As Black as Ebony by Salla Simukka

about. That wasn’t fair to Sampsa.
    Just then, Lumikki’s phone dinged with a text message. She reached for it.
    “Don’t look at it now,” Sampsa begged.
    “I have to,” Lumikki replied and grabbed the phone.
    Sampsa’s hands slid off her shoulders. The fluffy clouds had dissipated already anyway, and Lumikki’s heart was pounding in her ears, equally from horror and hope. But the text message wasn’t from the stalker. It was from Blaze.
    I think about you all the time. First thing in the morning and last thing at night. And all the time in between. I still love you. I will always love you.
    Lumikki felt her cheeks flush. Could they really have such a strong connection that when she thought of Blaze, he sensed it? Lumikki stood up. She walked into the kitchen.
    “Who was it from?” Sampsa asked.
    “My mom. I accidentally left a shirt at their house.” Lie, lie, lie, lie. Another lie.
    Automatically, Lumikki had opened the kitchen drawer where she kept the dragon brooch Blaze had given her and picked it up. Her fingers stroked the intricate scales. Oh, if only Lumikki could have pinned it to the collar of her coat and worn it proudly. Why couldn’t her life be that simple?
    Lumikki heard Sampsa get up from the blanket. She quickly slipped the brooch into her pocket. Then she deleted the text message from Blaze. What she really should have done was delete his number from her phone entirely. Lumikki couldn’t do that yet though.
    Lumikki listened to the words in the chant that was playing—the singer had such an alluring voice, but the meaning was so sad.
    “Can we turn the music off?” she asked Sampsa.
    “Of course. What do you want to do?”
    “Sleep,” Lumikki replied without looking Sampsa in the eyes as she walked to the bed.
    Suddenly, she was so tired she couldn’t stay upright. Lumikki threw herself on the bed with her clothes on, wrapped a blanket around herself, and fell asleep instantly.
    Lumikki wasn’t immediately sure what had woken her up. She glanced next to her. Sampsa was sound asleep. Lumikki leaned up on her elbows and looked around. Sampsa had cleaned up the picnic and folded the blanket. Lumikki had been sleeping so deeply that she hadn’t heard a thing.
    Not until she looked at her phone to check the time did she realize a text message had woken her. It was 10:15 p.m. This time, the message was from the stalker.
    Come to Särkänniemi. What better place than an amusement park for us to meet? I’ll tell you everything there.

Often, I watch you even when I can’t actually see you. I have a special place just for that. I have pictures of you. I took them secretly. In the pictures, you are so sweet and contemplative since you thought no one could see you. I hung the pictures on the walls of my secret room. Sometimes I stroke your forehead with a finger. I touch the curve of your full lower lip and think about what it would be like to kiss you.
    I also have all the newspaper articles about you. And a lot of files you don’t even know exist yet. I made a timeline of your life on one wall. So much has happened to you.
    Did you think you lost that orange mitten of yours? I have it. That and your silver pen and the button that fell off your white blouse. They are the small treasures I caress since I can’t caress you yet.
    Sometimes I come to my “Lumikki room” with candles and talk to you. I watch as the glow of the flames makes your cheeks redden in the photographs. You are so beautiful. You are the most beautiful thing I know.
    Pictures aren’t enough, though. Mementos are just substitutes.
    I want you completely, with all my senses. I want to see you, to smell you, to taste you, to touch you. I have never wanted anything or anyone this much. You are the purpose of my life and the meaning for my existence, my dear Lumikki.

Lumikki climbed over the fence of the amusement park, hoping she wasn’t going to trip some sort of alarm. The temperature had dropped below freezing and