not valid. We were so close,” Tami confessed. Arttu was looking at Janne. “Tami, maybe I misunderstand it but do you mean that Harri and you...” Arttu didn’t dare to finish his sentence. Tami just smiled.

“What do you want us to do to help? Do you have any evidences?” Janne Happonen asked. “I know what Harri told me but it is not enough and I didn’t record. But I cracked the password of his laptop and accessed his data. Harri is a great scientist but is bad with computers. He didn’t collect much data about the secret room because his wife is really careful. Then I drove my car near his house and connected to the wifi. When I entered the network I tried to crack the codes of the other computers in the house but as you can guess the Olli are not using simple passwords. They are clever. I needed a long time before to find the password of Harri and still now I don’t have the password of Nina. It’s not like in the movies when the hero finds the code in a couple of seconds,” Tami explained. He was working in the IT department of a bank and the networks and computers had no secrets to him. “Wait a minute. You are admitting a crime in from of a lawyer and an inspector!” Janne exclaimed, almost shocked. “Yes, and I did it to save my friend. In this story, the person who must be arrested is Nina, not me,” Tami added a bit angry.

_________________

He breathed deeply before to continue. He knew that what he did next was totally illegal. “Please don’t judge me and keep it for yourselves. I connected to the bank account of Harri and Nina. First there was nothing interesting. But when I looked at the details of the historic I found two curious transactions to the account and then the sums were moved some hours later to another account that I haven’t accessed yet. The first one was in August 2022. She bought for more than 50.000€ some technical equipments to a hospital. There was a monitor for heart activity, blood pressure and so on, a spectrophotometer, an operant conditioning chamber, UV crosslinker and other things like that.” “It’s maybe for her job,” Arttu guessed. “I don’t think so. It’s the laboratory which buys the equipment, not the employees,” Tami replied. “And it doesn’t seem to be for a photo lab,” Havu commented. “The second one was the following year in February. She got 250.000€ for the selling of a flat.” “Was that flat in Herttoniemi?” Janne almost jumped when he heard the story. “How do you know it?” Tami asked very perplexed. “It’s the flat of Matti.” “Sorry guys, but I’m totally lost,” Arttu admitted. “Jussi attacked my wife and killed Cassandra because he was angry that he didn’t get the money of Matti,” Janne explained. “Oh yeah now I remember!” Arttu said. “He told me that the flat was sold but he didn’t get a cent and that Matti gave everything to a person who deserved it,” he added. “Nina? Why?” Tami asked. Janne remembered the sentence he underlined the previous evening in the diary of Matti. “Matti wrote that he sold his body and his soul maybe to the devil,” he said. “What? I don’t get it,” Arttu replied. “I guess that Nina promised something to him. Imagine: she convicted him to give her everything. But for what?” Janne asked. “Harri repeats very often the monster will wake up,” Tami added. “I’ve a horrific image in my head,” Arttu confessed and the two other friends were looking at him. “And what if the body of Matti was in the basement?” “Well... There were the funerals and if it’s true, it must smell bad. Matti is dead since more three years. Not much must be left,” Janne said. “Are we sure that Matti is dead?” Tami asked. “This story is so damn crazy,” Arttu commented. “I’m quite sure. Jussi and Cassandra were with him when he died. I don’t think that Jussi is able to keep it secret if Matti was alive. And I saw Matti few days before he died. He was really bad. I don’t think that he is alive,” Janne Happonen commented. “And what if Cassandra was Nina’s accomplice? Nobody knows her really,” Tami replied. “She’s dead. Jussi killed her two months after the death of Matti,” Janne specified. “Maybe I’ve a sick brain but imagine a bit. Nina is working on something. We all know that she is a professor in the virus mutation. But she needs a human to test her research that she started maybe years ago in her laboratory at work but she can’t continue because someone would discover it. She met Matti at your housewarming party and if you remember well they talked a lot outside. Harri was furious about it. Then they met a couple of times,” Tami told. “You’re right. One day two years ago Harri came to my house and told me that Matti went a couple of times to his house and he thought that they had an affair. But it’s probably not true. They were probably talking about his illness and something else,” Havu added. “But why was Matti interesting for her? He had a cancer and she is working on the AIDS virus,” Arttu replied, the arms crossed. Janne breathed and thought that it was time to tell the truth. “He didn’t have a cancer. He was infected by the AIDS,” Havu admitted and the others were mute and under shock.

“Nina maybe needed to know how Matti’s illness was going on. She contacted her friend Cassandra, let’s suppose it, who suddenly assisted the doctor of Matti. If you remember she was not the usual nurse. She seduced Matti and he fell in love with her. Once he died Cassandra and Nina organized the transfer of the body to the morgue as usual but they changed direction and went to her house. Then Cassandra just acted as the widow girlfriend and cried at the funerals,” Tami ended his explanation. “It sounds totally crazy. And I don’t think that Cassandra was part of the plan. After her death I’ve had access to her bank account and there was no strange transaction. I don’t think that she would do it for free. The risks were too high. And what would Nina do with the dead body of Matti?” Janne asked a bit perplexed.

“Harri told me that his wife was a witch.” “And you believe it?” Janne asked Tami. “There should be a simple answer,” Arttu replied rationally. “I don’t think so. Harri wanted to find the answer and look at what happened to him. There is no simple answer,” Tami answered. “I don’t want to look as an asshole, but I’ve some difficulties to believe this story. I think that Harri didn’t accept that she worked on something and that she didn’t want to share with him and he invented a crazy story. Come on guys! We are in Finland and nobody can steal a body or organize such a... a plan. Maybe Matti has been enough stupid to give his flat and his money to her for a reason or another but I don’t believe that she is a bad person,” Arttu told his opinion. “And how do you explain what happened to Harri the day he wanted to know the truth?” Tami asked the arms crossed. “Well... this is pure speculation. I guess that they were quarrelling. He was really furious as we know him and his heart didn’t support it. How many guys have heart attacks around 40 years old? It’s quite common,” Arttu justified.

“Now we have to think of how we can protect Harri. Nina will not hesitate to kill him if he talks too much. He is unable to know if he is in danger or not. He doesn’t remember who Nina is really,” Tami reminded. “In the law point of view we can do nothing without evidence that she wants to kill him,” Arttu specified. “I will not wait! He is a human. He is alive and has a soul. Nina has no right to take his life,” Tami said, almost losing his nerves. “How do you know that it’s not an accident? I mean that heart attack is common and a rupture of aneurysm at the same time is rare but not impossible,” Arttu insisted. “The day when he decided to enter in force in her secret room? I don’t think that it’s a coincidence. The doctors were unable to find the reason of the heart attack but I’m sure that she did something. She already poisoned him a couple of times when he wanted to know more,” Tami added. “Well... I’ve a house for myself but I don’t know what he needs. I’ve no medical background,” Arttu admitted. “He needs nothing. Just some help for the normal tasks such as to get dressed or to eat. I’d like to have him home but the flat is really small,” Tami commented. “And what will you do? To kidnap him in the middle of the night?” Janne asked with irony. “If there is no other solution, yes. Like I told you, I won’t let this witch killing him. What would you do if it was your wife who was in danger?” Tami interrogated. “All that story has no sense. And I’m working for the police station. I don’t want to lose my job for a crime in which I don’t believe. I also have a family. I’m sorry Tami but I’m not your friend in that project,” Janne confessed while he wore his coat.

When he arrived at home, Janne was alone. He sat heavily on the sofa and opened a can of beer. He was thinking of the discussion and regretted that the ghost was not there anymore. He would have liked to ask him some questions. That story was really crazy. Ghosts and witches didn’t exist. He knew it. It was just the crazy imagination of some humans. Matti was dead. Nina was working on a scientific project in her basement. Harri was too impulsive and curious and he was paying it. Tami believed too much what Harri said. Cassandra loved Matti and was killed by the jealousy of Jussi. But why Matti gave his money to Nina? They were not really friends and didn’t know well each other. Havu was Matti’s best friend. Why did he never talk about Nina? And what was the meaning of the sentence he underlined in the diary? Tami was a cyber criminal and had no shame to admit his crimes. Janne thought that it was maybe better to change friends. They were all crazy.

“Hello sweetheart. How was your meeting with your friends?” Maria said with enthusiasm when she opened the door. She took off the coat, hat, gloves and shoes of Ana who was sleeping in her baby carriage. “Well... we talked and drank coffee,” he simply said from the sofa. “What did you talk about?” she asked while she hung her coat in the cloakroom. “About our lives, friends,... nothing special,” he said, preferring to avoid the details. Then he asked about her friends meeting. “We went to a café and then we moved to Nina’s place to play black jack. It was really fun. Tiia was so lucky. It was almost impossible to win. Katrina had to leave a bit earlier because one of her boys really wanted to go home. He was screaming and she was embarrassed.” “I see. How is Nina? I mean that it must not be easy. She is alone,” Havu asked. “She is strong. She has a lot of energy and manage well everything. But it’s easy for her. She doesn’t have children. She could whine but not. She is moving on. I really admire her behaviour,” Maria said before to go upstairs with Ana to put her in her bed. “Did you hear or smell anything strange in her house?” Janne asked when she was back. “You have strange questions. No, she has a girl who is doing the cleaning. There is no mess. The only noise was the dog of the neighbour but... what do you want to know?” she asked perplexed. “Nothing special. Have you visited the house?” “Well just the kitchen, bathroom and the living room. Janne, you should stop drinking beer,” she advised. “Don’t touch my beer. And I’m fine. Did she talk about the room in the basement?” “No... why?” she asked. “Forget about it and never ask her. Can you promise?” “Yeah sure but why?” she insisted. “Please trust me. It’s the policeman who is telling you to never ask her. But if she said anything about it, tell me. It’s important.”

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13. Rookie

April 4th

“So here is your new home. Be like at your place. You can touch everything. Don’t hesitate to go to the fridge if you are hungry. I put the microwave on the kitchen’s table. So that it’s easier for you to use it. I’ve some ready-made food in the fridge. Oh I’ve almost forgotten. I’ve to present someone to you. Here is Pillow, my St. Bernard. He is really nice and not aggressive at all. You will love him as he will love you. I turn on the TV. MTV, is it okay? I’m really sorry but I’ve to go to work. See you tonight!” This stressed man was Arttu Lappi. A couple of hours ago he went to visit Harri Olli with Tami Kiuru. They were supposed to go out for a walk but when they were sure that nobody was looking at them, they went to the car park and drove away. The operation had been a success. Nobody noticed them. But they were sure that very soon the whole clinic would be looking after him. They would also call Nina. She would immediately thought of Tami. It was the reason why Harri was hidden in the house of Arttu. Nina would never guess. At least not immediately.

Pillow was observing the stranger in its territory. He was sat in a chair looking at something that seemed to be far away. He wasn’t looking at the TV. He was wearing a long dark green shirt and probably a trouser. But that one was hidden under a fleece cover on his legs. The huge dog stood up and shook its white and brown fur. Its mouth was half open and it was panting loudly. It sounded like a little truck on a car park ready to go. It came closer and smelled the unknown person. It wasn’t a pleasant smell for the dog. After a few seconds it went back to its carpet near the window but always having an eye on the strange human.

Harri was looking at the room around him. He was in front of a huge flat TV screen. Behind the wall was painted in red. The other walls of the room were white. What was that place? How did he come there? He was lost. He heard a strange sound. It wasn’t coming from the dog. No, it was coming from him. He was hungry. He looked around if he could catch something. But on the table in front of the sofa there was only a candle and the newspaper of the day. He tried to move his hands. He wanted to go to the kitchen. Why were they not moving? He got angry but didn’t give up. His right hand moved a bit. It unlocked the break. He needed to do it on the left too. Pillow rose its head and was looking at the strange show. But suddenly he went back to his own world. He was fixing something far, far away. His left hand was still on his tight but his right hand was swinging in the space.

Arttu came back later. He had a busy day and he forgot to buy some food for the following days. But the most urgent was of course the food for Pillow. His dog was eating so much that he needed to go often to the shop. He couldn’t store too much at home because the dog was clever. When Arttu was away it was trying to open the door of the cupboard and to open the food bag. When he opened the door of the house, the dog ran to him, barked and jumped on his owner. Arttu had no other choice than to let the shopping bag on the floor. Pillow was as heavy as him and the animal was not realising that it was strong. “It’s so nice to see you again. I missed you. Yeah we’ll go for a walk in a minutes,” he said before to close the door. “Hi Harri,” he just said while he was going directly to the kitchen followed by the animal who was very interested. Its tail was moving with energy. “I go for a walk with Pillow and then I will cook something. See you later,” Arttu explained after have changed his suit and tie to a sport trouser and a sweat shirt. He wore his sport shoes and went for a jogging.

More than forty minutes later the dog entered in the house and ran to the kitchen to lap water in its aluminium dish. Arttu went up stairs and took a quick shower. When he was ready he went to the living room. “How was your day? Not too boring?” he asked to Harri who was exactly at the same place as in the morning. But his guest was lost in his thoughts. Suddenly he said in a deep voice: “Hungry.” “Yes, I’m cooking soon. It should be ready in twenty minutes,” the lawyer promised.

But it was more than half an hour later that everything was ready. The two men were sat around a rounded table in wood covered by a white and red tablecloth. The kitchen was in wooden style like in most of the summer cottages. There were a lot of dishes waiting to be brought to the dishwasher and the cooker was dirty. “I’ve cooked some pasta Bolognese. I hope that you like it. You didn’t tell me what you like. Well maybe you need a bit of time to get use to my house and my cuisine,” Arttu told to his guest. Harri was looking at his plate. It looked good and he was hungry. He moved slowly his right hand and caught the fork. He drove it to the pasta and tried to bring it to his mouth. The movement up was really difficult. His hand was shaking a lot. On the way, most of the spaghetti slipped and went back to the plate. Harri could only taste the sauce which was not cooked enough. It was too acidic. He tried again but wasn’t more successful. He decided to let the fork on the table and to use his hand. He caught some spaghetti to his mouth like a kid. More than fifteen centimetres of the pasta were swinging from his mouth. “Harri! What are you doing?” Arttu asked. At the same moment he remembered what Tami told him. He took a knife and cut the pasta in small piece and gave him a spoon. He cleaned the sauce he had on the chin and apologized. “Tomorrow I’ll cook something easier to eat. I’m so sorry. You know when Tami told me that you need some help to eat I didn’t realize that it was so difficult for you. I hope that you are not mad at me. It was my training day. Tomorrow I’ll be perfect. Well... I’ll try,” Arttu promised. After some minutes Arttu asked: “Do you want to watch a movie or do you want to go to sleep?” But Harri didn’t answer. He was again lost in his thoughts. Arttu wondered how his imaginary world looked like.

Two days later it was the weekend. Tami arrived right after breakfast. The big dog ran to the door and Arttu tried to keep it inside. “Hi, come in. It’s a kind dog,” he said still holding the animal which was impatient to know that new visitor. Tami had no choice than to touch the dog which calmed down immediately. “How is everything?” Tami asked. “Well... it’s not easy to communicate and we are trying to know each other.” Tami smiled and went to his friend who was in front of the TV. He sat on the sofa and touched his hand to enter in contact. “Hello Little Angel. Do you hear me?”But his eyes were fixing something. He was lost in his world. Something was strange. It was a bad smell. “Is it your dog which smells bad?” Tami asked. “It smells... dog. Maybe it’s a bad smell for you. I can’t smell anything strange,” Arttu replied. Then Tami observed the hair of Harri. “When did he take a shower for the last time?” “Well... I don’t know. You should ask him.” “Arttu...” Tami said when he got up. “Do you really think that he is able to know when to go to the shower and to wash himself? What are you afraid of? To touch him? To see him naked?” he asked and Arttu was confused. He knew that it was his fault. “I promise that it won’t happen again. I’ll take care of him,” the lawyer replied.

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