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One: Veli
One: Veli
Veli looked down at the dusty man at his feet, the grimacing face of a man who had just been declared dead.[1]
As the umpire blew into his whistle to signal the end of the ninth inning, and thus the entire game, Veli took the ball out of his glove and raised his hands over his head in celebration. In the modest stands next to the sports field, an equally modest crowd made mostly of the younger boys and girls and men and women of the village cheered and clapped their hands. It was the fourth home win in a row for the HiNsU[2], and now the team topped the local league's table as only a handful of games was left in the season.
Veli Vaara was the team's pitcher, and as such he was a very important component of the team's success. Today as well he had mostly managed to moot the opposition's best hitters with his crafty pitches. Today, his ”pole”[3] had held well, and he had even taken a few ”flies”[4] as well. As the losing side, from Kurkimäki along the railway, left the field towards the Youth Association House, the nine HiNsU players stayed on the field celebrating, shaking hands and patting each other on the back.
”Damn good game, Veli”, Väinö Korhonen, playing second base, praised his team-mate. He lowered his voice and nodded towards the stands.
”I saw Emma stare at you in rapt attention as you took out the last couple of runners. She seemed mighty impressed, if you catch my drift...”
”Oh, shut up”, Veli said and made as to punch Väinö, feeling a blush creeping to his face. Luckily he was already red from the physical exertion of the pesäpallo game and Väinö would be none the wiser.
Emma was the daughter of the neighbour of the Vaara farm, a dark-haired, very fit young woman of twenty who by some reason was not yet spoken for. Everyone knew that Emma was a champion athlete herself, the winner of many a skiing contest even on the provincial level, as much as she was headstrong and easy to anger. A right firecracker, she was.
Most of Veli's team-mates knew that the pitcher was sort of sweet on the girl and made a point of teasing him about it. Veli didn't quite know how to take it all, but he tried to hold his own in the young men's horseplay.
As the stands started emptying out and also the HiNsU players begun to file towards the Youth Association House, Veli picked up his glove and bat, and then glanced at the members of the audience leaving. His eyes fixed to the three girls walking away, together like always – the two Ollikainen sisters, with their straw-blonde hair, flanking the taller, raven-haired Emma Kerman on both sides. Just as he was turning his eyes away from the trio, Esteri Ollikainen looked back and caught his gaze – and then turned to the two girls, laughing and nodding towards him.
Feeling the red again creeping to his face, Veli took off towards the House with a rather exaggarated vigor in his step.
While inside the House, in the room now temporarily used for the HiNsU players for changing their clothes, Veli removed the home-made team shirt his sister had embroidered with the team's logo, splashed some water over his upper body and then reached for the towel. There were no facilities for an actual wash, but then he was going to the sauna in a couple of hours anyway. He put on his shirt, grabbed his bag and bat, and started to make his way out when he saw two men blocking his way. They were the opposing team's third baseman[5] and shortstop[6], Niskanen and Mähönen.
”Good game”, Niskanen said, ”for a Communist, I mean...”
He made a knowing look towards his friend who just sniggered.
”Communist, heh heh...”
”We'll sort you out yet, you bloody Red”, Niskanen continued before Veli managed to say anything, ”so savour your victories now when you still can...”
Veli Vaara straightened his back and looked Niskanen hard in the eye. He was a fair bit taller than either of the two men.
”Careful, Niskanen”, he said with a bit of a snarl, ”you don't want to slip on the floor there – we just had it polished. It is still slippery, and you might get hurt if you don't mind what you are doing...”
As Veli made as to raise a fist and take a step towards Niskanen, a fourth man suddenly stepped in between him and the two others.
”Ville and Pekka”, he said calmly, ”why don't you step outside with the others, we'll be leaving in a minute”.
This was Kovalainen, the Kurkimäki team's captain. A bit older at 26 and a man with decent authority over his team-mates, he smiled apologetically to Veli as Niskanen and Mähönen turned around, sullen, and made for the outer door.
”Sorry about that. Niskanen's a hothead, and he can't quite grasp the difference between a Social Democrat and a Communist”, he said, shaking his head.
”But then I guess you would know all about that, right?”
Veli Vaara nodded.
”Tell me about it. It can't be helped.... Good game, though, Jaakko. Too bad your two home runs were not enough...”
Kovalainen grimaced.
”Well, you can hit as many home runs as you damn well like, but if you are as rubbish on the defence as we were today...”
He shrugged.
”Anyway, there was something I wanted to tell you. Your team's been very good this season, and I wondered... Well, if you do make it to the upper tier in the fall, I wanted to ask if there might be a spot for me in the team come spring?”
That was unexpected, but after thinking a while, Veli managed an answer.
”I'll have to ask the boys, naturally, but I guess there'll be an opening. The younger Korhonen's beginning his military service in the spring, so we'll be one short. I was thinking about our Jorma, for a runner, but then I guess we'd rather need an experienced hitter... I'll have to break it to Jorma that he'll still be just a substitute, but otherwise I think you'd fit the team alright. I promise to put in the good word for your.”
The two men shook hands, and then left together for the front door.
The afternoon sun of August was still warm on his face as Veli stepped out of the Youth Association House. The dust had settled on the modest sports field, and across it, down the hill, the young man of 23 could see golden fields waiting for the scythe and the sickle, spread out between copses of birch and pine trees, framed by a shimmering lake in the distance. A bit of rolling Savonian countryside waiting for the harvest.
The next few weeks would be filled with work on the Vaara farm as well. It did not help at all that his brother would not be taking part in most of the work, either, Veli thought and felt a slight discomfort in his back, a ghost of the farm work to come.
Deep in thought, the man turned around to start the light four-kilometer walk home when he almost bumped headlong into a young woman.
Raising his head, Veli found himself looking at smiling eyes framed by steel-rimmed glasses.
”That's my twin brother, so deep inside his head he tries to walk through people!”, Sisko Vaara quipped to him with a ironic smile on her face. She had her student cap set at a jaunty angle on top of her bob cut hair.
Now a smile spread on Veli's face as well as he grabbed his sister into his arms and hugged her.
”You're already here? I thought you would be coming in the evening?”
Her sister the academic shrugged and smiled.
”I made the earlier train, and so the earlier boat as well. I'll have more time to help Mother with the party preparations, now... I saw the last three innings of the game, too. You played well.”
”Funny, I didn't see you there in the stands...”
”I guess you had other things on your mind. Maybe a girl...”
Sisko gave Veli a cheeky smile.
Veli glared at his sister.
”Not you, too? Heaven help me.”
”Can't help it, you're just too easy, o brother of mine”, Sisko Vaara said as the two started making their way home, along the dry and dusty country road, through a countryside in bloom.
…
Notes:
[1] A player out of the game was originally called ”dead” before pesäpallo terminology was reformed.
[2] Hirvilahden Nuorisoseuran Urheilijat, or ”the Hirvilahti Youth Association Athletes”.
[3] In pesäpallo pitching is vertical instead of horizontal like in baseball. A ”pole” (tolppa) is a very high but still straight pitch which skilled pitchers use to mess with hitters.
[4] A runner that is ”forced out” between hits by the defensive players is called a ”fly” (kärpänen).
[5] Kolmosvahti.
[6] Polttaja.
To Be Continued...
[filler]
One: Veli
Veli looked down at the dusty man at his feet, the grimacing face of a man who had just been declared dead.[1]
As the umpire blew into his whistle to signal the end of the ninth inning, and thus the entire game, Veli took the ball out of his glove and raised his hands over his head in celebration. In the modest stands next to the sports field, an equally modest crowd made mostly of the younger boys and girls and men and women of the village cheered and clapped their hands. It was the fourth home win in a row for the HiNsU[2], and now the team topped the local league's table as only a handful of games was left in the season.
Veli Vaara was the team's pitcher, and as such he was a very important component of the team's success. Today as well he had mostly managed to moot the opposition's best hitters with his crafty pitches. Today, his ”pole”[3] had held well, and he had even taken a few ”flies”[4] as well. As the losing side, from Kurkimäki along the railway, left the field towards the Youth Association House, the nine HiNsU players stayed on the field celebrating, shaking hands and patting each other on the back.
”Damn good game, Veli”, Väinö Korhonen, playing second base, praised his team-mate. He lowered his voice and nodded towards the stands.
”I saw Emma stare at you in rapt attention as you took out the last couple of runners. She seemed mighty impressed, if you catch my drift...”
”Oh, shut up”, Veli said and made as to punch Väinö, feeling a blush creeping to his face. Luckily he was already red from the physical exertion of the pesäpallo game and Väinö would be none the wiser.
Emma was the daughter of the neighbour of the Vaara farm, a dark-haired, very fit young woman of twenty who by some reason was not yet spoken for. Everyone knew that Emma was a champion athlete herself, the winner of many a skiing contest even on the provincial level, as much as she was headstrong and easy to anger. A right firecracker, she was.
Most of Veli's team-mates knew that the pitcher was sort of sweet on the girl and made a point of teasing him about it. Veli didn't quite know how to take it all, but he tried to hold his own in the young men's horseplay.
As the stands started emptying out and also the HiNsU players begun to file towards the Youth Association House, Veli picked up his glove and bat, and then glanced at the members of the audience leaving. His eyes fixed to the three girls walking away, together like always – the two Ollikainen sisters, with their straw-blonde hair, flanking the taller, raven-haired Emma Kerman on both sides. Just as he was turning his eyes away from the trio, Esteri Ollikainen looked back and caught his gaze – and then turned to the two girls, laughing and nodding towards him.
Feeling the red again creeping to his face, Veli took off towards the House with a rather exaggarated vigor in his step.
While inside the House, in the room now temporarily used for the HiNsU players for changing their clothes, Veli removed the home-made team shirt his sister had embroidered with the team's logo, splashed some water over his upper body and then reached for the towel. There were no facilities for an actual wash, but then he was going to the sauna in a couple of hours anyway. He put on his shirt, grabbed his bag and bat, and started to make his way out when he saw two men blocking his way. They were the opposing team's third baseman[5] and shortstop[6], Niskanen and Mähönen.
”Good game”, Niskanen said, ”for a Communist, I mean...”
He made a knowing look towards his friend who just sniggered.
”Communist, heh heh...”
”We'll sort you out yet, you bloody Red”, Niskanen continued before Veli managed to say anything, ”so savour your victories now when you still can...”
Veli Vaara straightened his back and looked Niskanen hard in the eye. He was a fair bit taller than either of the two men.
”Careful, Niskanen”, he said with a bit of a snarl, ”you don't want to slip on the floor there – we just had it polished. It is still slippery, and you might get hurt if you don't mind what you are doing...”
As Veli made as to raise a fist and take a step towards Niskanen, a fourth man suddenly stepped in between him and the two others.
”Ville and Pekka”, he said calmly, ”why don't you step outside with the others, we'll be leaving in a minute”.
This was Kovalainen, the Kurkimäki team's captain. A bit older at 26 and a man with decent authority over his team-mates, he smiled apologetically to Veli as Niskanen and Mähönen turned around, sullen, and made for the outer door.
”Sorry about that. Niskanen's a hothead, and he can't quite grasp the difference between a Social Democrat and a Communist”, he said, shaking his head.
”But then I guess you would know all about that, right?”
Veli Vaara nodded.
”Tell me about it. It can't be helped.... Good game, though, Jaakko. Too bad your two home runs were not enough...”
Kovalainen grimaced.
”Well, you can hit as many home runs as you damn well like, but if you are as rubbish on the defence as we were today...”
He shrugged.
”Anyway, there was something I wanted to tell you. Your team's been very good this season, and I wondered... Well, if you do make it to the upper tier in the fall, I wanted to ask if there might be a spot for me in the team come spring?”
That was unexpected, but after thinking a while, Veli managed an answer.
”I'll have to ask the boys, naturally, but I guess there'll be an opening. The younger Korhonen's beginning his military service in the spring, so we'll be one short. I was thinking about our Jorma, for a runner, but then I guess we'd rather need an experienced hitter... I'll have to break it to Jorma that he'll still be just a substitute, but otherwise I think you'd fit the team alright. I promise to put in the good word for your.”
The two men shook hands, and then left together for the front door.
The afternoon sun of August was still warm on his face as Veli stepped out of the Youth Association House. The dust had settled on the modest sports field, and across it, down the hill, the young man of 23 could see golden fields waiting for the scythe and the sickle, spread out between copses of birch and pine trees, framed by a shimmering lake in the distance. A bit of rolling Savonian countryside waiting for the harvest.
The next few weeks would be filled with work on the Vaara farm as well. It did not help at all that his brother would not be taking part in most of the work, either, Veli thought and felt a slight discomfort in his back, a ghost of the farm work to come.
Deep in thought, the man turned around to start the light four-kilometer walk home when he almost bumped headlong into a young woman.
Raising his head, Veli found himself looking at smiling eyes framed by steel-rimmed glasses.
”That's my twin brother, so deep inside his head he tries to walk through people!”, Sisko Vaara quipped to him with a ironic smile on her face. She had her student cap set at a jaunty angle on top of her bob cut hair.
Now a smile spread on Veli's face as well as he grabbed his sister into his arms and hugged her.
”You're already here? I thought you would be coming in the evening?”
Her sister the academic shrugged and smiled.
”I made the earlier train, and so the earlier boat as well. I'll have more time to help Mother with the party preparations, now... I saw the last three innings of the game, too. You played well.”
”Funny, I didn't see you there in the stands...”
”I guess you had other things on your mind. Maybe a girl...”
Sisko gave Veli a cheeky smile.
Veli glared at his sister.
”Not you, too? Heaven help me.”
”Can't help it, you're just too easy, o brother of mine”, Sisko Vaara said as the two started making their way home, along the dry and dusty country road, through a countryside in bloom.
…
Notes:
[1] A player out of the game was originally called ”dead” before pesäpallo terminology was reformed.
[2] Hirvilahden Nuorisoseuran Urheilijat, or ”the Hirvilahti Youth Association Athletes”.
[3] In pesäpallo pitching is vertical instead of horizontal like in baseball. A ”pole” (tolppa) is a very high but still straight pitch which skilled pitchers use to mess with hitters.
[4] A runner that is ”forced out” between hits by the defensive players is called a ”fly” (kärpänen).
[5] Kolmosvahti.
[6] Polttaja.
To Be Continued...
[filler]
- DrakonFin
- Word Count: 1.5k