The Lost Boy

FJÄLLBACKA 1871

Karl’s hatred towards her seemed to get worse and worse as the baby inside of her grew. And now she realized that it truly was hatred, though she didn’t understand why. What had she done? Whenever he looked at her, his eyes were filled with disgust. At the same time she thought she could see despair in his glance, like the look in the eyes of a captured animal. As if he was caught and couldn’t get free, as if he was as much a prisoner as she was. But for some reason, he turned this against her, seemingly regarding her as his prison guard. Julian didn’t make things any better. His dark outlook seemed to influence Karl, whose earlier indifference, which in the beginning could have been mistaken for a distracted friendliness, had now disappeared completely. She was the enemy.