'A good decision' by Birgit K. Gaiser

Velika liked to take lunchtime walks along the lake. At least she did whenever she actually got a chance to take a lunch break. On her days off, she sometimes hiked the trails along the lakeside or went for a swim at one of its beaches. 

Life here was good. Everything was different – the language, the people, the food. But not in a bad way. She still found herself drawn to the water, just like she had back home.

Her neighbour, Liv, who shared Velika’s passion for walking and being at the lakeside, had invited her to stay at her family’s cottage this weekend. They had arrived late on Saturday morning and gone out on the lake in a rowing boat. Liv had taught her how to fish, though they’d only caught some small fish that they returned to the water.

Later, they’d gone swimming together, and at one point, playful splashing had turned into a hug, the hug into an embrace, the embrace into kissing. Velika blushed a little.

It was nice. Natural. Not rushed, but more like everything here in this country that seemed to take things in its stride, deliberately and confidently.

She wasn’t sure where things with Liv would go, if they would be together forever. But she knew she’d made the right choice in leaving home and coming here.

Smiling, she pulled the blanket she’d wrapped herself in tight around her shoulders and walked back to the cottage.