When the Cranes Fly South

Sixten stands in the kitchen, signaling that he needs to go out. Bo ends a call from Marita, who checked in, and decides not to mention Sixten. Exhausted, Bo pulls himself up and notices that the breakfast has gone cold and stale. Sixten spins and waits by the door for his collar. When Bo stands, dizziness hits; he grips the table until “the dark spots disappear” (141). He cannot find his slippers, and the hard floor hurts his feet. 

Opening the door, Bo lets Sixten dart outside, where he still waits briefly, quivering to go. Bo pulls on rubber boots, thick socks, and tracksuit bottoms and then steps out. Once the door is closed, Sixten races toward the woods behind the house. Bo follows as Sixten weaves among the trees that shield the house from the wind.

At 8:20 AM, Johanna writes that she arrived at the house and found “no sign” of Bo or Sixten (142). Ingrid is coming to help her look.

Bo follows Sixten down a steep, slippery trail after rain. He stumbles but catches a branch and keeps going to the meadow he loves, where wildflowers spread “like a natural bouquet” (143). He recalls how Fredrika used to ask him to bring her flowers and how he returned with bouquets for the wedding-gift vase. The meadow has been his refuge during hard moments, like when Hans joined the Young Conservatives, when Ture first got sick, and after Fredrika left home. Aspen leaves rustle. Bo remembers a neighbor spotting a young bear crying in a spruce; there were many bears that year, Blixten stayed close, and Ture refused to visit, joking that he would be the first killed since 1989. The motherless bear was later shot after approaching houses.

Bo watches the flowers sway as unseen Sixten runs through them. He plans a loop via the old forest track and the main road past the mailboxes. Glad that he’s not wearing a diaper, he moves easier, pinecones crunching. Sixten brings a stick but never fetches; Bo throws replacements while the dog pounces and gnaws. Though it is July, the wind is cold. 

Tracking Sixten, Bo trips and falls face down. His knee is tender. He rolls to sit, realizing that he missed a hidden, overgrown trunk. Sixten licks him and whimpers. Bo crawls to an aspen, leans back, and whispers that he just needs “a little rest” (145). Sixten sits alert, watching the meadow.

At 12:30 PM, Johanna and Ingrid write that they found Bo outside. He was not sure how he got to be there. Ingrid will write a report about what happened.

Johanna insists that Bo take a shower, telling him that it is “non-negotiable” (147). She scrubs him, washes his hair and beard, dresses him in clean tracksuit bottoms and a shirt, and puts on a diaper before tucking him into bed. Bo lies in the new adapted bed, fiddles with the remote, and dislikes the “contraption” (147). He sips tea instead of figuring it out. 

Johanna and Ingrid review paperwork in the kitchen. Ingrid mentions that Marie has covered her remaining stops. As Johanna leaves, she tells Bo to stay “inside” rather than go to the meadow again (147). The apartment falls quiet. Ingrid reads and then approaches Bo. Sixten nudges her for ear scratches; at her nod, he jumps onto the bed by Bo’s legs.

Ingrid tells Bo that they will have to write a report. He bristles but cannot say much. She pats the mattress and says that she will explain “extenuating circumstances” yet warns that it could have been “really bad” (148). Bo cannot summon an argument. Ingrid sets a glass of water and an energy drink on the nightstand. The kitchen table has been removed. She unwraps chocolate for Bo. With one hand on Sixten’s back, Bo drifts into sleep. Ingrid encourages him to sleep and promises that she will return for a shift the following day as she closes the door.

At 6:30 PM, Kalle notes that Bo seems “brighter” (149). Kalle walked Sixten.

Bo’s phone rings, but it is hard to reach on a shelf under the bedside table because the soft mattress makes him sink. He answers to Ellinor, who says that Hans told her that the carers found Bo in the woods after a fall. Bo downplays it, insisting that he was “just out for a walk” (150). He says he’s fine, but Ellinor claims that they were worried, adding that Hans was too, even if he struggles to show it. 

Bo sits on the edge of the bed and listens. He tries to change the subject to her studies. Ellinor explains that she has ordered course books for autumn and describes “different theories on how to talk to people” (151). She has completed two terms and is doing a summer placement at a home for people who cannot care for themselves. She plans to visit soon, possibly with her friend Sofie from last Christmas.

Ellinor asks about Sixten. Bo says that the dog is resting beside him. She notes that it must be getting harder to look after him. He says it is no problem. After a pause, she offers to “clip his claws” when she next visits (151). Bo agrees and imagines them on the kitchen floor. After the call, he believes that Ellinor will help keep Sixten with him.

Bo recalls his younger days as he readied his Monark bicycle in winter, oiled the chain, and sprinkled gravel so that no one slipped before his parents visited. Inside his workers’ room in Hissmofors, he and Fredrika finished cleaning and cooking; he wanted his mother to feel welcome and even hemmed the curtains to her taste. He told his parents that he was leaving home six months earlier. His father barely responded and mostly just “grunted” as his mother walked him to the bus (153). Bo was keen for Fredrika to feel as welcomed by his parents as he felt by hers, but he was cautious about his father’s attitude.

At the station, his father arrived with his mother. The introductions went smoothly. His father was polite to Fredrika, which eased Bo. They walked to Bo’s room. His mother admired the bicycle and the electric amenities, but his father remained silent. Over a cramped lunch, Bo mentioned that the meat and potatoes came from Fredrika’s parents. His father offered only a critique of the doorway, telling Bo to “attach the frame better” (155). Bo had hoped to talk about his sawmill job, but his father did not ask.

After they ate, Bo suggested that they head back so that his parents wouldn’t miss the bus. On the way, Fredrika said goodbye and turned home. Bo’s mother seemed like she was about to speak to Bo but then hurried after his father. Bo watched them go. 

The scene dissolves, and knocking intrudes; the road and bus are gone. Bo wakes in bed with December’s chill still in his mind. Sixten shifts against him. Bo strokes the dog and tells whoever is knocking to come in.

At 10 AM, Hans restocks the freezer. He talks to Bo about Sixten, but they do not “see eye to eye” (157). He believes that his father is not in the right mood for this conversation.

Hans visits Bo and presses the case for taking Sixten away after the fall in the woods. Sitting by the bed, he insists that “this can’t go on” (158), positioning it as his decision to make. He argues that Bo cannot care for the dog and says that there is no other choice. Bo panics and then searches for alternatives, wondering if he could give up some care visits or coffees so that carers could walk Sixten, but Hans cuts that off, saying that it is not the carers’ job to look after people’s pets. Bo suggests that Marita might help; Hans refuses, shaking his head. 

Hans stands to end the discussion. Bo, wishing that Fredrika were there to check their son, feels the decision closing in. Sixten lowers his head on Bo’s stomach and dozes. Bo worries about the prospect that “someone else will take care of Sixten” (159), even though he knows the dog best.

At 12:30 PM, Ingrid writes that Bo has no appetite following Hans’s decision to take Sixten away.

Bo lies in bed, wanting to do nothing and slipping into sleep, where he sees Fredrika and recalls errands. He remembers how they planned to stay with her parents when the house would be empty. He also remembers her vow to spend summers in Hissmofors after he inherited the Renäs house and the feel of the milk carton in his hand. Sixten stretches beside him. Fredrika once said that it is “just not the same without them” (161), a line that returns as Bo lies in a strange bed, facing the prospect of losing Sixten. 

A phone rings. Sixten nudges him. The screen shows Hans. Bo refuses the call, muttering that Hans “can go to hell” (161). He lets it ring in the hope Hans will change his mind. When the ringing stops, Bo picks up the phone and presses the button to call Ture.

At 5:45 PM, Kalle writes that Bo remains uninterested in food; he is determined not to let Sixten go.

At 7:40 AM, Johanna writes that Bo seems “a little out of sorts” (164).

Bo feels unusually heavy and unsteady. He sits on the soft bed as Sixten drinks and then rests his head on Bo’s thigh. Bo calls Ture; there is no answer. Worried, he recalls their talk about burial: He would be buried in Hissmofors, beside Fredrika, while Ture preferred the memorial garden in Sundy with no grave, only a plaque. 

Bo calls again. Ture picks up, sounding drained after a doctor’s appointment with no solutions. They sit with the silence. Ture admits that all he has left are these calls with Bo; he believes that “[his] time” is near (166). Bo can only tepidly agree. When Bo asks how he feels, Ture replies that he feels awful but accepts this. Bo tries to lighten the mood by noting Ture’s travels; Ture agrees that he has seen a lot. The call winds down with Bo repeating, “[I]t is what it is [and] it’ll happen when it happens” (167). Ture lets out a long sigh.

At 2:10 PM, Ingrid writes that Hans is visiting and that she filled Sixten’s empty water bowl.

Bo wakes to Hans and Ingrid talking in the kitchen. They are looking at photographs that Ingrid found in the bedroom of Ellinor dressed as a bumblebee in the school play. Hans recalls the evening and says that grandparents often went along. Bo laughs, remembering the role of the bee “too fat to fly” (169). Bo had intended to give Hans one photo of himself holding Ellinor’s hand outside the school as a memory. Hans thanks him. Ingrid calls the gesture sweet and keeps the fire going while tidying the kitchen. 



Hans prepares to leave, offers to show what he put in the freezer, and then pulls on his cap. At the door, he raises the picture and thanks his father. Bo accepts this thanks. After Hans goes, a moment of calm settles, but when Sixten presses against Bo’s legs, Bo remembers the plan to take the dog away.