FROM ASTRID TO LINDGREN (A BIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL)-5

From Astrid to Lindgren and the sequel to From Astrid to Lindgren, a synopsis by Kurt Peter Larsen & Vladimir Oravsky, may in part or in entirety be copied or otherwise be reproduced, electronically, mechanically, in analog or digital form and digitally, or telepathically or through other as yet unknown means, on paper, plastic, tape, or other known or future substance, in Braille, in sound or image form; it may also be set to music, dramatized, be filmed or put on video, be animated or transformed to ballet, mime presentation, or musical, oratorio, or opera. It may also be used in relation to advertising, for purposes of agitation and propaganda. However, a written agreement with the copyright holder (© Vladimir Oravsky) concerning the abovementioned is required. 

CHAPTER 3: Copenhagen, National Hospital, Rosenvængets Allé, December 1926.

It was snowing that day. Outside the window at the National Hospital, Astrid could see people celebrating Christmas, walking along the street, while she stood on the third floor holding her newborn child. A little bundle that would be named Lasse, she had decided. Soon she would be alone again, but the child would remain, though not in her arms. It wasn’t long now. Astrid pressed him harder to her and she could feel the heat from his body under the white cloth that encircled him. She rocked him lightly.

“With longing and faith, faith and longing, it’s going to work! I promise you that, Lasse. How beautiful, how beautiful you are. I am never going to let you go! Ever!” she whispered and kissed her little son’s forehead. 

A woman came into the room. She was older and had a resolute but friendly smile. The words the woman uttered could not be understood. Through her tears Astrid saw how the Danish Mrs. Stevens pointed at the clock and said something.

“I know, thanks so much, Mrs. Stevens. You’re very kind, I think. I’m grateful anyway for all you’ve done. I know …”

When the woman who was going to take over came closer, Astrid kissed her son on the forehead yet another time, before she gave him to the other woman’s care. It was the only way to get to see her son again. To give him up. The pain was indescribable, but it was decided this way and that’s how it was going to be.

Mrs. Stevens was no stranger. Since Astrid arrived in Copenhagen, Mrs. Stevens had taken care of her and had been there during the delivery. A friendly woman with a warm smile, whom Hanna had found. Hanna knew that Astrid’s pregnancy would bring shame on the Ericsson family, and she made an effort to find a solution. And she had not said very much. Not asked. Most of the questions she had avoided. Maybe she understood the circumstance of what had made Astrid with child. The plans had been many, and in secret Astrid and Hanna had found a solution, namely the course in Stockholm that Samuel August had agreed to pay for. And she wasn’t the only one who had had a baby in Copenhagen. The question was just how the secret had spread to Ingegerd. But she had always been a cunning girl. Presumably she had heard it when she had been sneaking around the kitchen late one night and heard Astrid and Hanna’s discussions.

“Thanks for this time, Mrs. Stevens. Lasse, I’ll be back!”

The woman smiled and left Astrid alone in the room at the National Hospital. A little whimper was the last she heard of Lasse before the door closed and everything grew quiet. Astrid was filled with an emptiness she had never before felt, as if there was only half of her.

(to be continued...)