DANSK VERSION
The memory of Maja


He felt the wind in his hair. It was chilly, but it really was a very cold day in the end of the fall, and the wind came in north. He looked silently at the ocean. There were no ships today. Somewhere nearby he heard a dog barking, and a couple of kids were playing not far away. A loud scream made him turn his head. The dog was running directly towards him, while a young girl kept trying to catch the leash. She called at the dog, but it seemed like it didn't notice her. When it passed by him, he threw himself at the leash. He managed to catch the dog, even though he for a second thought that it would drag him across the grass.

The girl came closer, trying to catch her breath, took the leash and looked at him, while she gasped: "Thanks... he... he tends to run away... if he gets the chance". She looked at the dog, yelled at it, told it to stay put and looked at him once again: "Thank you for helping", she said and put out her hand. He shook it. "Anytime", he said and smiled. She laughed while she tried to keep her golden red hair away from her eyes. "Hopefully there won't be another time", she laughed and started to walk away. She briefly turned around, nodded and wished him a good day. "Thank you, and you too", he answered politely and followed the girl with his eyes when she walked away.

He stood still and looked at her with empty eyes. Another cold wind came in from the ocean, and suddenly he felt that his legs were cold. He looked down. His pants were wet and dirty - no wonder since he fell on the ground trying to catch the dog. He'd better get home, otherwise he'd probably catch a cold.

He started to walk. He felt the wind around his ears, and he put his hands in to the pockets. He was thinking of the girl. She reminded him of Maja who also had long red hair. His thoughts flew back to the day in July when they had first met on the beach.

***


It was in southern France. He was travelling around Europe with some friends, and now they had reached this wonderful country - on a beautiful sunny day. They had decided to go to the beach. While Jens and Martin were playing ball, he sat down with an icecold coke that he had just bought in a nearby shop. He could not understand how they were able to run around in that way in this heat. He sat still and felt like he was melting.

Suddenly a ball flew right at him and hit the ground right in front of him. He got up and brushed off some sand and quickly made sure that his coke was all clean. It seemed like having made the sudden sandstorm. He was glad that he hadn't been sitting with that ice he nearly bought instead. A little boy ran towards him with a young girl following right after. The boy picked up the ball and was about to run back when the girl stopped him: "Say sorry to the man, Philip". He could hear she spoke Danish. The boy turned around, looked at him and said quietly: "Excuise moi, Monsieur". "That's okay", he smiled, "nothing happened". "Are you Danish?", the girl asked. He nodded. The boy looked at the young girl: "Can I go now?". She let him go, and when he ran away, she yelled: "Be careful, okay?". Philip kept running, but answered irritated: "Yeah yeah".

She looked at him and once again she said sorry on behalf of Philip that the ball nearly hit him. He pulled up his shoulders a bit: "That's how it is on the beach", and continued: "Is he your brother?". "No", she said, "I'm working as an au pair girl at his family - they are Danish, but living here in France. I take care of him and his older brother". She was about to leave. "I better go back - we have to go anyway". He took the chance and quickly asked: "Do you know if there's a bank anywhere close to here? I need to make a withdrawal..." "Sure", she answered with a smile, "there is one just up the street. You can come along if you want to. We are going that way". He looked at her. The sun caught her red hair and made it look golden. It was very beautiful and her face with a few freckles made her look perfect. He put on his t-shirt. "I'd love to", he said.

At the same time Martin and Jens showed up. He introduced them. "Martin and Jens, this is... eeeeh... ". "Maja", she said. They shook hands. Suddenly he remembered that he hadn't even introduced himself. How embarrasing! He quickly put out his hand: "By the way, my name is Kasper". She laughed and answered: "Yes, I can see that", while she pointed at his shirt. He looked down and noticed that he had put it on backwards and big white letters - that should have been on his back - were now on his stomach saying KASPER and the number 11. It was a shirt like those worn by the national soccer team. It was a gift from his little sister that he got when he graduated last summer. He quickly turned it around trying to find the right sleeve for the right arm. Typical, he thought. He always screwed up when girls were around. He didn't know why, but he had always been like that.

He explained to Jens and Martin that he would go to the bank to withdraw some money, but he would be back soon. Martin reminded him to withdraw enough money to pay back what he owed him for last night's pizza. He promised to remember and he and Maja started to walk. Suddenly he stopped. "Just a second", he said and hurried back to the towels. He nearly forgot his wallet which he had left in his backpack. He took the bag and hurried back to Maja who was now with Philip. He loudly complained about having to go home already, but Maja explained that they had to in order to pick up his brother on time. Philip gathered all his stuff, but kept on complaining. "He's always like this", Maja said, and put all their things in her bag. Philip carried the ball, held Maja's hand and the three of them walked towards the street together.

Philip was humming some sort of French song which he had probably learned in preschool. Kasper was trying to figure out something to say. He looked up, turned his head and looked at Maja. Right when he was about to talk, she interrupted him: "Watch out!". He didn't have time to find out what she meant, before he fell. Philip was laughing and Maja tried to help him get back on his feet. He got up and found out that she had tried to warn him about a root sticking out from the sand. For the second time in a few minutes he was brushing off sand. You fool, he thought, and yelled at himself from inside for not paying attention to where he was walking.

***


He woke from his thoughts when a car was honking. He had been about to walk on to the street right in front of the car without watching out. He stopped and waited for the car to pass by. Then he quickly walked across the street just to stop up once again. He looked at a sign on a building. It said BANK.

***


They reached the bank. Maja stopped and said: "Here we are". She smiled. She did that a lot, he had noticed. He stood kind of nervous, wanted to ask her out, but they were only in town two more days, so it would have to be tomorrow night. "How long time are you staying?", she asked. "Just a couple of days", he answered and a little shy he added: "But we don't really have any plans, so if you...". He hesitated. She helped him out. "I'm off tomorrow, so I could show you around town, if you want to?". He'd love to, though he had preferred to leave Martin and Jens at the hotel. He said: "I don't know about the others, but I definately would like that". She went through her bag. "If I can find something to write on, I'll give you my number", she said. She didn't seem to find any paper. He sat down his backpack on the ground and looked for something to write on. Sunscreen, an empty bottle, his watch... but no paper.

He looked into the bank. "Maybe they have something in there". She nodded. They'd probably have something they could use. They got inside, and once again Philip complained and asked if they weren't supposed to go pick up his brother. "Yes, in a minute", Maja answered, "I just have to..."

They got in line. Luckily there was only one person in front of them, an elderly lady. She was done after a few seconds, and he went to the counter. Some flyers were at the right side. He took one and passed it on to Maja. "Will this one do?", "Sure", she answered and took it. She grabbed a pen from the counter and started to write, and in the same moment a loud noise were heard.

They turned around fast. A woman screamed. In the middle of the room were two men. Masked. One of them yelled something in French, while pointing a gun at the ceiling. He didn't understand what was said. The other customers in the bank was lying down on the floor, so he just hurried and did the same. He was looking for Maja. She was a little behind him and had put her arm around Philip to protect him. He crawled backwards to get closer. One of the two robbers kept on yelling and went to the counter. Even though he didn't understand what they were saying, he had no doubt. The bank worker had to fill a bag with money and it could only take too long.

He carefully looked up. The other robber was walking back and forth near the door, clealy unpatiently while switching among looking out and at the people on the floor. He waved his gun in the air, pointed at different people and repeated the same words over and over. It sounded like "come on, come on". The man was definately very nervous.

He barely heard Maja whisper: "Kasper, Kasper". He looked at her. She put out her hand. He held it tight and at the same time smiled arkward at Philip, who looked around - scared - while seeking shelter under Maja's arm. "Where's my ball? I've lost my ball", he said and suddenly started to crawl out from his shelter. Maja quickly held on to Philip. One of the robbers came towards them, pointing his gun at them and said something which definately meant to stay put. Philip started to cry.

The clerk had filled the bag with money and the robber turned around and ran to the exit. A middleaged male customer who had been on his way out the bank when the robbery begun, suddenly got up and attacked the robber carrying the money. Should he get up and help the other customer? If he should do anything, it would have to be now, he thought, and jumped up trying to take the gun from the other robber. He felt like they were fighting forever, but suddenly the gun went off and Kasper totally froze. The robber let go of him, turned around and faced the middleaged man who was still fighting the other robber. He had managed to pull off the mask. The robber pointed the gun at them, yelled something, and the man backed off right away, helding his hands in the air. The two robbers hurried out the bank.

He turned around and looked at Maja and Philip. Philip was crying. He sat right next to Maja. She was still lying face down on the floor. Kasper kneeled on the floor and took her hand. Now he noticed that she was bleeding. A lot. Her blouse was all red. He touched it. He felt like it wasn't real. Like in the movies he used to watch with Jens and Martin. But she didn't scream like they did on film. She just laid still - didn't move at all. "Maja!", he yelled, "Maja!". He kept repeating her name while he turned her around. She looked at him. No, she looked through him. He barely noticed someone coming up from behind. He held her in his arms, calling her. Philip was still crying. He sniffled a bit and said: "Is she dead, huh? She is not dead, right? Is she?"

He looked at Philip, looked at Maja. Her golden hair had faded. He held her tight. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and a woman was standing behind him. She shook her head like she wanted to say that there was nothing more to do. He took Maja's hand and noticed that she was still holding a piece of paper. Nearby he could hear sirens.

***


It had started to rain. An ambulance was passing by. He put his hand in his back pocket and took out his wallet. He found a small piece of paper, unfolded it and looked at it. He had read it a thousand times. Still he read it once more. MAJA'S PHONE NUMBER (YOU KNOW, THE SWEET GIRL FROM THE BEACH), 382 - she hadn't had time to write the rest before the robbery began. He could see her wonderful smile and her freckles which fitted perfectly to her hair. A drop of water fell to the paper, but it wasn't rain.

Written by Karina Hjorth, 2002