New Year! New Love! RFW Challenge for January 2013

Welcome to Romantic Friday Writers' a monthly writing challenge founded by Denise Covey and hosted by Denise Covey and Donna Hole. REWers' flash fiction writing challenge for January 2013 is "New Year! New Love!" Our texts should be less than 1000 words. Here is my story:

Title: "New Year, New Love", or "Shyness is a burden"


Is this a dream? thought Sanna Stark as she found herself walking along a high stone wall. It was a snowy January afternoon and she had been out riding her horse, Blixten, when something happened. What exactly, she did not know. Now she stood in her riding boots in front of a pair of huge, mother-of-pearl-embellished wooden doors that had lots of bell-buttons and signs saying 'Welcome to the Pearly Gates; Please ring bell!' in about 70 different languages. Sanna found one in Swedish, but it had a post-it note with Ur funktion on it, so she rang the bell by the sign in English. One of the giant doors opened and a wisp of a woman dressed in white asked her to come in.

'My name is Agnes, what's your name?' asked the angel while looking through a long list on a clipboard.

'Sanna Stark'.

'Oh yes, here you are, Sanna. We've been expecting you. We're helping the Swedish-speaking angels while they are out on assignment.'

'What's going on? Am I in Heaven now?'

'No, not really. Not yet. All I know is that you fell off a horse and hit your head. Maybe it's just a mild concussion. Would you like to have a cup of tea?' asked Agnes as she led Sanna to a small sitting room with Roccoco-style furniture and pastel-coloured silk curtains. A tea-tray appeared out of nowhere.  'Milk or lemon?'

Milk and sugar please', replied Sanna taking a seat. She decided not to comment on the tea-tray.

'Welcome to 'The Pearly Gates'! This is a place where all who deserve to go to Heaven arrive first before continuing to Paradise.'

'Does this mean that I am not dead yet?' asked Sanna, eager to return to life, but not wanting to show it.

'You are still breathing, as far as I know. Why don't you wait in the main hall while I check on some things? Take your tea with you!' said Agnes and escorted Sanna out to a  cathedral-like room with rows of cushioned benches that reminded Sanna of Washington-Dulles Airport's departure terminal - except it was cleaner and whiter. Most seats were taken. There were all kinds of people waiting; even tiny premature babies held in the arms of angels like Agnes. No one looked  ill or damaged in any way. As if Agnes could read her thoughts, she explained: 'They all look healthy because they are good souls ready for Heaven or a new life on Earth. I'll be back with you soon.'

Sanna stopped to watch as a handsome woman in her sixties, called out to one of the children. 'Grandma!' the eight-year-old child cried, running toward and then hugging the white-clad woman, who was not an angel, but a resident of Heaven. The two figures walked away together and disappeared into a white mist.

Sanna then looked down and saw that she happened to be standing in front of a pleasant-looking man who was about her age. He smiled and removed a briefcase from the seat next to him: 'Would you like to sit down?' 

Sanna thought he looked Swedish, but kept on speaking English.

'Thank you wery much, she replied, proud of how well she had been speaking English with Agnes. She had got the th-sound alright, but over-compensated and pronounced the 'v' in 'very' like a 'w' -  a dead give-away. He continued the conversation in Swedish, without commenting on her faulty English.

'Jag heter Nils Frej. The Swedish angels were already on assignment when I arrived.'

'I'm Sanna Stark. It's nice to meet you. Agnes says that I may be able to return to my life on Earth.'

'Oh really?' said Nils with interest.

'Excuse me for asking, but how can you have a briefcase with you? I thought we couldn't take anything with us.'

'Oh, it's just my novel, my manuscript.'

'Your manuscript?'

'Agnes is trying to help me. If I survive, I will send it off to a publisher. But if I don't, I'd like my brother to do it for me. We've always been close. It's dedicated to him.'

What an unusual fellow, thought Sanna, but he is kinda cute. Nice that he gets along with his brother. Sanna thought of her sister.


'Perhaps you can help me,' suggested Nils. 'If you go back, would you give it to my brother?'

'Yes, I guess I could, if you give me his address.'

'You would be doing me a great favour. My brother is going to miss me. Please be kind to him. You'll find the briefcase in your hospital room. Tell him that there was a mix-up at the airport and that he has your bag. Agnes will arrange so that he will have an idential case with things that a woman might want to have along on a trip. Please pretend that it is yours. That way there'll be no need to talk about how we really met.

'Alright.'

Then Nils rose from his seat, took the briefcase and headed for angel Agnes' room. He came out empty-handed and waved good-bye to Sanna. Then he continued walking away from the waiting-area and disappeared in a mist.

Oh my, thought Sanna, he did not survive. What a pity.

Sanna awoke in hospital.
 
'You gave us quite a scare!' said Sanna's mother, 'But you are coming home with us today.'

'Is this yours Sanna? asked Karin, Sanna's syster, holding the leather bag that Nils Frej had shown her at the Pearly Gates.

'Yes, it is', said Sanna and quickly peeked at the manuscript's title page: Shyness is a Burden, a novel by Nils Frej. Health permitting, Sanna did exactly as Nils had requested and met his brother Lars, who was Nils' identical twin.


[Text copyright 2013 Christina Wigren]

Word count according to WordCalc: 983; FCA - Full Critique Acceptable.

Best wishes,

Anna

First Commenter:

Yolanda Renee
of
Defending the pen 
 

P.S.
For this story, I have reworked and expanded a text called "Being the Perfect Ex" from June 15th, 2012.

I've thrown in a few Swedish words and phrases:  
'Ur funktion' - means 'Out of order' or 'Not working' 
'Blixten' - Sanna's horse's name means 'Lightning'
'Jag heter Nils Frej.' - means 'My name is Nils Frej.' 'Nils' is derived from 'Nicholas'. My own brother's first name is Nils. According to Wikipedia, 'Frej' is the Norse pagan god 'associated with sacral kingship, virility and prosperity, with sunshine and fair weather'. I don't know if anyone has it as a surname. I was going to check the phone book. 
An allusion to a sunny personality is the character in Alfred Hitchcock's film The Lady Vanishes. The name of the lady who vanishes is 'Miss Froy' (that rhymes with 'joy').
 
My protagonist's name,  Sanna Stark, means three things. 'Sanna' is a nickname for 'Susanna', but also the plural form of the adjective 'true'. Her surname, 'stark' means 'strong'. It is a real name that some people actually have. I have an ancestor whose name was Eva Stark.


P.P.S.
The inspiration for the setting is partly taken from all of these air trips to Dulles Airport and one of the scenes from the last and final Harry Potter film, where Harry Potter meets Professor Dumbledore in a dreamlike place that resembles King's Cross Station in London. Dulles Airport is to me something similar to what King's Cross Station is to J.K. Rowling.
 
It might interest you folks to know that I am trying to teach my children English. My daughter Elisabet has decided that she hates the English language; she thinks it is ugly and refuses to go to her extra lessons. When I try speaking English with her she shouts at me 'Jag hatar dig' (='I hate you!'). So I have lots of material for dramatic stories, but nothing very romantic. For the moment, I've given up the struggle with her. But I have a secret ally: her brother Erik; he likes the lessons and wants to learn English. 

I am inspired by blogging friend, Adura Ojo, who has sometimes used Nigerian words to spice up her stories/WIP. I thought I would put a few Swedish words in, to remind you all that my characters live in a bilingual, multilingual world. But it is experimental. I am still trying to learn how to do this. For the sake of making it technically easy, I have only chosen words that don't have special letters. 

Anna's Recipe for 'Holiday Spirit Blog Fest' - RFW Challenge No 48 - Beginning, December 12th, 2012

Here is my recipe for Jansson's Temptation, a very Swedish potato casserole:

If you ever get to visit Sweden and don't know what to eat, you can always eat potatoes. Ever since Jonas Alströmer (1685-1761) introduced the potato to Sweden, it has been the mainstay for generations of Swedes. Swedish potatoes are special to me. They are firm in consistency and have a mild taste that complements any meat or fish or sauce that you serve with them. New potatoes (the first potatoes in the early summer) are best. This recipe may not be so easy to make outside of Scandinavia, but here it is, my own recipe for Janssons Frestelse, (=Jansson's Temptation), a potato casserole better than any other potato-casseroles; taught to me by my mother and grandmother:

[This is a post from 2010.]

 
 










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 All photos copyright Christina Wigren 2010

'Jansson's Temptation' is a very Swedish potato-casserole called 'JANSSONS FRESTELSE' (which means literally 'Jansson's temptation'), that is a must for every genuine Swedish Christmas buffet (smörgåsbord).

Please don't ask me who 'Jansson' was/is. I don't know at this moment. But if anyone does know, you are welcome to leave that information in a comment. It was probably some chef who invented this recipe. Wait a moment, here is what I found on Wikipedia:

It has often been claimed^[1] that the name originated with the opera singer Pelle Janzon (1844-1889), remembered as a gourmand. However, another claim^[1] for the origin of the name has been made by Gunnar Stigmark in an article – "Så var det med Janssons frestelse" – which appeared in the periodical Gastronomisk kalender. According to Stigmark, the name was borrowed from the film Janssons frestelse (1928) featuring the popular actor Edvin Adolphson; as a name for this dish it was coined by Stigmark's mother and her hired cooking lady for the particular occasion of a society dinner, whence it spread to other households and eventually into cookbooks.

The dish is also very popular in Finland as Janssonin kiusaus, which also means literally "Jansson's temptation".

This is a photographic/pictorial step-by-step recipe using pictures taken by me in my humble kitchen. (No Googling or Wikipedia-help here! No, wait... For Wikipedia's recipe please click here and for information, and about the name Jansson's in English here and in Swedish please click here.)
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These are the utensils that you will need:

Some kind of oven-proof glass or material baking dish that is low and long. I am making a two mini-temptations using smaller baking dishes, for the photos to save time, and you can do the same if you just want to test the recipe or make a variation of it. The large dish is approximately 11 x 7 1/8 inches (28 x 18 cm) and the smaller one is 5 1/2 x 7 1/8 inches (19x14cm).

A good potato-peeler and a kitchen knife and a cutting-board.

(You can also use a handkrank or machine cutter.

 

Make sure you choose the right setting, approximately for 'shoe-string french-fries'.)

A large enough bowl of cold water. (The bowl in this photo is too small. It only serves as an illustration.) I usually peel all of the potatoes first and put them in cold water so that they do not turn brown in the time it takes for me to peel and cut all of the potatoes into strips.

You can use a special separate cutting-board to cut, slice or chop the onion, or you can use an onion-dice if you have one. I do not. I cut everything by hand with just a knife and a cutting board.

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Ingredients for 4 portions:

8 to10 medium-sized firm potatoes. No floury over-sized Idaho baking-potatoes. Choose potatoes that have a firm consistency that could be used in, for example, potato-salad.

A tin of anchovy filets (20 filets). This may be hard for you to find depending upon where you live in the world. I have actually taken tins/cans with me on trips to visit relatives and friends in the US. If you have an Ikea-store near you, they may be able to help you. (But I don't know for sure, since I never have tried to ask them for help.)
 

Using the filets saves time. But, my mother taught me how to clean and filet the whole anchovies, so I know it is possible to use them if you only have un-fileted, whole ones. It's like cleaning any fish except that these are very small.

Do not throw out the saucy liquid that the filets come in. We will be using it for flavouring. It's the ingredient that 'makes or breaks' this dish. So it is important that you find a tin of anchovies. (I have tried flavouring Jansson's with capers, and it just does not work! It is not the same to take any old salty thing! But there is a recipe for 'vegetarian' Jansson's Temptation! )

Approximately 1 1/3 cup (3dl) of heavy cream or cream with milk or milk.

Two medium-sized yellow onions/Spanish onions (allium cepa), sliced or finely chopped.

One or two tablespoons of butter or margarine. (I prefer butter.)




One tablespoon bread crumbs, unseasoned. (I usually take piece of crisp bread (knäckebröd) and crush with a mortar and pestle.)



What to do:
1. Grease your oven-proof dish.



2. Peel the potatoes and put them in the cold water bowl while you do the next step.



3. Chop your onion(s).





4. Cut the first potato(s) into the right size strips and lay them in the bottom of your baking dish.

If you find that the knife sticks to the potatoes when cutting making it difficult, wipe your knife between cuts with a little salad oil. Put some oil on a 'Wettex'-cloth on a flat dish by your cutting board. It makes cutting easier.

5. Sprinkle pieces of onion over the thin layer of potato-strips.



6. Lay the anchovies filets over the onions and potatoes.






7. Lay more layers of onions and potatoes until you don't see the anchovies anymore.




8. Mix the liquid from the anchovies tin with the heavy cream and pour it all over the potato-onion-anchovy-layers. It will sink to through to the bottom of your dish.






9. Put some bits (about a tablespoon) of butter here and there over the potato-onion-cream-anchovies mix.



10. Distribute some finely crushed bread crumbs over everything.



11. Bake in oven at 225 degrees Celsius (437 degrees Fahrenheit) for 45 minutes.



(Cover with aluminum foil for the first 35 minutes and then remove for the last 10 minutes to get a golden brown colour.)

12. You can eat it warm or cooled to room temperature. You can reheat it the next day. (Add milk for moisture.) And you can freeze it in a couple of plastic bags for a couple of months.
Jansson's Temptation is a great as a side dish for a Christmas buffet (smörgåsbord) or main dish with sausage or a cold slice of Christmas ham, a tossed salad and a glass of beer for a midnight snack on New Year's Eve.

Try making this well ahead of time first, if you have never made this or even tasted it. Not everybody outside of Sweden likes it. Please follow the recipe before you start experimenting. Do not add extra salt or peppar. The cream, onions and anchovies are the only seasonings you need.



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Smaklig måltid! (= [approx.] Wishing you a tasty / delicious,  meal / repast! or Bon Appetite!)

Best wishes,
Anna











First Commenter:

Aduro Ojo 

of

Aduro Ojo Presents

CHALLENGE NO 48 - Beginning December 12 - 21

OPEN TO ALL!! PASS THE WORD!! COPY BADGE AND LINK TO RFW!!

Memoir, Fiction, Recipes, Traditions...and more

This is a holiday blogfest with a difference! Please join in the fun!

For this Holiday Spirit blogfest, we are looking for excerpts of up to 800 words involving fiction or non-fiction stories of family tradition, favorite/unique recipes, inspirational articles, etc.; that involve the essence of the holiday spirit.   (Recipes and news articles do not have to adhere to the 800 word limit.) RFW, and the blogsphere itself, include a multitude of countries, cultures, and citizenry of the world.  Not every culture celebrates Thanksgiving, Christmas, Yom Kipper, or any variety of holidays of the “giving spirit” during the same season.  Because the RFW hosts are a part of western civilization, we choose this month for our yearly celebration, Christmas, and would like you to post whatever passes for the Holiday Spirit in your neck ‘a the world.

For once, your submission does not need to include an element of romance; however, we at RFW acknowledge that ANY writing involving family (their values, traditions, and conflicts) is a Romantic writing.  What is more romantic than Family?

Because of the special nature of this Holiday Spirit blogfest, we are allowing up to two submissions; however, they must be in two separate categories.  Meaning, you could post your favorite recipe AND an inspirational 800 word excerpt; or a link to an inspirational news/magazine article and a recipe or true story; but not two of each (two recipes, two memoir posts, two articles). If you are posting two separate submissions, please add your blog link twice and add to your name/link what it contains - eg - Donna Hole, Recipe, so participants know to look for two separate posts.

The linky will open on December 12 and remain open thru December 31 to encourage linking to the direct post.  However, if you decide to link then schedule a post (or two) later, just leave a comment to let everyone know when your excerpt will be available.  The RFW hosts will be checking the comments and links, and if a direct link is available, we will edit your link(s) if you haven't done so.

Please join us in celebrating life, love, presents, good food, and of course Family Traditions of all types of all cultures.

This is not a competition - it is a sharing. We hope we'll all get to know each other better!

Drusilla's Cauldron - Spooktoberfest 300w flash fiction text 26-29th October 2012

[This is really me at four or five years old.]

Here is my 300-word spooky text:

[The required 5 words are highlighted in chartreuse.]

Drusilla loved Halloween. It was so simple and fun. Every year she would dress up in her black witch-costume and paint green make-up on her face and hands, to greet the trick-or-treaters who would come to her door. 

She had a huge papier-maché cauldron filled with little paper bags of assorted candies. She would hang cobwebs all over the living-room. Using a razor-sharp knife, she cut faces into seven pumpkins and put these jack-o-lanterns on the porch and in each of the front windows. Then she would dim the lights and wait. 

The sun went down. The wind picked up speed and clouds played tag with the full moon. Wading through piles of fallen yellow, red and brown leaves, a troop of small witches, ghosts, pirates and princesses wandered up the path to Drusilla's door. 

'It's dark except for the lit jack-o-lanterns,' commented a tall ghost holding a paper bag, 'Shall we ring the doorbell?'

'There are seven of us', observed a short but brave pirate, 'Let's see what they have to offer.'

A tiny witch pressed the bell-button and the door cracked opened an inch or two.

'Trick or treat!' the children shouted. The door opened wider revealing the cauldron of bags of sweets, but no human being. Then they heard cackling laughter from the dark room. And in a flash, there stood Drusilla in her black pointed witch's hat, grey wig, black dress and green-painted face and hands.
  

'Take what you like, my pretties!' she said laughing so ghoulishly that the tall ghost threw back his bag of candies and ran. The little witch yelped and did the same. The pirate and the princess and others also ran away.

Drusilla never had to buy new candy. 

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[Text Copyright 2012 Christina Wigren]

Word Count according to WordCalc: 293

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Best wishes,

Anna

 

First Commenter:

Yolanda Renee

of


Defending the Pen

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Here are Jackie's and Dani's instructions for this Spooktoberfest blog fest:

Who’s up to their old blogfest tricks again?

Dani at Entertaining Interests and myself, that’s who.

Spooktoberfest is where cobwebs tickle your nose, cauldrons are brewing, jack-o-lanterns light the way, and ghosts go bump in the night. Oh yeah, watch out for the razors!

Requirements:

1.  Your Flash Fiction piece cannot be any longer than 300 words. Sorry… that’s part of the challenge. It can be scary, comical, romantic, whatever you choose. Just be creative!
2.  You must use the MANDATORY 5 words listed below 

   cobweb(s) 

   cauldron(s) 

   jack-o-lantern(s)

   ghost(s)

  razor(s)

3.  Post your Flash Fiction piece on your blog anytime between ...

Friday Oct. 26 - Monday, Oct. 29^th.  The contest ends at 11:59 p.m. Monday.
4.  Follow Dani and myself if you don’t already. We will follow back.
5.  It’s a blog hop, so hop around to other participating blogs and leave some awesome comments when the stories are posted.
6.  Have fun!

It'd be super cool if you'd post the Spooktoberfest button on your page.

Dani and I will each choose a winner. That's two winners total. 
We will post our decisions on HALLOWEEN . . . Wednesday, Oct. 31^st.

PRIZES: Candy and a grab bag of awesome stuff. The winners will get the biggest bags we can find of their favorite candy along with a bag containing some fun spookified items.

This blogfest is international. 

So what are you guys waiting for? Sign up using the linky thing below and spread the word on your Blog, Twitter, Facebook, owl messenger, or however you want!