WHEN I OPENED THE DOOR, it was just there, a fat letter full of yellowed pages lying in the corridor, written over in thick, black cursive. Her letter. Where had she even been? She had invited me to a party, which was to be held at an old farm out in the country. It must have been out on the islands, because the roof of the main house was thatched with water reeds. When I arrived at the party, she wasn’t around and I noticed that the gate to the yard looked uneven.
Here, I stooped down and began to run my fingers through the black earth. Yes, there was definitely something buried here. I found a hand shovel and began to dig. I pulled up all kinds of archaeological curiosities, mostly silver brooches, spoons, plates, and coins. Some were from the Viking age, others from the rule of Queen Christina. I set these finds alongside the gate, padded the dirt back into place. To think of how long these items had slept underground.
Later, she turned up. She was wearing a white dress with a lace corset. Her chestnut curls were styled in an elegant coiffure. “I’ve seen all of your movies,” I told her. She just watched me with big saucers of blue eyes. “I’m not really the greatest actress,” she said. “But here I am. That’s how it is.” The young woman had appeared in several films in the German-speaking countries. The Germans, Austrians and Swiss all knew about die Frau aus Estland, and she had legions of lonely, middle-aged male fans. Certainly, some women had fantasies of her as well.
Around the swimming pool, a hip hop concert began. It was Mike D. He began to rap the words to “Body Movin’.” There was something soothing about those words. I knew them all, I began to sing along. All this time, die Frau aus Estland stood beside me, watching me with a kind of fascinated silence. She looked like an aristocrat from Versailles. She reached out and touched my arm with her soft finger. “I’m always here, you know,” said die Frau. “I’ve always been here.”
north! 