Moments [300 words]
Nicklaus calls his family every Sunday morning, at 10 am. It’s four in the afternoon there, a time they decided on before he followed the prince to the States. He holds a quiet conversation with his parents, both his mor and far on different phones so all three can talk at once. Sometimes his younger sisters are at home and he exchanges a few friendly words with them. Nicklaus doesn’t know what to say to them, although they usually fill the silence with chatters about Hollywood actresses they hope he’s seen. Once in a while his older brother will be visiting with his wife and Nicklaus will have a chance to catch up.
The conversations are almost identical, week to week. They ask about his school work, he asks after his grandparents. Mor tells him funny stories about the Swedish neighbors and Far grumbles regarding the family’s furniture store. Nicklaus treasures these moments: he is separated from them by an ocean and miles of land, but for a ten minute break on Sunday morning, he is lulled by his mother’s quiet stød, his father’s long pauses between his sentences.
They always end the calls with asking after Gabriel - always Gabriel, never the Prince, even though Nicklaus slips into such formalities at time. Gabriel had been a friend of their son since Folkeskole, and so he would always be merely himself. They ask how he’s doing, they mention their constant prayers for Nicklaus’s friend.
It’s when Nicklaus listens to the rings, waiting for his parents to pick up the phone on their end, that he feels the most homesick, week to week. But as he hangs up with thoughts of Gabriel forefront in his mind, every week he feels reassured that he made the right and only choice, following his friend.
The conversations are almost identical, week to week. They ask about his school work, he asks after his grandparents. Mor tells him funny stories about the Swedish neighbors and Far grumbles regarding the family’s furniture store. Nicklaus treasures these moments: he is separated from them by an ocean and miles of land, but for a ten minute break on Sunday morning, he is lulled by his mother’s quiet stød, his father’s long pauses between his sentences.
They always end the calls with asking after Gabriel - always Gabriel, never the Prince, even though Nicklaus slips into such formalities at time. Gabriel had been a friend of their son since Folkeskole, and so he would always be merely himself. They ask how he’s doing, they mention their constant prayers for Nicklaus’s friend.
It’s when Nicklaus listens to the rings, waiting for his parents to pick up the phone on their end, that he feels the most homesick, week to week. But as he hangs up with thoughts of Gabriel forefront in his mind, every week he feels reassured that he made the right and only choice, following his friend.