December 6, 2024
When Håkan climbed down from the ladder, he stood for a while admiring his work. He was just about to go get Evelina and ask if she might have lost her glitter, when Evelina and Madeleine came walking towards him, They had their heads close together and didn’t seem to notice that he was standing there. “No… just do as usual! Say you’re going to buy the newspaper”. Evelina continued: “It has worked every other year, right?”
Håkan’s ears turned into parabolas and his eyes got big. Buy the magazine? That’s what his father always said, right after Donald Duck. Then he went out and Håkan always felt so sorry for him because he missed Santa! Same thing every year. Håkan also felt very sorry for the poor man who worked selling newspapers on Christmas Eve itself.
Before Håkan could ask Evelina and Madeleine what they were talking about, they caught sight of him and looked very guilty. They quickly changed the topic of conversation and Madeleine pulled out a tray of Luciabuns from behind her back. “Fika-time!” she shouted and quickly stuck the plate under Håkan’s nose.
They went into one of the cozy boathouses and sat around the table. Håkan looked greedily at the sun-yellow saffron buns – Luciabuns were his absolute favorite snack and he was careful to select the very largest bun first. Along with a glass of julmust, it quickly went down and he cut into his second. It felt strange in the body. He couldn’t let go of what he had just heard… Kjell, Klas, Evelina and Madeleine… What was really going on? The more he thought about it, the more unfunny it felt. Suddenly it was as if the buns were growing in his mouth and he lost his appetite.
“What is it, Håkan, aren’t you going to have more buns?” Evelina asked worriedly. “You’ve only eaten four?”. “Nah, I’m not that keen,” answered Håkan bluntly. He had been given a lot to think about. “But you, it’s your favorite fika, isn’t it? Aren’t you going to have another one?” Evelina enticed and poked but Håkan was relentless. Today there were no more Lucia buns.
All day he walked around and thought about what he had heard. Donald Duck, the sack ofChristmas gifts, buy the newspaper… There was something wrong! The Christmas joy he felt when he rushed down to Kajkanten this morning was blown away. When Håkan got into bed that evening, gloomy thoughts occupied his head under the nightcap. To cheer himself up, he went and got his snow globe that he liked so much. When he picked it up in his hand, he got a shock. Now it wasn’t just Santa’s hat that had lost its color, now also his fine red coat was pink and dainty. Håkan gave a small scream. Then he took the snow globe with him and went to bed.
Perched on a lamp post outside Håkan’s bedroom window sat a small figure thoughtfully chewing on a gingerbread. This was extremely serious.
Guess who we ran into today? The fishmonger! He was placing orders for Christmas and New Years, and hey, what a lot of lobster he ordered! We make our New Year’s package (just like many of our other packages) together with our friends at Hamnkrogen Lotsen and Fiskeboa, and the seafood box they deliver on this particular day is, of course, topped with a big, red, neighborly lobster!
