Borgny - Escape from the flames

“Come on Borgny, let’s go up to Storgata Street.”
Borgny looks up towards Storgata. Beyond the burning houses she can
see Aksla Mountain with Fjellstua Lodge on top. It’s so lovely up there at
Fjellstua. Borgny went there once. From there she could see over to the
other side of the world, all the way to America. They walk past Butcher
Mjelva’s house. It’s on fire. The butcher is standing in front of his house
waving his arms. It looks as if he wants to go inside. He stops Ivar.
“Can you go and get my purse? It’s on the kitchen table. I’ll give you five
øre (pennies) if you do.”

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Borgny looks at Ivar. She knows that he’ll do it. Ivar can’t say no. He
does what adults tell him to do. Borgny sits down, showing that she
thinks it’s alright.
“This is easy money,” Ivar says, “I’ll be back in a wink,” and he runs
into the house.
Borgny stares at the house, and all of a sudden she hears a crash. The
windows explode and flames shoot out of the windows and doors.
Flames engulf the house and Ivar is inside. He can’t get out. What can
she do?
Borgny prays. She kneels, folds her hands and bows her head. She’s
praying. She’s praying for someone to help Ivar. Then it happens. As if
by a miracle Borgny sees the flames in the doorway die down. Ivar
can come out now. Where is he? Why doesn’t Ivar come out?
Borgny’s heart is in her throat. It’s hot, but she’s in a
cold sweat. Flames fill the doorway again. Then she
hears a noise. Ivar comes dashing out through
the door. Ivar’s coming. Borgny throws her
arms around his neck and hugs Ivar, the
best big brother a little sister could
have.
“Here you are,” says Ivar and gi-
ves the purse to the butcher.
“Thank you very much,”
says the butcher relie-
ved and give Ivar
the five øre.

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Borgny takes off, she runs so fast that she almost flies. All the houses
have caught fire. She sees that the fire-station is burning. The fire-station
is on fire and so is old Mrs Heen’s house. The old lady is sitting in front
of her house. She’s just sitting there. Then she stands up and goes indo-
ors. She walks into her burning house.
Why is she doing that?

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Borgny’s exhausted. She can’t go any further. Nor can Ivar. They sit down
on some steps. They can’t bear it any longer. Borgny watches old Mrs
Heen’s house. It’s all ablaze. Flames are coming out of the windows. Fla-
mes are coming out of the door. Old Mrs Heen is inside. The old lady
hasn’t come out. She’ll never come out again.
It makes Borgny sad.

Borgny is so distressed. There’s fire everywhere. It’s burning ahead, be-
hind and on either side of them. The wind is quieter now, but the fire is
still angry. It’s crackling and hissing.
Borgny thinks, “Imagine being a seagull. You could just fly away, fly away
and escape from the flames, fly away to a nice, warm bed, fly away to find
Mother, Father and little Anna. Seagulls don’t need to be scared. They
can just fly away. They can fly to Molde. Molde isn’t on fire.”
Borgny looks at Ivar. He’s crying. Ivar never cries. He doesn’t cry when
he gets hurt. He doesn’t cry when Father is angry with him. Ivar is crying
now. Ivar is scared too. He’s just sitting there, not moving.
Borgny’s tummy aches. It’s pinching inside. Can’t Mother and Father
come out of the sea of flames? Can’t they come to save them? Can’t
Mother carry her up to the bed and say the Lord’s Prayer?
Can’t Mother stroke her cheek and tell her how much she loves her?
Can’t Mother come now?

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Borgny can see the wind. It’s pushing its way through the smoke and
flames. She can see something taking shape. The wind is trying to
show her something. It forms itself into a hand and points. It’s poin-

ting towards Kipervika Bay. The wind wants them to go to Kiper-
vika Bay.
Borgny stands up and squints down at Kipervika Bay. The
wind is right. Mother is down there, she thinks she can
make her out in among the clouds of smoke. She takes
Ivar’s hand, and off they go.

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Borgny trudges on, so does Ivar, they are really tired. Kipervika Bay is
not far ahead. The Hågensen family is walking in front of them. They’re
carrying everything from their house on a cart, at least nearly all their
furniture. The two eldest brothers are pulling the cart like horses. They
lean forward with their heads bowed and are puffing and blowing like
the flames rising from the burning houses.
Borgny watches the sparks and all the burning debris that’s fallen from
the houses. Then she suddenly sees a flaming curtain flying out of a hou-
se. The curtain circles above the cart, before settling nicely on the piano.
The piano is going to catch fire. The poor Hågensen family, they have
struggled so hard to save their belongings, and here’s a stupid curtain
spoiling everything. Borgny rushes over to the cart and grabs the edge of
the curtain, where it isn’t burning. She pulls the curtain off the moving
load. Borgny’s heart leaps with joy. She’s saved all the furniture. She con-
quered the fire! She stronger than the flames! She’s stronger than the fire!
The boys come over to Borgny.
“Thank you! You’ve saved our furniture. You’re a brave girl.”
Borgny looks at the boys. They’re smiling. Then suddenly they stop smi-
ling. They stand there gaping. Their eyes become like marbles and their
faces stiffen. Aren’t they happy anymore, aren’t they happy she’s saved
their furniture?
Borgny turns around and understands. A hundred more curtains are fly-
ing out of the house, burning curtains are everywhere. They settle on the
furniture, one after the other, and suddenly the whole cart is set alight.
Flames leap into the air, higher than the rooftops. The piano chokes out
its last notes. It’s like a big bonfire, it’s like the Bålholmen midsummer’s
night bonfire, except that it’s not midsummer.
Borgny is sad. She’s not stronger than the fire after all.

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Borgny starts crying. She wants to escape from everything. She wants
to escape from the flames. She wants to escape from the town. She
wants to go to a place where there’s no fire, a place where they can be
at peace. She runs. Ivar runs too.
Suddenly Ivar stops. He shouts to Borgny, “Stop! Stop Borgny!”
Borgny stops. They’ve stopped outside a baker’s shop. Borgny spots
a tray with freshly baked buns on the counter. There’s only the shop-
window between Borgny and the buns. She wants a bun so badly.
She’s so hungry. She hasn’t eaten anything since yesterday. She’s so
hungry she could eat a horse, she could eat two horses, she’s that
hungry. Then she notices two prisoners in their striped uniforms.
What are they doing in the baker’s shop? They should be in prison.
They shouldn’t be in the baker’s shop. The prisoners take lots of pas-
tries from the counter. They’re taking the world’s best buns and then
leaving. They go past Borgny.
“Here you are, little girl, you look as if you need something to give
you strength.”
Borgny curtsies. She takes the bun. She looks at the prisoners, they
don’t look nasty. They look kind. They smile at Borgny. Borgny bre-
aks the bun in two and shares it with Ivar, who then hurries into the
shop. He puts the five øring (pennies) on the counter. The ones he
earned when he fetched Butcher Mjelva’s wallet.
“There, now we’ve paid for the bun. It’s not nice to steal,” Ivar says
proudly.

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Borgny munches on the bun. She eats every crumb. The fire is eating all
the houses around Kipervika Bay, just like she’s eating the bun. The neig-
hbourhood of Kipervika Bay is disappearing. Will the fire never be satis-
fied? Soon it will have eaten the whole of our town. Borgny touches her
tummy, it’s still aching. Why is it aching? Mother and Father aren’t here,
nor is Anna. She misses them. Luckily she’s got Aurora. She gives Aurora
a hug.
Borgny drags her feet despondently as she slowly walks along the road.
So does Ivar, they can barely move their legs.They can’t walk any faster.
They go past the prison. The prison is on fire. They’re nearly out of the
town. The director of the prison is standing in the road in front of them.
He is talking to all the prisoners.
“Now you must promise to come back tomorrow.”
“Yes, we promise,” say the prisoners.
“You must promise to be kind and not to steal anything.”
“Yes, we promise,” say the prisoners.
“You must promise to help people in difficulty.”
“Yes, we promise,” say the prisoners.

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Borgny sees the prisoners who gave her the bun. One of them winks at
her with a smile. Borgny smiles weakly back at him. She can’t manage to
smile properly. She’s too exhausted. She knows the prisoners are kind,
she knows that they’ll do as the prison director says.
“It looks as if you could do with some help,” say the two prisoners to
Borgny and Ivar.
“Come on, we’ll carry you.”

Borgny clambers onto one of the prisoners’ backs. Ivar climbs onto
the other one’s back. Off they stride, away from Kipervika Bay. They’re
galloping like two horses, or rather, like a pair of zebras. Borgny glan-
ces down at the prisoner’s striped clothes. They look like zebra stripes.
The prisoners make funny noises as they go along.
“Proo!”
“Neeeigh!”
“Mooo!”
“Mooo?”
Borgny wonders. “Moo? Horses don’t moo.” Then she understands. A
cow is standing in the middle of the road. A big fat cow is blocking the
way. A cow! What’s a cow doing here? A cow should be on a farm, not
in town. Not in a town that’s on fire. Beside the cow stands a man.
“Would you like some milk?” He says.
Borgny slides down from the prisoner’s back. She goes over to the
man and cups her hands together. The man bends down and reaches
under the cow, so does Borgny. The man starts to squeeze and pull the
teats, and then the milk comes. The milk squirts out in a fine stream,
it’s warm. Borgny is cold and the milk is warm. Borgny slurps in the
lovely drink, the best milk she’s ever tasted. Ivar has some too. He has
a nice, white, milk mustache. Borgny grins. Ivar grins at her, Borgny’s
got a milk mustache too.
Borgny goes and strokes the cow’s head, as if to thank her. Ivar thanks
the man and so do the prisoners. The cow lows. Its lowing is like the
organist tuning the church organ.

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Borgny and Ivar say goodbye to the prisoners and continue
up the street on their own. As they approach the top of the
street they see a man running and waving his arms. It’s But-
cher Mjelva. He’s screaming and shouting like a stung pig.
Flying all around him are hundreds, thousands, millions of
burning banknotes. The pocket where he kept his wallet is
on fire. Poor Butcher Mjelva. He got nothing out of Ivar fet-
ching his wallet. At least Ivar and Borgny got a bun. They
walk on, and are soon out of the town.
Borgny thinks she can hear something.

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Borgny pricks up her ears. She can hear cries for help. They are
coming from Grensegata Street. There’s a small crowd of people
standing in front of a little, white house. They’re waving their
hands and shouting and screaming. People are carrying furniture
out of the house. The houses on either side are aflame.
“Don’t take the furniture out, it’s not going to burn. I’ve already
told you, I received an annunciation from the angel, my house
will not burn down.”
Borgny recognizes the voice. It’s Anders Nord’s voice. He’s often
been to the house for coffee with Mother and Father.
“I’m staying here! I won’t go anywhere!” he says and goes back
into his house.
“He’s mad! He’s going to get burnt alive,” people shout.
Borgny remembers the old lady near the fire-station. She went
back into her house and it burnt down. She never came out again.
Borgny is about to run into Anders’ house to warn him, when she
suddenly hears something.
Borgny can hear the wind. It’s puffing and blowing. The wind is
tired, it’s not blowing so hard now. It’s trying to save Anders’ hou-
se. It’s whispering to her, it’s begging her to calm down, it’s saying
that everything’s going to be all right.
Borgny takes Ivar’s hand. They go on, on towards Volsdalsvegen
Road. She’s sure that Anders will manage, and now she’s certain
they’ll find their family again.

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Borgny turns around. She looks down towards the town. It’s
covered by clouds of black smoke. She can see nothing but
flames and smoke and no houses. All the houses have burnt
down. Only Anders’ house is left. Poor Ålesund, our town
Ålesund doesn’t exist anymore. Ålesund which was so beauti-
ful. Now it’s just ashes. Borgny’s house has gone too. She won-
ders where she’s going to sleep.
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Borgny trusts the wind. At least she thinks she can trust it. Pe-
ople say one can’t talk to the wind. That’s why Borgny doesn’t
tell anybody. Maybe she’s wrong, maybe the others are right?
Maybe she can’t trust the wind after all. Borgny has tummy-
ache again. They trudge on towards Volsdalsvegen Road.
There’s a procession of people hobbling up from the town.

Borgny studies the procession. It reminds her of the 17th of May proces-
sion, except that the Norwegian flags are missing. There’s no shouting or
smiling either, just people. People walking. They’re walking with their
heads bowed, no one is speaking, they’re just walking. Their clothes are
dirty, they’ve got soot on their faces, some are crying, they’re crying qui-
etly.
Borgny’s sad. Maybe Mother and Father are crying as well. Maybe they’re
crying because they can’t find her and Ivar. Maybe they’re crying because
they can’t find each other.

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Borgny joins the procession, but in the opposite direction. She’s loo-
king for Mother and Father. Where is Mother? Where is Father? Borgny
can’t see them. Where are they? Borgny starts running. Didn’t the wind
say that everything was going to be alright? Didn’t the wind say that she
would find Mother and Father? Does the wind lie after all? Does the
wind lie?
Borgny sits down on a stone. Then she sees them. Borgny rushes ahead
with Ivar following her breathlessly. Borgny grabs Mother’s arm. Mother
turns around.
“What do you want? Are you looking for someone?” says the woman.
Borgny looks at the woman. It’s not Mother. It’s not Mother, or Father or
Anna. It’s someone else.
Borgny sits on another stone.
Borgny cries.

Borgny is crying. She can’t stop. She cries and cries. The tears roll
down. She sobs and wails. She can hardly breath. The tears run
down her cheeks. Then she feels a hand on her shoulder. She feels
a big, warm hand on her shoulder. She knows whose hand it is.
Borgny turns around. She looks straight into Father’s eyes. They
are the most wonderful eyes in the world. Father lifts her up and
hugs her tightly to him. Mother arrives carrying little Anna in
her arms. Borgny sees tears in her mother’s eyes. They’ve both got
tears in their eyes. Now they’re tears of joy. Tears of joy.
Borgny speaks. The words come tumbling out.
“I’ve missed you so much. I was so afraid. Ivar is so clever. The
prisoners gave us a bun. I love you so much. Ivar rowed us across
Brosundet Sound. We drank milk straight from a cow.
It rained curtains and Anders Nord went back into his house.”
Borgny talks and talks. There are so many things she must tell
them.
“Don’t ever leave me again. The wind helped me. Ivar earned five
øre (pennies). Butcher Mjelva’s wallet caught fire,” she continues
eagerly.
Borgny babbles on. Mother and Father look at each other. They
all hug each other tightly. They open their mouths in astonish-
ment, they laugh and then they cry a little.

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Borgny and the rest of the family walk along Volsdalsvegen
Road. There’s almost no fire anymore. It’s gone dark again.
They go into the first house which hasn’t burnt down. There
are lots of people inside the house and lots of firemen. Every-
body is exhausted, some are asleep. Then there’s a knock on
the door. In comes a man with the strangest mustache Borgny
has ever seen. The mustache looks like a kringle pastry. Every-
body stops talking. Everything goes silent. Everybody looks at
the man. Borgny looks at the man, then she looks at his krin-
gle mustache.
Then he says “The fire has been extinguished.”
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Borgny is so happy. Everybody bursts out in exultation, they
shout, they cry, they hug each other and the newly married
couple, Mr and Mrs Kipervik, kiss.
Then the man says, “A telegram has arrived with greetings
from the King. He’s proud of the people of Ålesund. The
King promises to help us rebuild the town.”
Borgny is delighted, so is everyone else. They shout even
more, cry even more and hug each other even harder. The
Kiperviks are still kissing.
“And what’s more,” says the man, twiddling his mustache
with his finger. “We’ve received a telegram from the Em-
peror of Germany, Keiser Wilhelm. He has already sent
three ships with emergency supplies for us. We’re going to
rebuild Ålesund to be the most beautiful town in the world.”

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Borgny snuggles against Mother. All the sounds become
muffled, as if someone were holding their hands over
her ears. It’s so utterly good. She hasn’t got tummy-ache
anymore, she just feels good.
Borgny looks out of the window, she can see the town,
the town that’s burnt down. Borgny isn’t worried. The
King and the Emperor are coming to help them build a
new town, the most beautiful town in the world. Borgny
snuggles even closer to mother. She’s lovely and warm.
The wind is quiet now, she can barely hear it through the
window. The wind is whispering to Borgny. The wind
whispers that she should go to sleep.
Borgny falls asleep.

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Borgny dreams. She’s dreaming about
kings and emperors. She’s dreaming abo-
ut what her new house will be like. She’s
dreaming about a house which can’t burn
down. She’s dreaming about how Ålesund
will be rebuilt. She’s dreaming that Åle-
sund becomes the most beautiful town in
the world
Borgny is dreaming good dreams.

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