Sustainable Development Find a picture of each of the animals on the list below, before you read the story.
Svalbard
polar bear seal ptarmigan reindeer beluga whale
Vu
rd
er
in
gs ek
se m
pl
ar
Charlie winced in pain trying to find a comfortable position between the pillows the nurse had tucked behind him. His broken ribs cut into him like knives and his tightly bandaged thigh throbbed with each beat of his heart. His left eye was heavily bruised and swollen shut. Two parallel cuts extended from his left ear to his mouth, like red war paint. He would carry the scars for the rest of his life. The officer seated next to his bed, cleared her throat and said, “I understand how difficult this must be for you. If you’d rather, we could wait until tomorrow.” “I’ll be alright,” he replied, his voice lifeless. The good side of his face was ashen gray, his right eye red-rimmed and bloodshot. “Could you please state your full name and date of birth?” “Charles Finley Wilson, 24 July 1996.” The battery of questions continued. “Home address and telephone number? Occupation? When did you arrive on Svalbard?” Was it really only the day before yesterday that he had left London on the morning flight to Tromsø in northern Norway, before catching the flight further north to the Svalbard archipelago? It felt like an eternity had passed since then. Elise had rushed into his outstretched arms as soon as he walked out of customs. Closing his eyes, he had breathed in the fresh scent of her soft brown curls deeply, before tilting her head up for a lingering kiss. This girl pulled at his heartstrings in a way that he had never experienced before. It had been three long months since they had last seen each other. She had spent the Christmas holidays with Charlie’s family in London. His parents and three younger sisters had all adored Charlie’s new girlfriend, a Norwegian graduate student who studied polar bears in the Arctic. Polar bears! The Arctic! Such a genuinely friendly and down-to-earth girl, so unlike the posh London types he had brought home before. Leaving the airport, they headed straight for the Arctic
winced krympet tucked plassert thigh lår throbbed banket extended forlenget bloodshot blodsprengt occupation yrke eternity evighet customs tollen lingering dvelende heartstrings hjertestrenger polar bear isbjørn down-to-earth jordnær posh snobbete
STARTING POINT
FELICIA RØKAAS
291
