Let me know what you think. I'm a 'comment whore'. ;-)
*
In their clan house, Gunnar Rolfsson leered at his oldest sister. "So, Mia, are you attending the Mid-Summer Fest this year, again?"
Mia sniffed. "Only as a spectator. I think six children is quite enough, thank-you very much. Now that I'm a grandmother, it's time to turn reproduction over to the next generation. From now on, sex is purely for entertainment. Are you planning on going, you young lecher?"
Gunnar's face fell. "I was, but Astrid decided that since Torvik is such a sweet kid, she's going to go with his father again. And all the other women seem set on men already. Life is so hard." He pouted theatrically.
Mia's response dripped sarcasm. "You poor thing, I'll just have to tell some of the other clans about your plight. Perhaps another lady or two will be willing to sacrifice her virtue to console you. Would that make my itsy-bitsy baby brother happier?" She patted him on the face and then smacked him on the head. A highly undignified and unequal wrestling match almost broke out when the door slammed open and Mia's youngest charged in, panic on his face.
"Mama, it's Keitha! They just pulled her out of the fjord and they're rushing her to the clinic. She tried to drown herself!"
"What?" Both adults were on their feet. "She did what? Who found her? How . . .?"
Gunnar grabbed young Piet's shoulders in his immense hands. "Easy, nephew, start at the beginning. What happened?"
The child gulped and hiccupped. "Erik and Rolf were tending the oyster frames when Rolf happened to look up. He saw Keitha standing on the edge of the cliff with a big rock in her hands. She jumped into the sea. They rushed over to where she was and Erik dove in after her. He said he had to pry her hands off the rock and drag her to the surface. Rolf did mouth-to-mouth to get her breathing again. Now they're taking her to the clinic and they told me to come get you and the rest of the adults."
"Good boy. You go upstairs and get the rest of your aunts and uncles and Grandma, too. Your mother and I will meet everyone at the clinic. Come on, Mia!"
*****
In the small infirmary, Dr. Arikasdottir leaned over her patient. The girl was breathing without support now and sleeping soundly, sedated. Whatever had gotten into her? The community was small and tight-knit. Her clan was busy, boisterous and respected. Though this particular girl was scholarly and quieter than her siblings and cousins there hadn't been any crisis anyone was aware of. When Keitha regained consciousness, the doctor's husband would have to have a very long talk with the young lady.
"Dr. Arikasdottir?" Keitha's best friend Helga stood behind the doctor, her face tear-stained. "Doctor, this is entirely my fault. I—I . . ."
"No, it isn't. Get that out of your head right now, young lady. It is not your fault. No one attempts suicide on the spur of the moment. Something hidden has been bothering Keitha for a long time. We will have to find out what that is and deal with it and we will do so as a community. But the first thing for you to do is drop this blaming yourself for what another person did. Go wash your face and then come back and tell Pastor Haaken everything you know. I've got a patient to care for."
Later that evening, Pastor Haaken gathered all Keitha's adult family and Helga together in his large study. He had left his wife caring for Keitha at the clinic. That was her job. His, on the other hand, was caring for the community.
"Let's start with Helga," he began, "and then we can all add to what she says and see if we can discover why Keitha was so distraught, hmm?"
In a small voice, Helga described their short conversation from that morning. "We were sitting in the beer garden having a drink, just chatting, you know? Then I asked her if she had been to the doctor, yet. She looked kind of confused and asked why she should. She even said she felt fine. I reminded her that in two months it would be August Eighth, the Mid-Summer Fest and that for a woman it was the most important day of the year. She needed to get synchronized, like. She kind of—shined me on? That ticked me off.
The year we turned eighteen she said she wasn't ready for motherhood. That was fine, I wasn't either. She said the same when we were nineteen and that was okay. Every woman has to know when she's ready, after all. I was but Keitha weren't. The next year my Olaf was born, but she got that horrible infection, poor thing. Stuff happens; we all know that. Last year she 'just happened' to be on that archeological expedition with Professor Lindbladson and she 'just happened' to be the only single woman in the group. So she stayed in her tent and spent Mid-summer Fest writing a senior paper. Now she's twenty-two and graduated. I really got on her case a little. After all, we've got an entire planet to people, you know, and we women have a duty . . .?
Anyway, then she said she was going to go see Dr. Arikasdottir, put down her glass and just left. I thought it was kind of strange, you know? I mean, I know she's always been kind of quiet, even a little shy. But she liked dancing with the boys and none of us ever had any idea that she—she . . ."
"Dear child, if Keitha was more attracted to other girls than to boys, I'm sure we'd have known by now. You know we have no problem with such things." Pastor Haaken was emphatic. "Mia, have you noticed anything unusual about Keitha over, say, the last couple of months?"
Mia looked around the room at the rest of her family. Everyone shook their heads in silence. She took a deep breath. "My second child has always been just slightly odd, Pastor. The rest have all been perfectly happy with the sea and the farm but Keitha, from the time she first discovered the bits of the extinct civilization here only wanted to find out more. She is our academic and we are very proud of her but she has always been reticent and reserved. However, just sometimes I get the feeling that she is depressed, especially since she returned from that expedition."
Ingmar Anderson stood up. Clan elder, colony founder and many times grandmother, she was used to respect but tonight her face showed her unease.
"Pastor, to my knowledge no one on Nya Hem has ever attempted suicide before. Two thousand of us arrived some fifty years ago. We knew that we would be the only humans settled on this planet and that we would get no additional support from old Earth. It was either sink or swim. Those of us chosen for this colony had to be tough, mentally as well as physically. We expected our children and grandchildren would be tough, too. Now there are thirty thousand of us and things look good. That one young woman was desperate enough to try and kill herself is statistically insignificant. However, Keitha Miasdottir is my grandchild. I want to know why she did this."
The Pastor bowed his head in acknowledgement. Like Ingmar, Haaken Hännisdal was a First Founder. The colony, especially their village of Säkerhamn, was his flock and he was as worried as the others. How could this happen? Could it be the tip of a spiritual or psychological problem no one recognized?
*****
Keitha woke up to bright morning light shining through the infirmary window. It made the colors of the walls and bed sheets glow warm and comforting. Outside, terraced gardens climbed the cliff faces and wavelets sparkled around the shellfish farms in the fjord. Taking stock of herself she decided that she definitely felt happier than she had the day before.
Huh
, she decided,
I'm probably on antidepressants or something
. When she turned towards the door, she saw her Uncle Gunnar sitting next to the bed. She blushed.
"Uh, good morning Uncle G. Sorry I made such a mess . . ."
