Saving Elizabeth

By Trine Christensen

Saving Elizabeth is a strong and powerful novel about a young girl’s fight to save her seriously ill mother.
The novel takes place in Denmark and follows the young girl Kirsten, as she grows up and learns about life’s complexities and joys, including friendship, alcoholism and discrimination.
Kirsten befriends the funny and sometimes edgy characters in her neighborhood, while trying to come up with a plan for saving her troubled mother.
But what are the chances of success, when you grow up in a neighborhood of concrete, asphalt and building complexes, a place where the appointed resident judge is also the community biggest drunk?
Will Kirsten ever find a way to rescue her mother?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trine Christensen
• Release date: Apr 4, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311666574

Trine Christensen

Hi, I'm Trine.I'm an artist, writer and academic.I have a Master of Arts in International Studies from Århus University (Denmark), a Bachelor of Arts in Government and politics from Griffith University (Australia) and a diploma in Photography from Moreton Institute of TAFE (Australia).Whenever I get the time, I paint, take pictures and write. You can see my work on my website: www.onatart.com.I have lived in the United Kingdom, the United States of America and in Australia, but now resides in my birthtown Randers, in Denmark.

Book preview

Saving Elizabeth

By Trine Christensen

Mom, this one is for you

In memory of Grethe Christensen 1949–2001

Copyright 2014 Trine Christensen

Smashwords Edition

Thank you for downloading this e-book. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial

purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own

copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

Acknowledgment: this book has been copy-edited by Charlie Wilson from The Book Specialist, proofread by Michelle Bullock from Proof Wise and the cover is designed by Fiona Jayde Media.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

About the book

Connect with Trine Christensen

Chapter 1

On top of a hill, on the south side of the small city of Randers, stand seven wide building complexes. The buildings are square and made of gray concrete with sky-blue panels framing windows and doors. Separating the buildings are spacious lawns, bitumen parking lots and paved walkways. Kirsten lives in the building complex placed highest on the hill, and the place has a beautiful view overlooking the city and river.

Shortly after waking up, Kirsten rubs her eyes and looks through the bars of her children’s cot as she orientates herself. The door to her room is half open, but she can’t see anything through it except for a section of the white wall in the living room. She smells coffee brewing combined with a light hint of cigarette smoke and hears a mumbling male voice coming from the radio. The noises are coming from the kitchen, where her mother must be.

Suddenly, Kirsten is in a rush to get up and start a new day. She stands up in her children’s cot and eagerly grabs hold of the wooden bars that surround it. Unable to get out by herself, she shakes the bars on her bed loudly and yells, ‘Mommy, I’m awake. I’m awake. Come and get me now.’

Then she turns silent for a moment while she waits for her mother to arrive.

As Elizabeth approaches, Kirsten gets a little nervous because her loud behavior has on occasions made her mother irritable, although most of the time it makes her laugh. Elizabeth walks in through the door, her eyes meet Kirsten’s and she smiles and laughs.

‘So you’re ready to get up now, are you?’

Elizabeth lifts the girl up and walks her to the kitchen.

Outside the kitchen window the howling of a strong wind competes fiercely with the radio newsreader and provides him with a dramatic background noise. Kirsten glances out the window. Two birch trees sway turbulently in the wind while big splashes of rain spray on the glass. Kirsten smiles inwardly. She enjoys being so close to the raging, wild weather while at the same time being snug and warm, protected behind the thick window glass.

Elizabeth places a bowl of yogurt in front of Kirsten. The girl quickly consumes the breakfast and it isn’t long before she looks impatiently at her mother, ready for a new challenge.

‘Can I make some drawings?’

‘Yes, actually I need a new one for the fridge.’

Her mother wipes over the kitchen table with a wet cloth and leaves the kitchen. Shortly afterwards, she returns with a packet of colored pencils and a notepad containing large pieces of blank paper.

Elizabeth sits down next to Kirsten at the table and relaxes. She likes sitting down quietly in the morning, drinking coffee and listening to the radio, or just sitting down relaxing and thinking.

When she is not thinking, she is usually cleaning. Elizabeth is very tidy and the apartment is always clean and orderly. Sometimes, she gets into a lively mode and plays with Kirsten or plaits Kirsten’s wavy brown hair in numerous long, thin braids.

By midday Kirsten has several drawings spread out on the table. She is a little irritated that she isn’t able to draw proper figures yet, like she has seen older children and adults do. She looks closely at her latest drawing. The abstract lines and crisscrosses make up no particular subject matter, but if one looks closely at the picture, somewhere in the disarray of lines and colors the features of a tail-less ginger cat seem to appear.

‘Look, Mom, a cat. Doesn’t it look a bit like a cat?’

Elizabeth smiles and is reaching out to pick up the drawing when the doorbell rings.

On her way to the door Elizabeth wonders who would venture out in such weather. She opens the door anxiously. Outside, she finds a tiny body dressed in a giant raincoat. The raincoat drags along the ground by about a meter and the hood is so big that it falls down over the eyes and nose of the creature. Elizabeth bends down to better see the face of the small person, but all she can see is white teeth surrounded by a broad grin; the rest of the face is shaded dark by the hood. The tiny creature shakes the jacket to get the water off and pulls the hood back.

‘Hello, Lizzabeth.’

The beaming, bright face is unmistakable. It’s Kirsten’s cheeky friend, Anne. Elizabeth stands puzzled for a moment, just looking at the four-year-old girl who is drenched, covered with mud and dressed in what must be a grown man’s fishing raincoat. She is lost for words.

‘I borrowed my dad’s jacket on the way over here. There’s nothing to do at my place. Can I come in and play with Kirsten?’

‘Of course, come on in.’

Elizabeth is still a bit puzzled, but helps Anne inside and out of the raincoat.

The ill-fitted coat has done little to properly shield the girl from the weather: the front of her blouse is wet, the lower parts of her jeans are dripping with water, and her shoes and socks are soaked. Several mud stains cover Anne’s face, and a mixture of rain and mud is dripping from her clothes onto the carpet.

Elizabeth looks at Anne with urgency and concern.

‘I was just about to pop Kirsten in the bath. I might put you in as well.’

Elizabeth fills up the bathtub and undresses both the girls. The tiles on the floor are cold and the girls are quick to climb into the warm bath. The bath is filled with soapy suds and all of Kirsten’s bath toys, and the girls play with the fluffy suds until there are virtually none left. Anne amuses everyone by putting lots of suds on her head, making it look like she has a fuzzy white Afro.

‘Let’s race them.’ Anne suddenly grins, full of mischief, and points to the bath toys. ‘Pick one, Kirsten. Quick.’

Playing with Anne is always a big adventure, and before Kirsten has made her mind up about which toy to have, Anne has already lined up all the plastic toys at one end of the bathtub. Kirsten chooses the yellow plastic duck and Anne the blue boat. The girls make waves with their hands and the toys begin moving towards the other end of the tub. In the heat of the game, one big splash of water spills over the bathtub edge. The sight of soap and water running down onto the floor fills Elizabeth’s face with anger. Both girls instantly settle down; they know better than to mess up Elizabeth’s clean apartment.

Elizabeth gets up from the chair that she has been sitting on, watching over the girls. She cleans up the water on the floor and takes Anne and Kirsten out of the bath and into some clean clothes. Anne gets some of Kirsten’s clothes on and then Elizabeth brushes and braids the girls’ hair. Once the girls are dressed, Elizabeth walks them to the kitchen and gives each a sandwich and a cup of warm chocolate. While the girls eat, Elizabeth packs Anne’s wet clothes into a plastic bag and starts scrubbing the living room carpet where the raincoat has been dripping. The rain has eased and the bright skylight reveals that the few stains are easily removed. Instantly, the rug is spotless, but Elizabeth can’t seem to stop scrubbing and continues to grind frantically into the carpet.

Anne looks at Elizabeth and then at Kirsten, and smiles.

‘Let’s head over to my place.’

Anne lives in one of the far-end building complexes, and the girls sprint over the black asphalt parking lot and over one of the long green lawns to get there. On their way they take care to avoid the many puddles that the rain has left, and zigzag around the big puddles while jumping the smaller ones.

Anne’s mother, Lene, greets them as they hasten in through the door, and Anne is eager to show her mother her plaits and new set of clothes. Lene smiles and investigates the girls’ hair for a short moment, but she is busy and eager to return to her work.

‘I’m in the middle of cooking your dad a hot lunch. He’ll be home soon so I’ll have to finish,’ she says. She sees the raincoat. ‘You’d better put that jacket away quickly before your dad comes home. You know better than to take his things.’

Her tone of voice is stressed and she looks tired. Her brown hair is greasy and untidy, and her eyes are chaotic, with large black rings under them as if she hasn’t slept for days. She gives the girls a yearning look as if she would love to spend hours with them inspecting their hair, but then her eyes turn wild again, telling that if she doesn’t go back to work, her ever-growing mountain of duties will expand out of control and explode.

Lene walks over to the stove and starts stirring a pot to prevent its contents from boiling over, and then she turns her attention to some meat frying in a pan. The hot oil sprays in her face and she wipes her hand over her forehead and then dries the sweat and grease off on the front of her dress. Kirsten is not sure whether the dress used to be blue and has slowly turned green, or whether it was the other way around. Whichever way, Lene and her dress blend in perfectly with the rest of the apartment.

Originally, the colors in the kitchen were orange and white—white cupboards with orange walls—but the white has turned into a tired yellowish color and the orange has faded and is nearly the same dull yellow as the cupboards.

Nothing in the house is particularly organized, but most things seem to have slowly evolved into their current state, like the thick layer of sticky grease that covers everything from door handles to cupboards and furniture, or the strange, magical carpet of long, soft dog hairs that coats all the floors. Even the leftover food on the dishes piled up on the kitchen bench seems to have matured in its own unique, organic way.

Elizabeth often talks to neighbors about how messy Anne’s family is. One time Kirsten heard her say that she couldn’t understand how anyone could live in such filth. And she continuously mentions the time she was invited over to Anne’s place but was unable to drink the coffee because there were several dog hairs in the cup.

Kirsten thinks her mother’s remarks are cruel. She doesn’t understand why Elizabeth is so concerned with how Anne’s family lives. She certainly doesn’t care; but Kirsten knows that her mother, despite her harsh remarks, likes both Anne and Lene. She adores Anne and often expresses concern for Lene. One time Kirsten heard her mother say that Lene has too much work to do, and that she is worn out because her husband never helps with the apartment or their five kids.

Anne, Lene and Kirsten are interrupted by the sound of the front door opening, followed by a big slam. A few seconds later a tall, reasonably overweight man with a plump, unshaven face walks into the kitchen. It’s Anne’s dad, Mads. By his side are three large hunting dogs that follow him eagerly and energetically into the kitchen. Their mouths are open, letting their long, wet tongues hang out, and their bodies are tall, lean and intimidating.

Mads takes off his coat, which is soggy from the wet weather, and hands it to Lene. His muddy boots stain the floor as he walks and he glares emotionlessly at the two girls as he passes them and seats himself at the kitchen table.

A cold chill runs down Kirsten’s spine. She doesn’t know why, but she is terrified of Anne’s dad. Suddenly, all she wants to do is run away, but her feet are frozen to the ground and she can’t stop staring at his unyielding face.

Luckily, Anne pulls her by the arm. ‘Come on, Kirsten. Now.’

The girls run into Anne’s room and close the door behind them.

‘Listen to this,’ Anne says, and turns the tape recorder on.

Loud, energetic pop music blasts through the speakers and Anne crawls up on her bed. Using a headless Barbie doll as a microphone, she starts singing along to the catchy lyrics. Kirsten climbs up too, and the girls sing, dance and jump around energetically on the bed. Kirsten loves playing at Anne’s place. There is no way she would ever be allowed to do anything like this at home.

Suddenly, while right in the middle of singing the chorus, Anne stops and looks seriously at Kirsten. ‘Wait. I’ve got to show you something. It’s amazing.’

Anne storms out of the room and runs down the long corridor into the bathroom. Kirsten follows and finds Anne bent over the edge of the bathtub. The bathroom is large and roomy, and possibly the tidiest place in the whole house, except for a large washing basket behind the door that is piled up nearly all the way to the ceiling with dirty laundry.

‘Look,’ Anne says and points into the bath.

Kirsten removes her gaze from the tower of washing and hurries over to the bathtub. The tub is filled with water and has about fifteen long, snakelike creatures in it.

‘They’re eels,’ Anne says in a loud, whining tone that hurts Kirsten’s ears. ‘My dad caught them yesterday. He says that they need to stay in the bath for a couple of days. It makes them tastier.’

The girls look at each other and start giggling. Then Kirsten looks at the eels again. She can’t believe that Anne’s family actually have fish in their bath and that they plan to eat them.

‘Do you think you’d be able to catch one?’ she asks curiously.

Without hesitating, Anne sticks her whole hand and arm down into the bath and chases after the biggest of the eels. All the eels spook and in a split-second they are down the other end of the bathtub, but Anne just continues to chase after them. Her body powers up and down along the bathtub while her hand and arm accelerate through the water. Her face is tight and serious, and she is so full of determination that it makes Kirsten laugh. When Anne discovers that she is the subject of Kirsten’s amusement, she stops and breaks into a broad smile. The girls give up the eel chase, and instead sit down and watch the fish as they peacefully swim around the tub.

A few hours later Lene sticks her head in through the bathroom door to see whether Anne and Kirsten are hungry. The girls follow her eagerly to the kitchen. Anne accepts her mother’s offerings of cheese on bread, and Kirsten is just about to as well when she remembers her mother’s story about the dog hairs in the coffee and she politely declines the food.

While