Restless

When there was a war in one of her novels, the heroines were always brave, resourceful, and incredibly supportive. Some of them even joined their respective army, although most stayed behind and managed the accompanying shortage of supplies miraculously well. Somehow they often could send surplus to the frontlines.

Frauke had always imagined she would be like them. But now that there was an actual war that nobody had seen coming, she didn't know what to do. Most news had a very reassuring tone to them, but that only made her even more worried. If everything was going so well, then why did the fighting still continue?

Unlike Momme and Snorre, Frauke knew she did not have it in her to join the fight directly. But it was also impossible to drown her worries with house work. There simply was not enough to do to distract her effectively. Of course. She could keep her home as spotlessly tidy as one of her distant neighbours did, but her place always felt uncomfortable to Frauke. Homes were not supposed to be museums, they were places to live in and life was chaotic and messy.

Her restless eyes wandered around the room as she was trying her best to not worry about war. About what Momme and Snorre were doing. If they were alright. She had not heard from them since either of them left. But this was good, right? If something had happened, she would get informed about it, wouldn't she?

With a sigh, she stared out of the window. The meadow outside was still bustling with life. It didn't need her to do any gardening, and neither did the plots where she and and Momme grew food. It was slightly too early to start harvesting, too. That of distraction clearly was not going work either. But somewhere in the back of her mind, something clicked in place. There had been a report about dangerous mushrooms somewhere. But where had she put the newspaper mentioning it?

The search was delightfully chaotic enough to stop her mind from worrying further about the war and ongoing battles. Further gathering more information about this specific kind were exactly the kind of busy distraction she had needed to ease her restlessness.