Our old core family was standing on a hill that was nigh on a mountain, overlooking the harbour and beaches of Arild. We were all young, though everyone but dad had their current minds. He found a giant toothbrush buried in the hill and started doing silly charades for us. We all laughed half-heartedly, as one would do when witnessing a child perform their antics, in part because it was charming and endearing and in part because we knew that he needed to be funny.
We could see the geysers from up here, some along the hillside and others down by the water. One was particularly embedded in the wave strike zone and was one moment flooded, the next shooting off such a strong puff of heated air and steam that it blew all the water away around it. It was very cool to watch and I reflected that this must be the old Arild, where geysers still were active. We ventured down the hillside to see it.
Once down there, we ended up walking through the wooden maze of huts that was the harbour. Rooftops were low and made with planks or straw. I was trying to climb up on one but they were either too steep or blocked by other buildings. Someone started singing Can't Help Falling In Love With You and suddenly everyone in the place were at it, me feeling particularly confident and as we were gliding along a raft to get out from the huts, I was singing the final line by myself, urging a couple sitting there watching to hold on to romance.
We were all in a tremendous cathedral and Wictor was sound checking me. I was standing on the front row benches, trousers down by my ankles, showing my parts to most of the church who'd shamelessly take a peek. Most didn't. Somehow pulling my trousers up felt like a immense effort. Wictor was frustrated as I was trying quite loud singing or shouting in the mic and it kept distorting. Eventually I decided to pull my trousers up and an old lady seemed to approve that it was a bit more proper for church. I still stood on the benches though, but it started to seem as if the sound was getting better too and that we might be ready to start.
