‘Fucking Åmål - Five Years Later’ by Kolya

[snaps]

[Snap’s Moderator note: This is Kolya’s story, intended as a continuation of Peter Svensson’s take on ‘Five Years Later’. At 6674 words, It was posted in several sections between 2006 and 2009. I’ve re-formatted it into three continuous sections here, in three continous postings that correspond to Kolya’s posting as Chaters 2, 3, and 4 (the first chapter assumed to be Peter Svenssons original story) . Sadly, no more came out, but I believe like Peter, Kolya intended for anyone else to continue the story from the point that he left off. So there’s a challenge for anyone!]

[Author’s Note: First of all a big: Thank you! to Peter Svensson for his script "Fucking Åmål - Five years later" which is really great and which I'm trying to continue here. It's still unfinished but I definitely plan on continuing it as I had a lot of fun writing this. I hope you have some fun with it too. And if there's just a few people who like this I will probably release more lateron. Be sure to have seen the movie "Fucking Åmål" and have read Peter Svensson's script before you read on here.]

‘Fucking Åmål - Five Years Later’ by Kolya, (Germany), 2006 & 2009.

When the train had left the station Elin still leaned out of the compartement window. She saw Agnes standing at the platform with a slightly confused look. And Elin felt like her body was stretched out on a rack as the distance between them rapidly grew. Then the train took a turn and she couldn't see her anymore. She fell back to her seat. The beautiful houses of old Stockholm rushed by her window but Elin didn't see it. She cried silently.

There was only one other passenger in the compartement who sat opposite to Elin. She noticed now that he was leaning over to her.

"What is it?" she almost screamed at him. She instantly regretted it though when she saw the shy look on his face.

"Do you mind if I closed the window?" he muttered, "It's getting a bit cold in here."

"No." Elin said and made little throw-away motion with her hand. Actually she was getting cold too.

He closed the window and then sat down again. Elin looked at him. He had brown hair that was a bit too long for a man of his age. He seemed to be in his early thirties. He also had a brown parka with what looked like a fakefur-collar and he wore a black suit under it with a bloodred tie. He smiled at her sheepishly when he noticed her gaze.

"Hello, I'm Lukas" he said.

"Elin." she answered briefly. She thought that he had a friendly face and he even seemed vaguely familiar. There was something about him that reminded her of someone, a friend she had known a long time ago. But she wasn't in the mood for talking, even if it had been God himself talking to her. So she looked out of the window.

"What seems to be the matter Elin?" he asked. When Elin didn't make an indication of answering he added: "I noticed you waving that girl goodbye."

Now she was seriously annoyed. "Ooooooah! Can't you just leave me alone? I don't need a fucking white knight saving me you see? So mind your own business."

He looked at her quite astonished but then leaned back into his seat. He took out a rumpled paper from his jacket and started reading.

When Elin was sure he wasn't looking at her she looked up at him for a second. Again she regretted a bit that she had been so rude. But at least he wasn't intruding on her anymore.

That moment the compartement door was opened from outside and the train guard that had witnessed her kissing Agnes at the station stepped in saying: "Tickets please."

Elin suddenly realized that she had no ticket. When she and Agnes had arrived at the station they'd been in such a hurry and their minds had been filled with so many different things that they had completely forgotten to buy a ticket for Elin.

For a moment she considered explaining the situation to him but then she didn't know how. And it would have been too embarassing in front of that Lukas guy anyway. So she just sat silently, staring out of the window and hoping that he would miss her. Which was pretty stupid of course as there were only two persons in the compartement.

The train guard checked Lukas' ticket then he faced Elin: "Hello, can I see your ticket please?"

Elin didn't answer. Instead she crawled up her legs and hid her face as much as she could. This was all too much for her and she wanted to vanish into thin air. But then she suddenly heard Lukas say:

"I'm sorry, we ... I mean I forgot to buy her a ticket."

"Is she your daughter?" the train guard asked for whatever reason.

"Um ... yeah. I mean yes, that's my daughter Elin. Look we really were in a hurry and I just forgot to buy her a ticket. Can I pay for it now?" Lukas asked.

The train guard still seemed a bit confused but then he said: "Well sure, if you forgot the ticket you can pay the fare plus an additional charge of 20 Crowns now. That'll be 60 crowns then."

Lukas payed the price and a few moments later the train guard left. Lukas sat back again and looked at Elin who was still crawled up between her legs.

"He's gone." he said as a matter of fact.

From somewhere between her legs he heard a meekly: "Thank you."

"Well that's what white knights are for." Lukas said, trying to laugh it off. Then he realized that it must have sounded like a rebuttal on what she had said to him before and he quickly wished he hadn't said that. Fortunately Elin didn't seem to mind this time. Slowly she put down her feet again and even smiled at him.

"Here's your ticket." he said handing it over to her.

"I'll give you the money." she said. "I don't have that much with me right now but if you give me your adress I promise I'll send it to you."

Lukas was reluctant though. "Maybe I have a better idea instead." he said, "Why don't you tell me what happened to you and I pay you say ... 60 crowns for it?" He grinned childishly at her.

Elin thought this was a strange offer. "Why do you want to know?" she said.

"Well I'm a curious guy to start with," he answered. "and I think there's something to be learned from every story that someone is willing to tell."

Elin clearly showed him with a look that this still seemed pretty strange to her. But then it was still a long ride to Karlstad and this Lukas seemed to be a nice guy and she had nothing better to do anyway. So she started:

"Five years ago I went to school in Åmål ..."

"Åmål?" Lukas interrupted her. "That's the most boring smalltown I've ever been to."

"Yes it is," Elin said. "but I met the most beautiful, lovely person there."

"You mean the girl on the platform?" asked Lukas.

"Yes, Agnes." Elin said.

"So what happened?"

Elin told him their story while the train rolled down the tracks. Soon it began getting dark outside and the two of them sat closely together in the dimly lit cabin with Elin telling more and more of what had happened and Lukas asking her a myriad of questions. They were talking like good old friends and Elin felt very comfortable for the first time in a long time.

It wasn't before half an hour until the train would arrive in Karlstad when Elin had finished telling him about the most happy year in her life that she had spent with Agnes in Åmål.

"What happened?" asked Lukas as he had done many times by now. "It seems ... you broke up? Why was that?"

He wasn't afraid to ask her directly anymore. Elin had grown comfortable with talking about her feelings. Now she sighed though and he suddenly wasn't sure anymore if he had pushed her to much.

"You don't have to tell if you don't want to." he said quickly.

"No, no it's really okay." Elin replied. "It's just that it was such a terrible mistake and so cruel to Agnes ... I would give everything in this damn world to make it undone and ..."

"Be together with her again?" Lukas asked gently.

"Yeah. But that's impossible now. She lives with another girl. Hanna!" Elin grimaced annoyed. But as soon as she realized what she was doing she stopped it and said: "Hanna seems to be a nice girl actually. And she's fuckin' pretty! ... And I'm the last one who should go and judge her. I should just shut up about her I guess."

"Elin, did you cheat on Agnes?"

Lukas knew this was a turning point and though he didn't want to be so intrusive, the fact that Elin had talked about everything but what led to her break up with Agnes seemed to indicate something. He was good at listening to people and he had gotten to know this 19 year old girl quite well in the short time since their departure from Stockholm central station. It seemed to him that while Elin was eager to tell everything that either annoyed her or made her happy, she denied to accept an active part in her life. That was probably a reason why she was so drawn to Agnes who seemed much more determined on what she was doing.

Elin looked out of the window where the lights of Karlstad's outskirts came flashing by.

"Yes, I guess you could say I cheated on her." she said in a voice that seemed to come from far far way.

Lukas sat waiting patiently although he knew they only had a few minutes left.

"We were at this party. Agnes didn't even want to go. She was still shy, even when she was with me. For some reason I had become even more popular being a lesbian while she still had no friends to speak of. In the beginning that wasn't so bad because all we both wanted was to be together, but ... Well after a while I didn't want to hang at her place all the time anymore. I wanted to go out, have some fun and so I dragged her with me. But she didn't like it. And soon she wanted to go back home. I told her she could go but that I wanted to stay some more and she seemed to be perfectly fine with this. So she went and I stayed. But she came back after an hour or so. I don't know why she came back. Maybe she had forgotten something or she wanted me to come with her this time. Somebody must have told her where I was, because she found me upstairs in a room where I was with Johan Hult. In bed."

"Why did you do this?" Lukas asked.

"Oooooah, I don't know why! I was bored and drunk and I wanted to have some fun and Johan wasn't such a bad guy after all and we had been together before ... So it just happened."

"Didn't you say he was with Jessica then?" Lukas couldn't help but asking.

"Yeah, that too." Elin still looked out of the window into the darkness.

"My god, you really fucked it up." Lukas said in a very calm and friendly way. And then he added: "You should leave now, we've almost reached the station."

Elin suddenly looked at him in disbelief. He couldn't just send her away after she had told him all that, could he? Sure, she had to leave the train but she had hoped for a word of comfort as a final note. Not like that!

"But ... don't you want to give me your adress? I still want to give you the money. And look, I want to explain this. I'm not a bad person. I really didn't want to hurt her you see!"

Tears were beginning to show in her eyes again. She felt angry and sad at the same time.

Lukas said: "No you're not a bad person. But you are careless. You need to understand that you're not just a tourist in this life. Your actions affect others, both good and bad. And that there's no-one else to blame for your decisions but you."

The train suddenly came to a halt. Elin grabbed her jacket and wanted to go. She was still baffled by what he had just said. He didn't even want to say Goodbye to her it seemed. Instead he was staring out of the window where some people hurried from the platform into the train now. Then she noted his eyes, reflected in the window, looking at her. She showed him the finger and left the cabin.

When she was on the platform she wanted to leave as fast as she could. Run! Run away! she thought. But then something struck her. She turned around and saw Lukas looking at her through the glass. Suddenly she smiled at him and he smiled back at her.

When the train had left the station she slowly walked down the stairs. She had a lot to think about. What she wanted to do from hereon. When she came by a garbage bin she pulled out the ticket Lukas had bought her. She didn't notice the telephone number scribbled on the ticket, so she dropped it into the bin and left the station.

************

Elin looked at her own letter. She held a white wine bottle in her right hand and downed a third of it. Gordon Gano of the Violent Femmes was mourning his dead friend Johnny on her stereo again. She turned up the volume.

Michael hadn't been at home and after a while she realised he was not coming back. Instead she had found her unsent letter to Agnes on the kitchentable.

He had written something on the backside:
"Call me if you want to apologise. I'm at mother's place."

She couldn't remember where she had left the letter. It didn't matter though.
She felt drunk enough to call him now, so she got out her mobile phone and looked up the number.

"Hello Mrs. Estevan? Can I speak to Michael please?"
...
"Michael? It's me. Yeah, I'm sorry, I think I woke your mum."
...
"I said, I am sorry. I just came back from Stockholm, that's why I'm calling now."
...
"I met someone there."
Elin started walking aimlessly around the room.
...
"Well, someone. A friend."
...
She noticed her own face in the big mirror on the opened closet door and stopped.
"No, it wasn't Agnes. It was a man. Actually there were three men. And we all fucked!"
Her reflection suddenly grinned at her and she had to look away. She wanted to sound serious about this.
"Look, sorry. Really, I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that."
...
"No it's not true! Of course not! Jesus, how charming!"
...
"No wait a minute! WAIT! I don't want you to come back. No, I mean it."
...
"No, it's over, Michael. Don't come back. There's no home for you here anymore!"
She canceled the connection and turned off the phone.

Suddenly she heard the blood rush through her head. And when she looked back she saw Solitude standing on the other side, welcoming her with a smile.

[snaps]

That evening Hanna lay awake for a long time. Snuggled up against Agnes back she tried to keep calm, but there were thoughts running through her head. She thought back four years ago when she had fallen in love with this browneyed girl with the beautiful mouth. To Hanna her lips looked like they had been made for kissing.

Hanna had seen her a few times in the cafeteria and in a course about domestic violence. Her hair had been longer back then, and not dyed black as she had it now. It was often doubled in a scrunchie on the back of her head. Most of the time this girl seemed to scuffle along the long corridors of Stockholm university alone, her eyes fixed on the ground.

And of course Lucy had seen her too... "She looks so damn cute and wild. You'd need to leave your fucking eyes at home not to notice her." she said to Hanna. That of course was just Lucy for you. Hanna thought she looked a bit lost instead.

"Nah, she's not a little girl lost." Lucy said. "I think she's quite Corky. Really. Anyway, did you talk to her?"

"No, but close. So close!" Hanna said and held up two fingers nearly touching. "She was standing in front of the pin board where flat shares and apartements are announced. You know the one near the hall?"

"Yeah, I know it. What did she wear?" Lucy asked casually.

"A pair of dark low slung denims, blue sneakers and a red hooded FILA sweatshirt."

"Perfect tomboy!" Lucy shouted. "What did you do?"

"I was just about to tell you!" Hanna replied with a happy smile.

"Go on then. But make it short. My photography course starts in a minute."

"Well I thought she was reading the ads. So I pretended to scan for an interesting offer too. I was so shaky! And then she pinned a note herself... Apparently she's looking for someone to share an apartement! I have her number here."

Hanna took out the small chit and waved with it.

"Well, call her now!" Lucy said. "If you had an apartement you would get out of that doll's house with those pink walls in your room and your parents always listening next door when you bring someone home. Anyway, I have to go now. Will I see you here at five?"

Hanna nodded. She was still looking at the torn piece of paper she held in her hand. As soon as Lucy had gone Hanna called the number on the chit. She wanted to be the first to answer the ad.
When she and Lucy met later that day Hanna was flying high.

"So what did she say? Details?"

Hanna braced herself and said: "Okay, her names is Agnes Ahlberg. She's seventeen and she previously lived in some small town I don't remember the name of. The apartement is down in Hornstull. Aaaand ..." Hanna raised her voice at this point: "I'm going to meet her tomorrow!"

************

This had been four years ago. Hanna stroked her lovers short black hair. Apparently Agnes was not asleep as she had thought. She turned around and looked at her.
"What's up? Why you're still up?" she said.

"You know what I think about Elin? Why I think she came here?" Hanna said.

"What is it?" Agnes knew what she was going to say and it was probably true.

"I think she wants you back."

Agnes did not answer. She raised her hand from under the blanket and rubbed her eyes instead.

"When you drove her to the station... I wasn't sure if you were coming back for a moment."

Agnes smiled reassuringly and kissed Hanna on her slightly pale lips. Then she said: "Why would I not come back? I live here with you. I don't want to be anywhere else."

"So you still love me?" Hanna asked.

"Yes, I do."

"And will you stay with me?"

"I will. Youh."

"Will you tell me about her then?" Hanna seemed to examine every movement on her face now and Agnes felt a bit queasy with this so she closed her eyes and said: "We were in the same school in Åmål. After a year we split up."

"Did she leave you?"

"No, I left her." Agnes said. She did not like this questioning. She loved Hanna and she understood why she was interested. But she felt she was grilling her now. Maybe this was good for something she thought. Maybe she could answer a question of her own this way.

She thought about it for a while and then she said: "I left her because she wanted to be different. But she wasn't lesbian after all. She was trying to be that, to be someone else. But it didn't work."

Hanna based her head on her hand and looked down on Agnes. She seemed sceptical about this.

"Maybe she wasn't so inclined back then, but when you got your jacket I saw her watching your ass."

Agnes burst out laughing. "You saw what?"

"Oh yeah, she was looking at you all of the time. And I should know, because I've seen a few girls look at you like that."

"I wish you would watch my ass too, instead of some other girls!" Agnes said jokingly. She grabbed the pillow under Hanna's arm and pulled it away so Hanna suddenly lay on her back.

[snaps]

Two weeks passed but no letter from Elin arrived. "She's never been much of a writer," Agnes thought, "she has other talents." She smiled and had to forcefully remind herself of what Elin had done to her. But with four years in between the wounds inflicted by Elin had been mostly substituted by an analytical view of her first relationship. So it wasn't the first time the thought occurred to her, that Elin's cheating might have been part the same chuzpe that had led Elin to bond with Agnes in the first place.

"I used to love her for that carelessness. And she still has it. That's why she came to Stockholm and kissed me on the platform before she left. But it's irresponsible and stupid to act on every whim and vagary without considering the consequences. And you cannot love a person like that without expecting to get hurt. I didn't know this back then, but I do now."

She looked at a framed picture that was standing on her desk. It showed Hanna and herself, back when their relationship had only just begun. They had gone through some rough times together since. But Hanna clearly was a keeper, a girlfriend like Agnes had always hoped for. Strong and beautiful like a Raven. She had always been supportive of Agnes. She was the first person Agnes had ever willingly shown her writings. Hanna devoured it all.

"Elin probably wouldn't have read more than one page before getting bored.", Agnes thought. But for some reason she had gradually written less and eventually stopped completely. Hanna still kept on rooting for her to keep on with it now and then. When she thought about it, Agnes couldn't say why she'd stopped. She had simply lost the incentive to do so.

************

One morning Hanna got up early to go to her daytime job. She worked as an intern in a news agency. As she was rushing out the door she quickly checked the mail and among leaflets and some bills she found a personal letter addressed to her fiancée. The name was written in proud oblique letters but there was no sender. Hanna looked at it for a moment. A cold breeze came down the hall and krept up her skirt. She turned around looking for the entrance but the door was still closed. Then she went back up to their apartment and silently opened the door. She left the letter on the desk, next to where Agnes was sleeping and went to work.

When Agnes woke up she made herself a coffee. Still in her pajamas she came back and noticed the letter on her desk. The moment she saw it she knew it was from Elin and hastily opened it. This is what it said:

Dear Agnes,

I'm doing it! I'm moving to Stockholm. About time, eh? I wanted to get out of these smalltowns forever! And now I finally quit my job at the hospital. I even have a new job there and it's the most amazing thing! It's probably just a short time thing, but my father arranged it and it sounds pretty serious. (He's actually been helpful with something for once.) Guess what? I'll act in a movie! Filming starts only in two months and I don't know much of the details yet. But I'm moving into a house in Stockholm next Sunday already! If you could come over and help me move the heavy stuff in, that would be awesome! No, just kidding! You don't have to do anything. I've hired some some big hunks. We will just sit and down and sip some champagne, watching over them doing the hard work, hehe. Please come, I can't wait to see you!

Love, Elin


On the backside Elin had written her new address and her estimated time of arrival. Agnes had read the letter three or four times before she put it down. She simply could not decide if this was good news or spelled disaster from start to end. Also Elin hadn't mentioned Michael with one word. For the moment she decided to think about it as objectively as she could.

"What gives? She really wanted to move to the big city forever. Can't blame her, Karlstad is backwater, just like Åmål was. And that film-job is just Elin! She gets what she wants at the wave of an arm. I just hope it's not a letdown, coming from her no-good daddy."

************

That evening Agnes relayed the news to Hanna, although she avoided going into the details of the letter. To her surprise Hanna didn't seem put off by the idea that Elin would move to Stockholm. Instead she smiled and listened attentively to Agnes. Then she said:

"Well these hired arms may know how to pack a washing machine but there's usually a whole lot of smaller stuff to carry. In any case it will be faster when some friends help her out."

"Youh... I guess you're right." Agnes said slightly confused and absent-minded. "Do you want me to help you?"

"Sure, I mean if you got the time."

************

In the end Agnes went alone. Hanna said she wanted to meet Lucy that day to get even on some quarrel they'd had over the phone. Something about Lucy's new girlfriend, whom Agnes did not know. She figured that Hanna could have solved the issue some other day if she'd really wanted to escort her, but she also was somewhat relieved to be able to meet Elin alone. "No need to further complicate an already complex situation."

She went down the waterside watching a few boats drift by. It was still rather early in the morning and not many people were out on the street. The sun was shining warm and brightly on this spring day. Agnes took off her black denim jacket that was plastered with quite a few buttons of virtually unknown indie rock bands. She swung it over her shoulder as it was getting too hot. It had not been easy to decide what to wear.

The address Elin had given her was on a lane by the water with few, but old and exquisite mansions. Agnes almost missed the gateway although it was the only one far and wide, thinking this could not be it. She even took out Elin's letter and compared the street number. There was no mistake though. It was the same as on the high, spike embattled brick-lined wall. And right under it the words "Olsson move: This way!!! →" were written with fresh white chalk. The rusty iron gate that the arrow was pointing at was left ajar, so Agnes slipped inside.

She found herself on a rather bedraggled gravel driveway, overarched on both sides by gnarly ginkgo trees that were only slowly awaking from their hybernation. A few pale blueish leaves broke from the branches here and there, looking like oversized clover. The driveway led up a steep hill and around a bend. No house was to be seen. Agnes stood there for a moment, feeling like an intruder in this secluded world.

Then she walked up the driveway. After two sharp bends the gravel way opened up to a small clearing and a big old mansion came into view. It was built on top of the hill on a clinker base but the house itself was completely made of wood. Once it had been painted old rose but the paint was chipping off in many places now. Before the house lay an overgrown meadow. A decayed looking wheelbarrow had been left there upside down a long time ago. It seemed to have sunk into the ground meanwhile. In the middle of the house's front a mossy stone stairway was flanked by adorned iron railings and led up to dark green double wing doors. There sat Elin on the stairs with a cloth covered basket by her side, smoking a cigarette.

When she looked up her face brightened, she flicked the stub away and screamed "Agnes!".

Then she jumped down the steps. She ran towards Agnes who walked nearer, smiling at her. As soon as she reached her Elin hugged her rapturously, kissing her several times on her cheeks. "I'm so happy you're here." she whispered into her ear.

"Glad to see you too." Agnes felt slightly overwhelmed.

"So this is where you're gonna live?"

"Yes!", Elin said, turning towards the house, while still holding Agnes' hand, "Isn't it marvellous?"

"Yes, looks great. I didn't even know this existed although I've passed by here quite a few times."

"Do you want to take a look inside? It's huge... I'll just show you my rooms, the kitchen and maybe Leif's wing. Though it's still quite dirty and cluttered there."

"Leif is...?" Agnes asked while they climbed up the stone stairs.

"We share the house, he's the owner now. He inherited it last fall when his father died. But he's also just moving in. There's a lot that needs to be done, the roof is leaking in places and..."

"Well it's probably good if you don't have to live here all alone."

They entered the hall and Agnes' eyes took a moment to adjust to the darkness. Dispersed dust was shimmering in the sunlight flooding in through the high open door. But it looked much better than she had suspected from the run-down outside.

She followed Elin through a corridor and up a wooden stairway that creaked cosily under their feet. The walls were decorated with labyrinthine damask. Eventually Elin opened another door and pointed down a big empty room with wooden board flooring that was connected to another equally sized corner chamber through an open wing door. Sunlight was pouring in through the recently cleaned windows and bathed the rooms in warm shades of yellow, orange and brown. A black iron furnace was cowering in a corner looking like a sleeping leprechaun.

"It goes around the corner a bit.", Elin said, "there's another room that I will probably use for a bedroom."

Agnes hesitatingly wandered to one of the windows. "Jösses, this is beautiful." she said silently.

Outside she saw the meadow with the old barrow, the ginkgo's treetops and further down a boat floating down the waterline.

"How much do you pay for this?" she asked.

"Haha! That's the best part, I pay nothing at all. I'm just here to keep Leif company a bit, he wouldn't want to live alone in his father's house, you see. I mean, it's a great house but I wouldn't want to be here all by myself either."

Agnes squinted at Elin. "Keep him company, eh? You think he could need some more company?"

"Heh, you can always stay as long as you like.", Elin said while kneeling down and examining some tiny hole in the wood floor. And standing up: "He's a really nice guy though, rather shy. It's not like that."

"Hey I wasn't thinking anything! It's just weird that he doesn't like, you know, rent the house out or whatever."

"Well, he wants to live here too and he says he doesn't like living around strangers."

"So how did you get to know him then?" Agnes asked, turning to Elin.

"He used to live in Karlstad before his father died. Just down the street, we were practically neighbors. Though we only talked a few times until he told me about his bequest. That was just a few days after I had come back from Stockholm. Felt like a sign or something..."

Elin suddenly seemed to want to leave the room. She was standing in the door already.

"He's a computerfreak, you can meet him later on, he'll come with the van from Karlstad. Anyway, are you hungry? I've bought fresh white bread and Italian cheese..."

"Not really..."

"But you will accept a glass of champagne, won't you?" Elin said with an enticing grin on her lips.

Agnes grinned back at her. "Well sure, that's what I came here for!"


A while later they were sitting out on the stairs before the house. It was noon now and the van with Leif and Elin's stuff was soon to arrive. A red and white plaid cloth was spread out between them and all of the goodies from the basket distributed over it. They were eating some cheese with grapes and drinking champagne from plastic glasses. They chatted the time away, mostly about Stockholm, about Leif, and their plans for the summer.

There rarely was any allusion to the time they'd spent as a couple. Åmål was far away, and Agnes felt very comfortable with the thought of having Elin back as a friend. In fact she was flying high, closely following Elin who dreamt up ever more wild and adventurous times they would have.

"You haven't changed a bit." she said after a small pause which had followed a big laugh.

"Yes, I have.", Elin said rather solemnly while fishing for another thing from the basket, "I've changed at least as much as you have." She eventually produced a pack of cigarettes and found some matches too. She lit one and threw the burning match into the grass. "I've made a lot of mistakes. A whole chain of painful, stupid and ongoing mistakes that I felt unable to correct for fear of losing even more than I already had." She took a deep drag. "But I kept on losing, no matter how much I tried and pretended it wasn't so."

"You mean Michael?" Agnes asked.

"Oh haha, yes, Michael also was a mistake. It all just seemed to drag me down more and more, you see? Like a rope attached to my leg with a weight that's falling. And I couldn't get it off. But now I'm here. And I'm about to change all that."

"You know that I'm living with Hanna." Agnes said friendly but firmly.

Elin smiled at Agnes. "Yes I know. And don't worry, I won't try to separate you two. She seemed like a really nice girl when we met. Of course I didn't have much time to get to know her."

"I'm not worried."

"In any case, I hope we can change that. We could go out together? You can show me the Stockholm scene and you can always bring her here of course. I'd be happy to have you both as my guests."

"She wanted to come initially. Just couldn't because of a friend."

"I think there's the van..." Elin stood up and walked a bit towards the approaching transport.

Agnes kept sitting on the stairs and watched it come to a halt. A brown curly haired boy jumped from the passenger seat. She realised that this must be Leif and was slightly surprised because he appeared to be no more than 17 or 18 years old. He wore a white shirt and black worn jeans and looked somewhere between skinny and athletic, not like a "computerfreak" anyway.

Elin welcomed him with a friendly hug and then went right to the back of the van, talking to a huge bald packer who climbed from the driver's seat and another bearded guy from the backseat. Leif came over to Agnes.

"Hey."

"Hey. You're here to help Ellie with her stuff?"

"Yeah, I'm Agnes. And you must be Leif."

"Oh so you are Agnes. She talked a lot about you. Mainly that she was happy to be able to see you more often. And that we all need to go out together and set Stockholm on fire...or something crazy like that."

"Haha, yeah she said the same thing to me."

"Well there won't be much to do. She doesn't have a lot of stuff and it's all packed up so the guys will take it in. Um, mind if I steal a piece of that cheese?"

"No, of course not. It's Elin's anyway."

They sat down together on the staircase again. Elin just came by showing the way for the packers.

"Have a glass of champagne Leif, there's still some left." she said before going inside.

"That's a great house you have." Agnes said a bit awkwardly.

"Yes, it is. Well it's a dump actually, haha. Still great. Reminds me of my childhood a lot."

"So you used to live here as a child?"

"Yeah I was born here actually. We lived in this house until I was about seven years old. Then my parents divorced and my mother and me moved to Karlstad."

"Mmh."

"I'm glad to be back though. Karlstad is nice but... well it's a smalltown. You always meet the same people, there's nothing going on at all..."

"Yeah."

"I heard you lived in Åmål with Elin? Must have been pretty much the same."

"It wasn't so bad. I just didn't want to stay there forever, you know?"

"She said the best thing about Åmål was you."

"Oh? Haha, well I guess, if Elin says so."

He smiled at her and in that moment Agnes really would have liked to know what Elin exactly had said. Instead she just looked at the ginkgo trees that were creaking silently.

"I heard you're good with computers?" she said.

"Yeah, but that's nothing special. A lot of people are nowadays. I make some music, that's the most interesting part I guess. That and the old games I have. Or were you asking because you have a computer problem?"

"No, no. I was just interested... You have to show me your games sometime. I like the classic arcade stuff, R-Type, Speedball... Haven't played those in a while."

Leif turned at her looking quite surprised. "Are you for real? I think you're the first girl ever who seems to even know about this stuff."

"And I haven't even mentioned Super Mario! Haha."

"No you haven't. That's a first! So you want to go up for a quick game?"

"Yeah, great."

An hour later Elin found them mashing buttons on an old standup arcade machine in Leif's room. She watched them for a while, happy that they got along so well. She even joined in for a game, only to see her meagre score getting beaten around the place by the two fanatics.

"Hey, is anyone here up to helping me rebuilt my bed and move the wardrobe?" she asked, but was promptly told to wait for the game to finish.

Eventually they got around to it though. Elin placed her large low IKEA bed in a small secluded room which was filled out completely by the bed. She hung a big blue canopy above and then they carried the wardrobe into the corner-room.

"You will need more furniture." Agnes said looking at the still mostly empty rooms.

"No that's okay!", Elin answered, "All I want is a big thick carpet so people can sit on the ground. Otherwise I'm good."

"Yep, ties the room together." Leif said.

"Anyone wants to grab a bite?" Elin asked.

They went back outside and had the rest of the bread and cheese. It was late afternoon, the sun was still out and gave them a taste of the summer to come. Eventually Agnes said goodbye, but Elin insisted to bring her down to the street. For a while they walked silently until they reached the gate.

"So um, will I see you next week sometime?" Elin asked.

"Youh, sure. Why not."

Elin hugged her again although she was much more shy about it now then when they had met earlier today. But this time Agnes felt something that surprised her and she just quickly said "bye" before slipping out of the gate.

Elin went back up to the house, absorbed in thoughts.

"You alright?" Leif asked when he saw her trudging back to the house. He was leaning against the iron railing.

"Yeah, I'm fine. In fact I haven't been that happy since ... I don't know when."

"You're not going to cry on me, are you?"

"Haha, no you moron, I won't!" Elin said and kicked him.

[DMt.]

Yum!

[snaps]

Yum!

mmmm Yum. I certainly felt that about the earlier parts. Ima not so comfortable with the later additions. It is always going to be problematic if you introduce new characters. Anyone taking over the imprint has to be able to understand, empathize with, and develop these relatively unknown latter characters. Personally, I didn't feel any great warmth towards them. It just seemed a bit twenty-something trendy Stockholm. I'm not immune, the major stinging crit of my own similar version was to be described as ''soap opera''. Maybe it was. A bit slushy yeh, but with a dark chocolate emotional endgame. I would love to have seen where Kolya might have taken this, so its a little unfair to critisize. Certainly Kolya showed in earlier postings, intelligence, voracity, and the heat and passion of absurd emotionality. I just felt this Mammoth work deserved a more pungent, accrid, end-point.

That is not to say, someone else couldn't step up to the plate and carry this forward.

I guess, on one level, I enjoyed the very great detail about the location, the house etc, it was all very credible. And I know it was well-received on here. It is very literate, well-described and perceptive. I just don't share the perceptions. Perhaps if Kolya had continued it would have been swung more back in the direction of emotional intensity? Not a criticsim, just a thought.

[Cheevers4ever]

Yum!

mmmm Yum. I certainly felt that about the earlier parts. Ima not so comfortable with the later additions. It is always going to be problematic if you introduce new characters. Anyone taking over the imprint has to be able to understand, empathize with, and develop these relatively unknown latter characters. Personally, I didn't feel any great warmth towards them. It just seemed a bit twenty-something trendy Stockholm. I'm not immune, the major stinging crit of my own similar version was to be described as ''soap opera''. Maybe it was. A bit slushy yeh, but with a dark chocolate emotional endgame. I would love to have seen where Kolya might have taken this, so its a little unfair to critisize. Certainly Kolya showed in earlier postings, intelligence, voracity, and the heat and passion of absurd emotionality. I just felt this Mammoth work deserved a more pungent, accrid, end-point.

That is not to say, someone else couldn't step up to the plate and carry this forward.

I guess, on one level, I enjoyed the very great detail about the location, the house etc, it was all very credible. And I know it was well-received on here. It is very literate, well-described and perceptive. I just don't share the perceptions. Perhaps if Kolya had continued it would have been swung more back in the direction of emotional intensity? Not a criticsim, just a thought.

Its really strange Snaps everything you disliked about this Fan fiction is what i liked . as a story its a bit over the place and really i wouldn't personally put up any work unless its finished cause like this it just disappoints that the author didn't finish it as its got great potential.

I loved the second part where Agnes goes to meet Elin at her new Flat, it felt like you were actually watching Fucking amal part 2 on screen. It was well described in its descriptions of the area and the flat. Plus i felt the awkward and shyness both characters felt after meeting up for the first time in years after Elin cheated on Agnes. I think Kolya's weakness in this story is down to the opening (lukas, i'm guessing its Lukas moodysson) is too smart for its own good and takes away for me a lot of the greatmess in Kolya's fan fiction. The Story really picks up from Hanna and Agnes which i found really sweet and very believeable. I would if i was to rewrite this keep the Hanna character and Leif although a little underwritten i feel could be a very funny and likeable character that Elin comes to trust as a close friend. I think setting in Stockholm is smart location, yes Snaps i agree it could come over very trendy and hip but the story can't go back to Amal,.It needs to blossom. At the moment i'm writing a Synopsis for a Short story a bit of fan fiction on Agnes and Elin , which greatly differs from Koyla's wonderful story. I give it 8/10, it certainly want me wanting more and apart from the opening its well written and taught out. Pity Kolya never finished it.

[snaps]

At the moment i'm writing a Synopsis for a Short story a bit of fan fiction on Agnes and Elin , which greatly differs from Koyla's wonderful story. I give it 8/10, it certainly want me wanting more and apart from the opening its well written and taught out. Pity Kolya never finished it.

Hi Cheevers.

It would be really great if you could post something, even if unfinished, just for a little friendly discussion.

DMt had some good ideas, and maybe like me felt the need to move on. Most of what I have written I have deleted because I incorporated it into new original work. I have done a few fun things since, like a FA/SML crossover with Water Lilies. To this date I have never published ''The Land That Is Not'' which is a ''10 year-on verbal storyboard'' for a FA2. I was totally absorbed in it at the time, and it runs to some 10,000 words. I did post ''Happy Birthday, Dear Agnes'' which was a one-year on coda to ''The Land That Is Not'' but it was dismissed (on here) as soap opera. I totally lost inclination and interest after that. At the time I believed there was a serious possibility that Moodysson might be interested in a sequel, along with Alex and Bex. Since then, I've growed up a bit, taken more on board and in the words of Marie in Water Lilies given up on my ''Princess dreams''.

But it would be good, to see your own interpretation. It has been a long time since we have had an original posting. Unlike some other fanfic I have written I know that there is often a close emotional link with the subject matter. That is why I have never revived my work. If you do post, you are guaranteed a fair hearing. I do have Moderator powers here now, and will ruthlessly stamp on any insensitive and emotionally illiterate criticism.

I, along with everyone else here, look forward to your reflections.

[DMt.]

Ohhh yes please!

DMt had some good ideas, and maybe like me felt the need to move on.

Evidently my humble [and recent] attempt to continue your nice FA/NdP/Skylar FF in the thread de l'Acquart has passed beneath the warrior-librarian radar;

http://fucking-amal.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=1708&p=26498#p26498

[Cheevers4ever]

At the moment i'm writing a Synopsis for a Short story a bit of fan fiction on Agnes and Elin , which greatly differs from Koyla's wonderful story. I give it 8/10, it certainly want me wanting more and apart from the opening its well written and taught out. Pity Kolya never finished it.

Hi Cheevers.

It would be really great if you could post something, even if unfinished, just for a little friendly discussion.

DMt had some good ideas, and maybe like me felt the need to move on. Most of what I have written I have deleted because I incorporated it into new original work. I have done a few fun things since, like a FA/SML crossover with Water Lilies. To this date I have never published ''The Land That Is Not'' which is a ''10 year-on verbal storyboard'' for a FA2. I was totally absorbed in it at the time, and it runs to some 10,000 words. I did post ''Happy Birthday, Dear Agnes'' which was a one-year on coda to ''The Land That Is Not'' but it was dismissed (on here) as soap opera. I totally lost inclination and interest after that. At the time I believed there was a serious possibility that Moodysson might be interested in a sequel, along with Alex and Bex. Since then, I've growed up a bit, taken more on board and in the words of Marie in Water Lilies given up on my ''Princess dreams''.

But it would be good, to see your own interpretation. It has been a long time since we have had an original posting. Unlike some other fanfic I have written I know that there is often a close emotional link with the subject matter. That is why I have never revived my work. If you do post, you are guaranteed a fair hearing. I do have Moderator powers here now, and will ruthlessly stamp on any insensitive and emotionally illiterate criticism.

I, along with everyone else here, look forward to your reflections.

Hi snaps Thanks for the vote of confindence. At the moment i only have a synopsis really but i be willing to write a story or a screenplay for it but seen as i only have a months hoilday left before i head back onto my film course so writing it could be on hold for a while after that, i really would like Feedback from you guys (my fellow Amal Fans ) on my synopsis, basically which is a basic outline on a story i had sketched out back in 2007, if i get good feedback over a week. I will get to work on it as soon as possible.

i really would like to read "Happy Birthday, dear Agnes" snaps, some of the Fan Stories have been excellent, Especially Marta's Road to Stockholm which is my fav, a nice and simple story that wraps the teenage years of Agnes and Elin up perfectly. Plus i think a lot of people have stuck to closely to the basic storyline of Amal instead of taking the characters to a different route.Any of my writing i take a emotional contact too so thats why i want to be sure i don't let myself down and the characters either. Plus the story i want to write is far away from a lot of the Fanfic written on Amal, so it might be met with a lot of disdain but i'm going for a more Moodsysson feel to it. But i make a thread on my Synopsis, tell you guys a bit where i want to go with my story. If i get a bit of good feedback and great suggestions i will go about writing it.