– Oh, gods, poor Fredrik! – I laughed.

Misha suddenly turned off the road onto a narrow, gravel path that led somewhere in the forest.

– We'll be home soon! – Misha said cheerfully.

– Remind me again: Did Fredrik build your house himself? – I asked.

– Yes, and in just a fortnight. We also have a jetty and a boat. And a swing.

– How nice. And how wonderful to see you happy, my darling.

– Oh, thank you. And I hope you're happy too.

"You'll never know the truth, my dear! Otherwise, you'll suffer for me. You don't have to suffer. No one has to. It is only my burden," I thought bitterly.

– Yes, of course," I smiled a fake smile.

A couple of minutes later, the lake and the two-storey wooden house on its shore, painted matte red, peeked out from behind the trees. But I didn't ask why red and why they needed swings.

– Well, I must justly say that Fredrik has done his best! – I exclaimed sincerely, stunned by the skill of my former lover.

– Yes, he did his best! But I helped too. I mean, I painted the whole house! What do you think of the colour? It's beautiful, isn't it? – Misha said with pride in her voice at my exclamation.

– Oh, yeah. Just gorgeous! – I answered her.

Misha parked the car near the house. Fortunately, the sun was hidden behind thick white clouds, and I could not hide from its rays.

I got out of the car and took the moment to look at the house more closely.

The "little house" (in the young Haraldson family's terms) was actually a massive tall house made of large, rough-hewn planks, fitted together so tightly that the lines of distinction were barely visible. The large wide terrace on the first floor, with a low railing made of thin trunks of some kind of wood, looked very cosy. There were wooden chaise lounges with soft fake fur covers on them. Next to the terrace was a large veranda with sliding glass doors. On the ground floor there were four wide windows and between them a tall solid wooden door, to which a wide wooden staircase with six steps ascended. The staircase and door were securely sheltered by a wide triangular roof, from which a large lantern descended on a thin chain.

– I forgot to warn you: we don't have electricity," Misha said suddenly, approaching me. – To be more precise, we have only one working socket, but only for charging phones.

– Are you kidding? – I grinned. – My MacBook is going to die in four hours, and I need to write to Elle about how busy I am!

– Do you have internet access on your phone? – Misha asked. – I don't.

– Of course I have internet! I'm just addicted to it! How do you live here? Without electricity and internet? – I hummed, surprised more and more.

– I assure you, life without the internet is magical! We are free of it. And we don't need electricity: in the evening we light candles and a fireplace. And it's so cosy! I only need water for my flowers.

– Don't tell me you don't shower? I know you, you're so tidy, you can lie in the bath for hours! – I laughed.

– We have a whole lake for that! But we have a shower, of course! True, it's more like a hose with water, there behind the house, but there's a wooden cabin! – Misha replied to this with delight. She took me by the hand and led me to a low jetty, next to which a big red boat was tied up. – Look how beautiful it is! The water is so clear and clean that you can see the bottom. But it's actually quite deep.

– Yes, it's very beautiful," I agreed eagerly. – But, you know, I couldn't live like this. With no electricity, no internet and an outdoor shower! Even in the middle of this lonely paradise. You could get bored out of your mind here!