It's still very early in the morning when the bus pulls in at the station in Stryn, so the streets are still almost empty. Only a few people have braved the early Sunday morning to greet friends arriving with the bus, and a few stragglers from Saturday night are trying to make their way home. This is the end of the line for most of the passengers, and they groggily started milling about for bits of personal effects, luggage, shoes and sweaters. Outside it is even worse: In their sleep-deprived state, people are trying to decide which suitcases belonged to them and which don't. You quickly spot the simple green army-sack and throw it over your shoulder, making a slight scowl from the pain. A few taxis waited for customers, but you decide that the short walk home would do well after spending so much time just sitting still. The dull ache in the leg quickly dissipated as blood started running freely again, and made it possible to walk without a limp.

Stryn lay at the bottom of a valley, with houses creeping up the mountain walls and surrounding the town. The fjord, and a river separated one side from the other. You walked over the bridge to the other side and started the ascent to the house your parents had built, and that had been a home for many years. It feels strange to be back; even after just five years, it feels like you are a stranger here. The houses along the road, seeming to be staring down, some with suspicion and others with excitement. In some lived people you used to know, in others lived people you had never even said "hello" to. Most of them had been painted in fresh colours, and the gardens were well tended. Only a few of the houses look like they are abandoned, and it doesn't look like it had been that way for long. And some of the community-apartment houses have been replaced with play-fields, gardens, and some places new houses.

Your own house has only been abandoned for a few weeks, and the only way to tell was by the long grass and the weeds that grew in the garden. The house is three stories high, plus it has a very large basement, and looks like a mix between a mansion and an ordinary house. The walls painted with a dark orange and the frames are painted in white, as is the door. The house lies relatively isolated on a piece of expensive property with a view over the fjord and a large garden. By the door hung a wooden sign with the words: "Home of Robert & Hildegun Walker". Opening the door, you can't help but think: Not anymore! And instead of the welcome you always had hoped for, when you once returned home, there is a dead silence in the house.

You leave the sack in the entrance-hall and walk into the living room. There is dust all over the place, most of the plants have died from thirst, a few are already beyond aid, but some seem to be still alive. The air is stale and the whole place smells like ghosts and memories. Vivid memories of yourself running around in this house ever since you were a child. Memories of your mother and father, the way they looked, smelled, acted and sounded. Memories of your friends, and girlfriend, and they way you used to sneak in and out. All of it feels so long ago now. It is difficult not to hope, that any moment a bunch of people would jump out and yell: SURPRISE! But at the same time, it feels really good to be home. In four years you haven't given this place a single thought (except during Christmas), and now it is to late. You can remember why you had stopped calling, and when, but not a single time you regretted it. Plenty of time for that now, isn't there? And you just wanted to make them proud. How could they ever be, if they never knew what you accomplished?

After looking through the living room you pick up the sack and carry it upstairs to the master bedroom. The bed hadn't been made that day, and Robert had left some of his clothes lying around on the floor. You throw the sack on the bed and leave the door open. You find a pair of overalls in the closet and quickly change into them. Realising that they're to small, you tie it around the waist and pick out a shirt, also to small. You then get to work, cleaning up the place. Starting on top, you work your way down to the basement.

The top floor is primarily an exercise room. The floor is covered with floor mats and one of the walls is covered with floor-to-ceiling mirrors. There are no weights however, so cleaning the room didn't take long. The second floor had two bedrooms, a study, and a bathroom, and I also had to clean the stairs and the hallway. My old room had been turned into a guestroom, with a couple of empty closets a bed, a nightstand and a small desk. The master bedroom was roughly the same size as the other, but had a small room for a closet, and a small bathroom. The bed was big enough for two people, with a nightstand on both sides, and then there was a desk and a full size mirror. The other bathroom was huge, and was complete with a Jacuzzi-tub. Then there was the study: Even though it was the smallest single room on the floor, it has the best view, since the whole wall outwards was lined with windows overseeing the fjord. The walls on both sides were lined with books, and the only other piece of furniture here was a large desk.

After finishing on the second floor you take a break, and something to eat. Most of the food is spoiled, but you defrost a couple of buns.

The ground floor didn't take very long, the most work lay in getting rid of all the dead plants and watering those that still had some life in them. While in the Special Forces you had made friends with a guy that really knew a lot about plants, and he had taught you about how to care and tend for them. After making sure they will survive, you get on with cleaning the basement. One room was made into a game room, with a bunch of arcades, a pinball machine, a pool-table and a couple of consoles wired to a TV set and sound system. There was a small bathroom with just a toilet, a shower cabinet and a sink. And finally a storage room for some rifles, a few handguns, a bunch of paintings, a couple of filing cabinets and some other stuff, some of which looks valuable. But first, a nice shower and maybe go get something to eat at the restaurant, and do some shopping, and...