Sinth Stalker - Pearl Tate Page 0,1

my provisions, even though I had an old motorbike given to me by Ragnar for part of the trip.

After quitting my job at the Fisherman Fish Shack when I got married, I lost touch with Ragnar. He was my oldest childhood friend. Our fathers were both fishermen, and there were countless times they got together, bringing us along too. I loved Ragnar’s mother, but that’s to be expected since I lost my own mother when I was eight years old.

My father was kind and tried to do his best, which included making sure I interacted with other kids my age such as Ragnar. Looking back, I now see that his only friends were ones with children. Because he wanted me to have friends? Or is that just the way it worked out? I’ll never know now with the way dementia has crept into his mind.

Studying the sky again through the window, the clearing skies have disappeared and it now looks dark and foreboding. That came on quick! If I want to get a bath this evening, I should probably do it now rather than wait. After spending the day hunting and checking the traps I’ve set up, I definitely need it.

There’s a hot spring not too far out, but it won’t be fun to run back in rain … or worst-case scenario, snow. It’s been known to happen. The weather is unpredictable and ever-changing. That’s part of what makes it exciting to be out here all alone. As dangerous as it may sound to someone else, I know it’s safer than being with Einar.

Leaving the kitchen sink to gather up my bathing supplies, I think about what I need to get done in the next couple months before the really bad weather sets in. I’m set for the winter, and I plan to stay here for as long as I can—if I can pull it off. Right now is the easy time. I still have the basics I brought up with me, and Ragnar assured me next summer he’d come and bring more provisions. Until then, I just have to make do with what I’ve brought and learn how to acclimate.

The mountains are full of game. Fox, rabbit, and occasionally mink are easy to find and almost as easy to catch. As a child, I learned how to use a bow, so I brought one with me, and now it’s my constant companion. I don’t want to run into anything too dangerous up here in the mountains, but you just never know. Polar bears have been known to come over from Greenland on icebergs. Like most wild animals, they usually turn the other way when they run across a human, but you never know. It depends on how hungry they are because most animals have run across humans and learned that they leave scraps of food behind.

Stepping outside, I pause briefly, taking a moment to get a breath of fresh air and be thankful. As the cool air fills my lungs, I close my eyes and let the serenity and quiet settle over my senses. This is perfect.

The last few weeks here have been the best of my life since … well, probably since coming here as a child with my mother. I had my job waitressing for the last two years of high school, helping supplement my father’s fishing income as his health deteriorated and his stints on the water became fewer and further in between. It wasn’t until I married Einar that my father was convinced to go in for testing, confirming what I already knew. Early-onset dementia … the kiss of death … Alzheimer's.

It only took a couple of months of marriage for me to know things between Einar and I weren’t exactly normal. Einar was always more interested in controlling me than talking to me or even having sex with me. All I can figure out, at least based on the short stint of counseling I received when I tried to end my relationship with him two years ago, is that he must have some really fucked up stuff in his own childhood. Something he’s never discussed. At least … not with me!

Opening my eyes, I step off the porch, and I realize I feel physically pulled toward the hot springs. Strange. I mean, I know it’s strange to be feeling this anyway since it can’t mean anything. It’s just all day, there has been some kind of pull … oh, I need to just put