The Journey to the End of the World

One night in March

The year when Joel would soon celebrate his fifteenth birthday, he wakes up out of a dream that has made him feel frightened. When he opens his eyes in the darkness, he doesn’t know where he is at first. But then he hears his dad’s snores rolling in through the half-open door.

That’s the moment when his dream comes back to him.

He’d been walking over the ice on the frozen river. He didn’t know why he was there. But he suddenly noticed that the ice was beginning to crack under his feet. He started running to the bank as fast as he could, but all the time more cracks opened out in front of him. He would never be able to get to the bank. Then, as if with the wave of a magic wand, all the winter ice vanished. Apart from the small floe he was standing on. Then he noticed there was something odd about the water. It wasn’t black and cold like it usually was. It was boiling. And all the time the floe he was standing on was getting smaller. In the end there was nothing left of it. Fierce, white crocodiles were snapping at him. And he was falling. Falling straight into their jaws...

When he wakes up he notices that he’s covered in sweat. The hands of his alarm clock gleam in the darkness. A quarter past four. He’s so relieved to have escaped from his dream. He pulls the covers up to his chin and turns to face the wall in the hope of going back to sleep. There are still a few hours to go before he needs to get up and go to school.

But he can’t sleep. He lies awake. Persistent thoughts fill his mind. Three more months and his school days will come to an end. He’ll get his final Report. Then what will he do? Where will he find a job? What would he really like to do? The thoughts won’t go away. Especially when he thinks about Samuel. For as long as Joel can remember, his dad has been talking about moving away from the little town they live in. As soon as Joel finishes school, Samuel will become a sailor again, and take Joel with him. But the years have gone by and Samuel talks less and less about the sea. And ships. And all the ports waiting for them out there in the wide world.

There’s a lot to think about. Joel sits up in bed and leans his back against the wall. It’s March already. Before long the snow will start to melt away. It will be his birthday next month. He’ll be fifteen. That means he’ll be allowed to ride a moped. And see adults-only films. His birthday will be the day he no longer needs to sneak into the cinema without being seen. He’ll be able to walk past the caretaker with a ticket in his hand.

Becoming fifteen is an important event.

But he feels worried. What will happen?

In the end he manages to go back to sleep.

Outside a solitary dog runs past the house. It’s on its way to somewhere only the dog knows about.

But Joel is asleep. In his dreams the spring thaw has arrived already.

And the ice is melting...