Udjerlah’s Song (continued)

Written and Illustrated by Nelen

Li-Lo returned to the Northern Hemisphere as the first snowdrops were pushing up through the cold earth. She had been so tired of her old life in the north that she had wanted to die and start a new one on the Other Side of the World. But she had left too many loose ends, too many unresolved questions, too much unfinished business to be allowed to do this. She had not been dying, she now saw, but running away. She had to face her old life again. Li-Lo had been upside down and now she began to right herself once more.

She returned to her parents’ house, for she had nowhere else to go. Her Mum and Dad were relieved, as they had been very worried about her. She was back with them on the Rainy Island in time for her birthday. She had applied for a visa to travel on to the Frozen Country. When it came through, she would go to Moscowville for a reunion or final split with Slava; the outcome hardly mattered to her as long as it was done properly.

Upstairs in her old bedroom, Li-Lo was asleep in the middle of the afternoon when the telephone rang. Like a diver with the bends, she came up from the depths of her jet lag to hear her father say: “I’ll just get her for you.” She stumbled down the stairs and took the receiver.

“Happy birthday,” said Slava brightly.

“Oh, hi,” she mumbled. “It’s nice to hear your voice. Listen, I don’t know how to begin… I really am sorry, you know…”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Slava. “I’m not alone any more.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’m with Genia now, you know, the girl who plays the Snow Maiden. So, have a great birthday.”

“I hope you’ll be very happy,” said Li-Lo quietly and put the phone down.

Fully awake now, she dressed and went out into the country lanes despite her parents’ protests. It was raining hard; grey sky blurred into brown earth. Li-Lo’s head was spinning.

“Walk, walk,” she told herself.

She walked until an inner voice said:

“Go the extra mile.”

Despite the foul weather, she went another mile until the voice said:

“Go the extra mile for him.”

She went the extra mile for Slava until she came to a pub called The Providence. Here she turned for home.

Back at the cottage, her mother was fretting about her spoilt tea. Her father was philosophical on the subject of Slava’s new girlfriend.

“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it?” he said. “It’s Arsenal 1-Liverpool 1.”

Li-Lo laughed. She was inclined to agree. She would go the extra mile for Slava. She would still travel to Moscowville and see him. When they met in the flesh, all would be clear. Remembering all the children, not her own, whom she had already effectively brought up, she sent him an urgent fax:

“Have a nice time with the Snow Maiden but for God’s sake use a condom! Li-Lo xx”

At the other end, Slava had run out of fax paper and could not receive the message.

Udjerlah’s Song is an adult fairytale set in Moscow and Central Australia