NOVEL
The Love We Had
Chapter 9 That Sunday morning we met at the parking lot
Writing challenge
Write and publish a book review of the novel The Love We Had, based on freely chosen chapters published on medium.com.
The book review can be a comment of 100 to 200 words, or a longer article, and should be published on medium.com.
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Chapter 9 That Sunday morning we met at the parking lot
That Sunday morning we met at the parking lot at the grocery store. When I got out of the car I could see she was there already. She was standing outside her car, and she just closed the car door as I looked at her. I didn’t think anything special, maybe I just thought:
«Well. There she is.» Or something similar, like «She’s taller than I thought.»
I have forgotten now if she smiled at me and if I did to her. I think I was just excited and that she seemed the same. What we said to each other, the first words and sentences, it is gone now, probably for good.
My clearest memory is that we started to walk towards the forest trail, side by side over the tarmac, she and I. I believe I began to talk a lot when we started walking. I was a little nervous because of the unfamiliar setting, perhaps before everything I was afraid that there would arise a silence that would be difficult to handle between us.
We started talking about the hiking trail where we should go, we said to each other that there weren’t so many people out for a ride yet — this was a Sunday morning, early in the day — and I think it was overcast and some rain in the air.
When we had walked for a while up in the hillside we met several hikers who were heading downhill. In an involuntary act I pulled the hood on my rain jacket down in front of my forehead. I know she noticed it but she did not comment.
As we walked, I talked more than is usual for me and I talked fast. I felt like I had to do what I could to keep the conversation going and that it shouldn’t get uncomfortably quiet between us on this first trip we were going to go together.
It was probably so that I was a little nervous and I think maybe she was, too, although it did not show as clearly when it came to her.
As we approached the top I had pulled the hood down probably more than ten times and I think I said to myself that she probably might think I was behaving a bit strange. I said to myself that I should be able to stand for what I did, namely to go for a walk up the hillside with a lady without having to rough my face in fear of being seen by someone who knew me or me and my partner.
A little before the top, she took my hand. It was nice and good at the same time, but then a couple came down towards us and she let go of my hand.
We walked a few meters further up, the path was narrow here and we stopped at a big rock to let them get past us. When we were alone again I felt her hand that was searching for me again. A few minutes later we reached the cairn. There was no one else there. I turned and looked out over the valley. I was going to give her a smile and a few words about a nice trip when she suddenly came fully close, put her arm around my back put the other hand behind my neck, pressed against me easily searching with her lips after my mouth.
The Love We Had
Part 1 The Longest Night -chapters 1–3, told by Lars Part 2 The Light Inside -chapters 4–17, told by Aslak Part 3 Save Our Secret Love -chapters 17–48, told by Eira
Part 1
Chapter 1 I Love It When Things Are Normal
Chapter 2 I Came Home as Usual
Chapter 3 I Believe in What I See
Part 2
Chapter 5 All we have is — ourselves!
Chapter 6 Coming together — escaping loneliness
Chapter 7 When I first met her
Chapter 8 An unskilled factory worker
Chapter 10 At some point they gradually stopped listening to one another
