Ken notices that sitting still during the evening walk makes him cold.
- Kaarna, my legs are freezing.
- You don’t have legs.
- I know. It must be a phantom coldness. Could you please get me a blanket?
Kaarna returns inside and brings Ken a knitted woollen blanket and covers his imaginary legs.
- First there was a spring that lasted for half a year, then a couple of days of summer and now it’s definitely autumn. What next? An ice age?
It’s horribly difficult to push a wheelchair in the woods! Kaarna is exhausted and definitely not freezing! But she doesn’t want to give up. What is left in life if you can’t even leave all the humans behind and spend time in a forest, listening to the silence of the nature?
This situation has really showed to both of them how grateful you must remember to be if you still have all your limbs.
In the evenings Kaarna helps Ken to get upstairs and to his bed.
She says:
- Have you noticed that our toilet smells quite bad nowadays? I wonder if there’s some sort of a moisture damage.
- Oh, that would be just what we need. A real icing on this cake of torture. I’d better fiddle my prayer square tonight.
One morning Elisabet knocks on the door.
- I now have an explanation for the bad smell in your toilet. Filia has been taking showers in there while you were away.
- There’s no shower…
- Exactly. And no drain. She has used the bidet shower and all the water has been seeping through the floor panel inside the floor.
- No no no….
- I already asked a couple of contractors… We must get it done properly and get a real shower and a tiled floor.
- How much?
- About 10 000 euros. The insurance might cover a some part of the costs. Could you take care of that part?
- …
Getting to talk to a real person in the insurance company requiers annoyingly much patience: one robot in the customer chat and another robot on the phone.
- Goddamn you assholes with your bloody bastard AI… Ken starts to swear and the robot replies:
- I am sorry. I didn’t understand your question. I will connect you to one of our customer servants. Please hold.
Dirty words are the way to get rid of the robots!
Kaarna has next level problems. There are frogs everywhere.
The satanic creatures have invaded the yard. What a summer: no mosquitos, no blackflies, no horse flies. But millions of frogs instead!
Ken can't pretend to be strong anymore. His nerves are wrecked. Every smallest sound from the neighbors makes him cry. The squeaking trampolines, the barking dogs, the kids with scooters, Filia's clatter from upstairs.
- I'm so tired of setbacks. I'm tired of the daily rains. I'm tired of everything. I want to be who I used to be! Getting things done, being creative, efficient, easily inspired, strong, active and healthy. Now look at me. I'm falling apart, both mentally and physically.
- A delivery for Ken Nippunen!
- Thanks, I can sign it. I wonder who is it from?
- It’s from abroad, from Germany.
- Must be from Günther and Clothilde then, they are generous people…
Kaarna takes the basket inside to Ken who gets happy about this unexpected surprise.
But the basket full of delicious things is not from Günther and Clothilde, but from a certain Tina.
Ken is really touched and surprised:
- I've never even met her, and yet she wants to cheer us up with a gift like this! Incredibly thoughtful!
Kaarna is astonished:
- Just look at all these things! Why the hell do people love you this much? It makes no sense.
Ken is wiping tears, when suddenly his phone rings.
It's Ritva.
- I just received a body shipment! It came with a note that says it's a donation especially for you and it's covered with something I assume is fairy dust!
(Thank you so much Lotus for this generous gift and saving Ken, making sure his adventures will continue with a full body!)
To be continued!