As if two jobs and as much photography as I can possibly squeeze in wasn't enough, I thoroughly enjoy writing short stories. Creative writing. Though my style may not be to the liking of some people, as it's blunt and often from the dark side of humanity. But I don't write for other people. I write for my own pleasure and to maintain good mental health. Here is a sample for you.
THIS STORY IS BASED ON A REAL-LIFE CONVERSATION I HAD WITH ACQUAINTANCE OF MINE AND RETOLD WITH HER PERMISSION.
With a wild hissing, the steam instantly rose like that out of the chimney of a passing steam train on full throttle, instantly causing more pearls of sweat on their foreheads and the rest of their bodies, than a prego salmon has roe.
"When I was there", he continuted, referring to his trip to Vancouver, "I was quite grossed out. They go to the fucking public pool and jump right in, without washing themselves first. Like personal and public hygiene is a completely unknown concept the them. Paranoi and feudal minds will have all these people from all around the world, violate all public health requirement because they are paranoid that anybody is going to see them in their natural state of being. Au natural, so to speak.
Try that one in Finland and they will literally kick your ass out the building. They got employees walking through the shower section, to and from their duties, all the time, and if you are caught NOT stripping down naked and washing your ENTIRE body with soap, you get a one-way ticket to the parking lot".
She was quite surprised by his words, but didn't question him for a second. It actually made sense what he said. That's one reason people in the Nordic countries seem to live longer and healthier than many others.
She, herself, had decided that it was time to check off one of the top items on her bucket list, but sitting back home in Singapore, she knew there would be some monumental "mental challenges" to overcome, but she had decided that come hell or hight water, she was going to do it...and now she was sitting here. Right next to him. Both of them butt naked, with no idea of who the other one was. This was the greates equalizer on planet Earth, she'd told herself: "When you're naked, you can no longer see who is the CEO and who is the janitor. Being naked together, is equality in its' essence". She'd climbed a few mental mountains by now, but she knew there were others to come. Her only fear, was to end of as one of those feudal and paranoid minds.
She'd always wanted to see the Sami people she'd heard so much of, read so much about, and see how they herded or followed their Reindeer around. But even more so, she wanted to see the Norther Lights, Aurora Borealis, dance around the dark sky, like a beautiful ballerina, throwing a gigantic chiffon skirt around.
She she landed in Helsinki and made her way, way way way up North, and now she was here. He'd told her, that day, as she stood there in awe, looking at the Northern lights dance across the sky, that there was no way in bloody hell she could even CLAIM to have been to Finland, if she'd never been to a sauna, the Finnish way.
"Well, actually, we stole the idea from the First Nations people of North-America, but don't tell the Finns that. But most of us will acknowledge it. We just took a good concept and made it a great concept."
So now they were sitting here, on the edge of the lake, about a thousand km away from anywhere...or anything...or anyone. Way above the artic circle. What's even more, the was completely naked with this complete - well, by now, almost complete - stranger. Talk about some mental mountains to climb, but his honesty, straight forwardness and easy going approach, had somehow made her feel safe. So she just kept telling herself: "Bucket list. Bucket list. Just bloody do it. What is it you are so afrid of?" And to be honest. He was absolutely right. The biggest equalizer on Earth. Totally his equal, and vice versa. Once she got used to it, which took about 10 minutes, it was a really, really powerful feeling.
They could both look at each other, naked as they where, and it was just the most normal feeling in the World. No signs of "anything" happening. No excitement looking at him, even if he was pretty well endowed from nature's side, and quite frankly, he'd probably seen a LOT more naked chicks that she'd seen naked guys, so that just wasn't exciting to him, either, any longer. Equality!
"Finns are addicted to saunas", he told her. "They even have saunas in many apartment buildings in the middle of Helsinki. Some people even have a small, private ones in their house or apartment. It's so bread into the culture. Like eating rich in Asia. And if you don't have a sauna nearby, you buy a cottage on the lake somewhere, and spend the weekend there. Before you fix up your cottage, you build a nice sauna, if one is not already there" he said with a laugh. "It's first priority. Nevermind "what are we going to eat tonight". It's "where's the friggin sauna", he said with a thunderous laugh that instantly spread to her and she laughed out loud with him.
So here they were, in a beautiful birch sauna. Everything was birch, up here, for natural reasons. In the middle of nowhere. On the dying edge of the forest. Half burried in snow, in late February. And it was not only romantic, without any attempt to make it such. It was exciting. Especially to a girl from Singapore.
"Ok, time for the finale", he said to her. "Just follow me and copy me and you will almost be ready for your Finnish citizenship" he laughed out again. Wondering what that meant, but feeling totally comfortable, they both got up and walked out of the sauna, sweat pouring down their naked bodies like they just stepped out of a shower.
As soon as they stepped outside, her natural instincts kicked in: "Naked in public? Never in my life before." He just laughed at her: "Trust me. Nobody but you and I, here" and he broke off some skinny branches of the nearest birch and handed them to her. Then a few for himself: " Whipping yourself with birch branches will improve your blood circulation. It's very healthy", he said. "Or we can whip each other"? She was comfortable and adventurous by now, so the opted to whip him first, which gave a somewhat weird sense of satisfaction, and he reciprocated, though without putting much force into procedure.
"Ok, grand finale", he said, "and then you are initialized". He looked her in the eyes and stretched out his hand, as a signal for her to take his hand. A second later, they were running together, naked, hand in hand, towards the frozen lake and jumped into the hole dug into the ice, while he was laughing and she was screaming and hollaring.
Once they were very quicly out of the lake again, her nipples were as hard as chestnuts and his dick was no larger than his thumb. They both laughed at that. "One of Mother Nature's little miracles", they agreed.
"When you come back", he told her, "you will never have problems with your blood circulation as you age". "When I come back", she though to herself, with a smile on her face..."who would I grow old WITH"? She couldn't help but fantasize, just a little bit. "It would be awefully nice to see those Northern Lights again", was the excuse she built her little temporary fantasy upon.
The departure was...hard. And very lonely too. All the way from way up north, down to Helsinki and further onto Singapore. But this had been a life-altering, monumental experience for her, and quite frankly, "I don't think I can ever look at Singapore again, the way I did before. I learned SO much about myself, my limits - both "pre" and "post". I learned about my fears, my paranoia. I learned what it takes to make me truly happy, and that sometime, just like sky-diving, you just have to close your eyes and jump out."
That first night back in Singapore, she dreamt about the Northern Lights dancing on the sky...and a little sauna on the edge of a frozen lake in the wilderness. She had never been happier.
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