winter in greenland

After Joe sent Dan home, he left. Just after noon, Dan took a shower and fell asleep.He was woken up by the sound of a military band coming from outside the window, and dazedly touched the cell phone next to him, and the time showed 4:[-] pm.His mind slowly returned, and the passionate march melody in his ears became clearer. He rubbed his hair, turned over and sat up from the bed.

There was still some throbbing pain in his temples, he sighed, got out of bed, poured a glass of water to drink it up, and looked out from the balcony. The 6-member military band wore red and white uniforms, with excited smiles on their faces.People who participated in the parade painted rainbows on their faces, and some people even wrapped themselves in bathrobes made of a rainbow flag.

Dan stared at them for a while, turned around and closed the window, went into the bathroom, washed his face briefly, put on his coat and was ready to go out.

Midsummer Festival, as the name suggests, during this time Reykjavik enters summer, the sky is bright and the air is full of warm and salty smell from the sea.

It was just after 5 o'clock when Dan arrived at the port by bicycle. He rented this boat from an old fisherman. The old man suffered from rheumatism and rarely went to sea again, but he was reluctant to sell the boat.When Dan first arrived in Reykjavik, he spent every day at the port. He has a gentle personality and is very good at pleasing others when he wants to. Within a few months, he has gone out to sea with almost all experienced fishermen. By the way Tested for a license.On the second day after getting the license, he rented the boat, repainted it, and replaced all the replaced parts with new ones. After a week, he registered at the port and began to take tourists out to sea, sea fishing or sightseeing.Throughout the summer, he has been drifting in the sea near here. He did lack some experience at the beginning, but fortunately, his personality is calm enough, and there have been no accidents.By this summer, more than half of the customers who came to see him were old customers from last year.

The charter boat tonight is a same-sex couple who came last year.Dan remembered that when they came last year, they chartered his boat for three consecutive days. On the first day, they went to see the whales. Bask in the sun on the deck.Dan didn't talk to them much, but there was enough to see from the cockpit window that the two were close.

They went out to sea very early, and they prepared breakfast and lunch by themselves. Dan only needed to drive the boat to the designated place and everything would be fine.Sometimes they simply chatted and drank, sometimes they went swimming laps, and Dan even saw them snorkeling with their own diving equipment.But after observing them for a long time, Dan gradually understands that the so-called soul mates in this world cannot be formed overnight. Two people can be together. It takes time to accumulate enough understanding, trust and tacit understanding, but also complete tolerance. and love.

He wanted that kind of affection.

When the face of that person appeared in his subconscious mind, he knew that no matter how much he said he didn't mind, he was deceiving himself. If he really didn't care at all, he wouldn't have come here at all.The world is so big, he can go far away, out of sight and out of mind.

Iceland is the closest island to Greenland.

"Hey, Dan." A voice from the pier interrupted his thoughts.

He threw the cable in his hand to the side of the deck, turned his head, and the smile on his face turned into surprise when he saw that there was only one person: "Only you?"

Standing on the pier was a young man in his thirties, with a typical Asian face, not too tall, in black clothes and black trousers, wrapped in a thin navy blue windbreaker, with a haggard face.

"Where's your partner?" Dan put the gangplank onto the pier.

The young man didn't answer right away, he just raised the collar of his windbreaker slightly, stepped onto the gangway and onto the boat.

"Let's just sail, old place."

Dan keenly heard some other meanings from his words, and without asking any more questions, he put away the boards and entered the cockpit. The boat's engine suddenly started, and it turned in the port, heading steadily to the southwest It sailed away, leaving two ripples on the sea surface.

The "Old Place" that young men call it is not far from the Old Port, and it is just around a protruding headland in the southwest.Because the water near here is not deep, there are many hidden reefs near the headland, and there is no special scenery, so few tourists will come here.

Dan parked the boat on the edge of the reefs. The sea was calm and the wind was not strong. The setting sun was hanging on the sea level in the distance, spreading out a gorgeous carpet of gold and red in front of them.

The young man propped his hands on the side of the boat, looking at the sea level in the distance with some ecstasy.

Dan hesitated for a while, then walked out from the cockpit: "Sea fishing? Or...?"

The young man turned his head slightly, and Dan froze when he saw his red eyes, and had some bad guesses in his heart.

"No, I just want to visit the old place."

Dan was silent and said nothing.

"Before he left, he said that he didn't want me to be alone. It's best to meet a suitable person to spend the rest of my life. If I really find that person, just bring him to his grave and let him have a look. You can feel at ease."

"So..." Dan hesitated.

The man smiled, and opened the neckline of the windbreaker, revealing a glass pendant hanging around his neck, which was made into the shape of an ampoule, and inside was some off-white powder.

"This is... ashes?" Dan was a little uncertain.

The man smiled: "To be precise, it's part of his ashes. I thought I'd always take him to the places we've been before, so that he wouldn't be too lonely. So I came here this year , chartered your boat."

"Is... an accident?" Dan asked in a low voice.

The man shook his head: "No. In fact, we are all mentally prepared. When he came here last year, he was just diagnosed with lymphoma. The course of the disease has reached the middle stage, and the doctor suggested starting treatment as soon as possible. But he said he wanted to take a look outside when he had time. He hasn't seen the aurora before, so we came here. It's a pity...we didn't see the aurora in the end."

"What happened?"

"Originally our plan was to stay here for a few weeks after arriving here in mid-September, to see volcanoes and geysers, to go to Norway in mid-October, to see the aurora in Oslo, and then to go back to the hospital for proper treatment. Unexpectedly... … the day after we arrived in Oslo, his condition suddenly worsened.”

Dan felt a little sympathetic: "Then you went back to China?"

The man nodded: "Actually, there were some symptoms before that, but I didn't notice it. After we left Iceland, he had to take painkillers almost every night. I don't know how far the cancer cells have spread. I thought he was sleeping well. Who knew it was the effect of painkillers and sleeping pills. He studied pharmacology as an undergraduate, so he knows exactly how much dosage to use, which can control the pain within the range he can bear without causing the pain It aroused my suspicion. As a result, he fell down without warning in front of me that day..."

His voice trembled, as if he couldn't hold it back at last, and he supported his forehead with both hands.

Dan put his hand lightly on his shoulder and said nothing.

After a while, the man seemed to suppress some turbulent emotions, and barely raised his head: "After that, it will be endless... He went to the hospital for treatment on time every week, but his condition continued to get worse day by day, and finally he had to be hospitalized At that time, he was almost skinny. Maybe since then, he had some premonitions about his ending. I watched him arrange the affairs behind him in an orderly manner, every detail, but there was no way to stop him. There's no way to lie to him that everything will be okay. We both know each other well that he doesn't need such lies and neither do I.

"Actually, everything was very fast. From the time he was hospitalized to the time he left, it was only a month. I don't know if I should be glad that he was not tortured out of shape when he left." The corner of the man's mouth curled into a reluctant arc.

Nearly 8:[-], the setting sun hung slantingly over the sea level, coating them with a layer of blood-like afterglow.

Dan knew that no words could express one ten-thousandth of the grief of the person involved at this time, so he didn't say anything, and looked at the sea that had turned dark blue, not knowing what he thought of.After a long time, he said softly, "If you don't mind, I want to ask you a question."

The man turned his head: "You ask."

Dan cleared his throat unnaturally: "If, I mean, you meet another person in the future, is there still a possibility, even if it's only a ten thousandth possibility, to start over?"

The man's eyes also turned to the distant sea, and he paused for a few seconds before saying: "It's different." There was a slight smile on the corner of his mouth, as if he remembered something sweet: "I know he wants me to live well , but that's different."

At that moment, Dan only felt that something heavy pulled him hard, and his whole heart was pulled into a bottomless abyss.

It was past 10 o'clock in the evening when they returned to the voyage. In the second half of the night, the two of them hardly spoke, each occupying one side of the ship's side, thinking about their bottomless thoughts.It was almost midnight when we returned to the port. At this time, night fishing tourists did not go back so early, and it was not the best time to go to sea. The port was deserted.

Dan tied up the boat and walked out with the man. There was a dim light in the harbor steward's cabin at the door, and there was a faint sound of lively music.The two said goodbye at the gate, Dan's bicycle was parked aside, the hotel where the man lived was not far from here, and he planned to walk back.After saying goodbye, the man stopped for a rare moment, then took a step forward, raised his hand and hugged Dan loosely: "Thank you today, you don't know how important this is to me."

The hug was fleeting, and his voice was very soft. After letting go, he left without looking back.

Dan stood there in a daze for a while, his brows and eyes were gloomy, and as soon as he turned around, a half-hidden figure under the street lamp startled him.

"August? Why are you here?" Dan's tone was full of surprise.

August didn't speak, and came out from the dark place. He was taller than Dan. The street had a slight slope. He stood on the uphill and looked down at Dan: "Where are you going?" gone?"

Dan didn't realize the current situation: "I took the guests out to sea, why, you have something to do with me?"

August took a step forward, with some anger in his tone: "You are in such a bad state at noon today. I heard that you fought in the bar last night. Can you go to sea in this state?"

Dan originally forgot what happened last night. After he reminded him, he remembered what he did last night, and worried that August would know why he beat those people, so he turned around and prepared to leave out of embarrassment: "If As you can see, I took the guests out to sea and returned safely, if you have nothing else to do, I will go first."

"Wait." August grabbed his arm: "Even if you don't want to talk to me, you have to take care of your injuries."

"I'm fine." Dan said stiffly, trying to break free.

August didn't relax his strength at all, and lightly pressed his other hand on his injured shoulder. After seeing Dan's frown, he let go of his hand, and his tone sank: "You very good?"

Dan stared into his eyes for two seconds, suddenly felt a little boring, so he stopped resisting, relaxed his body, let him grab his arm, and the expression on his face became indifferent: "Since you are so persistent, then Where? My house? Your hotel room?"

It was the first time August heard such a frivolous tone from him, and he frowned uncomfortably. He paused for a while and then simply said, "Hotel." He took Dan's arm and walked around to the parking lot next to the Old Port. Push people into military jeeps.