When the Cranes Fly South

At 12:30 PM, Kalle updates about Bo’s lunch and notes irritation with his eyes, suggesting that the district nurse should be contacted.

Bo wakes from a nap having wet himself. He dislikes the diapers that the carers want him to wear and usually removes them, preferring to change clothes rather than wear “something like that” (19). He decides to clean up before lunch care arrives. Seeing a cup from an old trip reminds him of Hans’s teenage years, including a noisy party and an argument about paying for a summer language trip to England. Bo felt that the family could not afford the trip, and he resented Hans snobbishly mentioning that his friend’s parents could afford to send their son. Bo recalls Fredrika advising him to shout less.

In the bathroom, he changes into clean underwear and tracksuit bottoms. Looking in the mirror, he thinks of his father, who once criticized Bo for looking like a “scruff” during a visit to the farm (20); he had begun to grow a beard in competition with his friends P-G and Åkesson. Bo remembers staying quiet at the table. He envied Fredrika’s ability to make small talk. Bo has not slept in the bedroom since his wife moved away. He finishes washing up and hears a knock at the door. 

Kalle, a carer, arrives, takes a ready meal from the freezer, and asks after him. Bo notices Hans’s note above the counter, “REMEMBER TO EAT!” (21), which Bo resents. He checks the calendar and sees that Hans will visit in the evening and that he should call Ture the next day. His vision is hazy. He wants to raise the issue of Sixten with Kalle, but he wets himself again. Kalle sees the wet patch, cancels the lunch heating, and calmly proposes a diaper and fresh trousers. Bo does not argue and nods, though he does not “want to do this anymore” (22).

At 5:30 PM, Johanna writes about cooking for Bo and chatting with him. He had forgotten about Hans’s scheduled visit.

Bo dreams of his heavily pregnant wife cycling to her sister’s farm with juice and buns. He then wakes on the kitchen daybed to his phone ringing. Hans is calling. He says that he won’t be able to visit, explaining that work is busy with so many on vacation. Bo remembers when Hans’s workload led to him being burned out some years ago, and he wishes that Hans would work less. Before hanging up, he reiterates his desire to talk about Sixten. Bo agrees but says little. After the call, Bo feels both anger about the plan for Sixten and a sense that he may have done something wrong. He recalls a recent talk with Ture, who told him not to blame himself.

Bo then remembers how he met Ture years ago at the Hissmofors mill. Ture, a new engineer, joined the workers’ lunch, joked about the cold, and later invited Bo to his apartment. On Sunday, Bo visited. He saw the well-kept flat, shared coffee and pastries, and listened as Ture spoke about sightings of the Storsjö Beast. 

Back in the present, Sixten whimpers to go out. Bo loops on the collar and straightens the metal tag ordered by his wife and Hans “just in case he runs off into the woods” (29). Sixten waits for Bo to step outside first before heading to the trees. Bo checks the calendar again and sees that Hans is scheduled to visit after work, as well as a reminder to call Ture tomorrow.

At 9:35 PM, Johanna notes that Bo is “already tucked up in bed” (30).

At 9 AM, Ingrid prepares Bo’s breakfast and reminds him that Hans is scheduled to visit.

Bo’s throat fills with phlegm. He goes to the bathroom and spits into the toilet, noticing persistent stains despite recent cleaning. He recalls telling the carers that the house is too clean, but they say it is “standard” (33). After leaving the bathroom, he stops by the photos near Hans’s old room. He takes down a picture of Hans at about 10, holding a large perch they caught after hours on the lake. Bo remembers Hans being thrilled for days and giving a school presentation boasting about “how good his dad was at catching fish” (33). Fredrika smoked the perch when they got home. 

Bo carries the photo to the kitchen, intending to show it to Hans later and ask if he remembers. Sixten jumps down and presses his head to Bo’s leg, and Bo hesitates. He returns the photo to its nail in the hallway and goes back to the kitchen.

At 12.10 PM, Marie writes about preparing lunch for Bo, who asked for a fire to be lit, but she did not dare in case of an accident.

Bo wakes in the kitchen to silence. The fire is low, and the clock has stopped; he restarts it. He finds cold pancakes left by Marie, takes a bite, and spits it out. With no wood by the stove, he decides to fetch logs. Outside in the May air, he skips the walking frame and steadies himself on the wall. The old dog pen is overgrown. A squirrel darts by, and Sixten chases but cannot catch it. 

Bo passes the vegetable patch that his wife once kept and remembers Hans telling him that Fredrika was “not going to get better” when he was pulling weeds after she moved away (36). He continues past neighbors and straightens the tarp over the unused splitter and cutter that Hans forbids him to use. Hans always seemed nervous around the machines. Bo remembers his own father reacting angrily after a young Bo refused to kill a mouse that they had caught in a trap. Bo walks to the woodshed, collects logs, and heads back carefully.

Hans arrives in his car, and Sixten greets him. Hans takes the wood bag, scolds Bo about the risk of falling, and calls him “stubborn” (38). Bo does not argue. Hans fills the bag to the brim, brings it inside, and returns to help. He asks if Bo will visit his mother at Brunkullagården; Bo agrees, even though his wife only seems like a “husk” of her former self (40). 

Hans seats Bo in the armchair, hands him the local paper, and steps out to the workshop. He comes back smiling with Bo’s old tackle box and reminisces about their summer fishing trips by the ferry bridges. He opens the box, studies the lures, and asks why he has not been fishing “in years” (41). Bo stays quiet, watching him.

At 6:10 PM, Ingrid sits with Bo, and they chat about Bo’s old dog, Buster. Before leaving, she returns the tackle box to the shed.

Bo wakes as Sixten’s stretch pushes him toward the edge of the old daybed from his mother’s childhood home, which was moved to the home where he lived with Fredrika and Hans. He looks at the smoke-darkened ceiling boards and the pale green walls with nails showing through. Hans once paid Ellinor to scrub the kitchen walls; Bo had not argued. Ventilation is “useless” (43), but Bo knows that opening the front door helps the morning fire. He thinks about the wide ceiling planks that his father bought from a nearby family and wonders whether Hans will repaint them or sell the house. The sight of the wood takes him back to his first real day at the Hissmofors sawmill at age 12. He had waited with his bicycle, excited to leave school behind, and then rode with his father to the mill, trying to gauge his mood.

That evening at home, his mother prompted for news while his father stayed silent. At last, his father raised his glass and toasted Bo for “a good day’s work” (44). Bo could not stop smiling. Earlier that morning, a worker had greeted him and used the nickname “Bosse,” which his family had never used. This time, his mother laughed and accepted it. With the kitchen window open, they heard cranes outside. His mother said that one of the young birds was “trying out his wings” and served him more beetroot (45).

At 8:10 AM, Johanna mentions that she does not have time to take Sixten out; when Bo offers to walk the dog, she warns him to be careful and not to go to the woods.

Bo walks carefully along the trail while Sixten runs ahead and checks back. He passes the old root cellar that his father built and remembers haying as a boy and dreaming of a Monark bicycle. After one paid day in the fields, his father confronted him on the porch and demanded money. Feeling that this was “unfair” (49), Bo resisted until his mother intervened from the window; he then gave only part of his modest wage to his father. He followed his mother to the sty, feeling both afraid and exhilarated. 

Back in the present, Bo reaches the meadow and stream. Sixten pushes through brush and jumps in the water. Bo, suddenly weak, sits on a stump to rest and eats a store-bought bun. He scratches Sixten when the dog comes over. Then, a branch snaps deeper in the trees. Two elk sprint across the clearing, and Sixten bolts after them. Bo shouts after the dog but knows it is useless. He thinks about his reluctance to go hunting with his father.

He waits, watching the edge of the clearing. He thinks about hunting towers and how he never managed to shoot. After a dizzy spell, Bo sometimes finds himself hoping that his “time is up” (51). He recovers his strength, however, and is relieved because he is scheduled to call Ture. When his strength returns, he starts home, calling for the dog and pausing at the little stone where he once helped Hans build a den for his eighth birthday. Worried about elk hooves, he hopes that neighbors might spot Sixten. At the house, Bo bangs the metal food bowl on the bricks to lure the dog, with no result. He writes “SIXTEN!” on a scrap of paper (52), sets the egg timer for 15 minutes, and dozes off to the ticking clock.

The egg timer wakes Bo. Disoriented, he sees his note and hurries outside to call for the dog, but there is no sign of him. He returns to the daybed, puts on his glasses, and calls Ture. Ture answers quickly and says he has coffee ready and a mazarin (Swedish tart). Bo drifts into a memory of when Ture first visited their house in Renäs. Fredrika always found Ture to be “odd” (54). She was uneasy about Ture’s hobby of collecting figurines of mythical beasts and challenged him at dinner, asking why he did not have “kids of [his] own” (56). Bo had always disregarded rumors about Ture’s sexuality. Ture replied that he worked a lot and that he was unmarried. After that, Bo and Ture mostly met one-on-one, though Ture still visited sometimes.

On the call, Bo tells Ture that Sixten ran after two elk. Ture reassures him that it has happened before and says Ingrid will sort things out. He also grumbles that city carers would never agree to walk a dog. They pause, and Bo pictures Ture sipping coffee and hears his louder wall clock. To change the subject, Bo asks about television and then mentions his granddaughter, Ellinor. He claims that she is seeing two boys at once. Ture is amused that she takes “after her old Uncle Ture” (58). He encourages Bo to tell him more, as he loves gossip.

At 1:30 PM, Kalle describes Bo sitting in front of a fire. Bo is certain that Sixten will return soon.

Bo wakes to a dark figure in the doorway. It is Hans, who steps in, kicks off his shoes, and repeats his confusion about how his father can sleep in the daybed. Bo, mindful of Sixten’s absence and Kalle’s log entry, tries to close the logbook. Not fully awake, he slumps, and Hans lifts him by the armpits into a sitting position. 

Hans starts to speak and then announces that they “need to talk about Sixten” (60). Bo deflects. Hans opens mail, notes a lower electricity bill, and tends the stove, blowing on the embers. Bo asks about work. Hans says that he has begun a new project, puts on the kettle, and makes coffee. Reluctant to talk about Hans’s “strange job” (61), Bo suggests the mazariner; they eat, and Bo struggles with crumbs.

Hans raises Saturday’s plan to visit Fredrika at Brunkullagården and asks if Bo will come. Bo does not want to but finally agrees with Hans that they cannot “just abandon her there” (62). Hans’s phone buzzes; he steps away, returns, and keeps checking the screen. Bo considers telling him that Sixten has run off but decides not to, fearing that it will be used against him. He feels sudden warmth but is protected by the diaper that Kalle put on earlier. Hans stands to leave, saying that they’ll discuss Sixten next time. Anger rises in Bo; he leans back on the daybed and turns away as Hans goes.

At 6:30 PM, Johanna cooks for Bo and tells him not to go outside, even though Sixten is still missing.

Bo repeatedly checks the porch and then leaves the door open. He decides to eat herring and wait a bit longer before calling Hans. A knock interrupts him. Marita enters with a bouquet of local flowers; she and Bo worked together with the local residents’ association. They chat about the community, as Bo has lost touch with recent happenings. 

Over coffee, Bo explains that Sixten chased two elk and ran off. Marita posts in local Facebook groups and asks about calls on his phone. She discovers that the volume is low and notes that he has “five missed calls” (68). Marita’s phone pings with a reply: Sixten has run all the way to upper Vråkäng. She offers to collect him on her way back from town. After she leaves, Bo crosses out the notes in the home-help log about Sixten being missing. 

A few hours later, Marita returns. Sixten runs in, jumps on the daybed, and settles beside Bo. Marita reports that a new couple in Vråkäng found him in the woods, got him on a lead, and took him home. Bo thanks Marita and strokes Sixten, relieved to have him back and even more relieved that he did not need to tell Hans.