A sailboat glided slowly out of the harbor just as Saga closed her laptop. From her hotel window, she watched the wind fill its sail. One person stood at the wheel. Two others sat talking at a small table on deck. In front of them were two plates and two glasses. Little lights glowed around the table.
Behind the boat, the lights along the dock began to come on. The harbor town spread across the hills around the fjord. More and more windows lit up in the houses on the hills. The lights from the houses, streets and harbor shimmered on the water.
Saga stayed at the window, watching the boat sail away.
Saga wrote novels and short stories and published them herself. She traveled often, taking her laptop with her. That way, she could work almost anywhere.
She looked toward the boat again. The two people at the table were still talking as it sailed farther away. Saga wanted to be out on the water that evening too. She wanted to feel the wind, eat dinner on deck and watch the harbor lights from the water as darkness fell.
She decided to go down to the dock for a while.
Saga took her cardigan, put her bag over her shoulder and walked down toward the dock.
Near the water stood a small second-hand shop. Old glasses, books and little lamps filled its window. A sign above the door read: The Harbor Finds.
The door was open. Outside stood a small table with a few things from the shop. Beside it was a wooden crate. On the crate sat a model sailboat. Next to the model was a note: Found in the water this morning.
The model was almost as long as Saga's forearm. It looked like a real sailboat, only much smaller. A mast and sail rose above the little cabin with its tiny windows, and at the back was an open deck.
Saga bent down. Through one of the cabin windows, she could see a little room with a bench and a table. On the table was a plate with a half-eaten fish.
Behind the cabin was a tiny steering wheel and a little table on deck.
“It's not for sale,” said the woman behind the table. “I found it this morning. But you're welcome to take a closer look.”
The woman handed the model to Saga.
“I'm May, by the way,” the woman said.
“Saga.”
“Where did you find it?” Saga asked.
May pointed toward a low bridge farther along the dock.
“In the water on the other side of the bridge,” May said. “It floated out from there. I put it here in case the owner comes by.”
The half-eaten fish made Saga curious. It looked as though someone had just left their lunch. She gently pulled the little rope by the mast. The sail could move.
“Do you think the sail works?” Saga asked.
May looked at the model.
“We could try it carefully by the steps. After all, I found it in the water.”
A wide set of steps led down from the dock to the water. Saga put her bag on a dry step. May set the model in the water in front of the steps, where there was plenty of space around it.
The model floated steadily. Saga raised the little sail all the way.
At first, she thought the boat had drifted closer. Then she saw the mast rise. The cabin grew taller. The deck grew longer and wider before her eyes.
The boat was growing.
Saga quickly stood up. Within seconds, a real sailboat lay beside the steps. It was big enough for several people to eat and sleep on board. Behind the cabin was an open deck with a wheel and a table where several people could sit. Inside the cabin were the bench and table she had just seen through the tiny window. Now it was a real room.
The steps were the same size as before. Her bag was still on the same step. Only the boat had changed.
May stood a few steps higher up, with one hand over her mouth, staring at the boat.
Saga waited until the boat was still.
“Hello? Is anyone here?” she called from the steps.
No one answered.
Saga could see the half-eaten fish on the table inside the cabin. Someone had left it in the middle of a meal.
“I'll just have a look by the door,” Saga said.
May nodded and stayed on the steps.
Saga stepped aboard but stopped at the open cabin door. On the bench lay a jacket with the name Rolf written inside.
Then she heard a loud scraping sound. A brown claw appeared from beneath the bench. It was almost as long as her arm. Then another claw appeared. Behind them, a huge crab crawled out.
When the crab stretched out its legs, it was as wide as a dining table for four. One claw scraped against the bench. The other struck the table leg.
Saga stepped backward onto the deck.
The crab followed her, but then turned away. At the very back of the boat was a low platform close to the water. The crab crossed it and climbed down into the shallow water.
Saga went ashore. The crab continued along the shore and stopped in the shade beneath the dock.
The sail was still raised.
Saga waited until the crab was far from the boat. The rope for the sail hung over the side. She reached it from the steps and lowered the sail all the way.
The big boat shrank before her eyes. The mast sank. The cabin became small again.
A few seconds later, the model was floating in the water.
But the crab was still enormous.
“No!” May cried behind her.
May stood on the steps, holding the railing tightly. She looked first at the little boat and then at the crab.
“I saw the boat grow,” May said. “Then that thing came out of the cabin!”
She pointed at the crab.
Saga lifted the model. Through the cabin window, she could still see the jacket with Rolf's name inside it.
Saga looked toward the low bridge May had pointed out. The model had floated out from there that morning.
“I'll go over and see if anyone is looking for the boat,” Saga said.
May looked at the model in Saga's hands.
“Take it with you. Maybe someone will recognize it. I'll come too!”
May went back to The Harbor Finds, carried the little table inside and locked the door. Then she and Saga crossed the bridge together. Saga carried the model in her hands.
On the other side was a quiet bay. After a few steps, Saga saw something blue moving beside the path.
A very small man in a blue sweater was standing there. He was no taller than Saga's thumb. Beside him was a very small water bottle.
Saga bent down. May stopped beside her. The man pointed at the boat. His voice was so quiet that they couldn't understand him.
Saga placed the model on the ground. The man climbed aboard at once. He pointed toward the bridge and then at the sail, but he did not pull the rope.
Saga looked at the low bridge. A full-sized sailboat could never fit under it.
She carefully lifted the model with the man aboard. Then she and May walked back across the bridge together.
At the steps, Saga placed the model in the water a little way from the edge, where there was open space around it. May watched from a few steps above.
The man waited until the boat was still. Then he raised the sail all the way.
The boat began to grow. And the man grew with it!
May took a step back.
When everything was still again, a full-sized man stood on the deck. He looked at his hands before looking at Saga.
He was an older man with gray hair and a sun-browned face. His blue sailing sweater looked old. He looked like a man who had sailed across the fjord for many years.
“Rolf?” she asked.
“Yes. And you?”
“Saga.”
Saga pointed toward the shade beneath the dock.
Rolf looked where she was looking. When he saw the crab, he stopped suddenly and grabbed the railing.
“No... It wasn't that big this morning!”
“Was it with you this morning?” Saga asked.
Rolf held his thumb and index finger a few centimeters apart.
“This small. Just an ordinary little crab. I'd made the boat small so I could get into the bay under the bridge. And I became small along with the boat.”
He pointed at the platform at the back.
“The crab followed the fish aboard there. To me, it suddenly became enormous. I couldn't raise the sail while it was still on board, because then it would grow with the boat. The boat was close to a rock, so I went ashore with my water bottle and tied the boat up. I sat a little way off and waited. When I looked back, the rope had broken. The boat was gone.”
Saga looked at the sail, then at the crab.
“When I raised the sail, it was still on board...”
Rolf looked where she was looking.
“Then the crab grew with the boat!”
The crab moved beneath the dock. One claw lay in the light, almost as long as Saga's arm.
Saga looked toward the cabin. The plate with the half-eaten fish was still on the table.
“We can use the fish,” she said.
Rolf looked toward the bridge.
“You don't have to come back under the bridge. I can take the crab myself.”
Saga looked at the crab, then at the wheel.
“You need to steer. I can take care of the fish... I'll come with you.”
Rolf nodded.
“All right. But if anything feels wrong, we'll turn back straight away.”
Saga went into the cabin and got the plate.
Rolf steered the boat slowly closer to shore.
Saga placed one piece of fish at the back of the boat and another farther along the deck. She kept the last piece of fish on the plate.
After a while, the crab came out.
It took the first piece of fish and climbed aboard. Then it followed the next piece farther onto the deck.
When the whole crab was aboard, Rolf steered away from shore. Saga took hold of the sail rope.
“Ready?”
Rolf looked at the crab.
“Do it!”
Saga lowered the sail.
Everything became smaller at once.
To Saga, the boat looked almost the same. But the dock rose high above them, and May became a giant on the shore.
The crab shrank too. To May, it was now an ordinary crab. To Saga and Rolf, it was still just as big.
Rolf hurried to the wheel and started the engine. The low bridge lay ahead of them. May stood watching from the shore.
The little boat slipped beneath the bridge. The bridge rose high above the mast. Small drops of water hung from the wood. One fell beside the boat with a heavy splash. Behind Saga, the crab scraped its claw against the deck!
A little while ago, Saga had carried the boat over the bridge in her hands. Now she was sitting inside it, looking up at the bridge high above her.
On the other side lay the quiet bay. Rolf pointed toward a flat, wet rock at the water's edge.
“That's where the crab came aboard this morning.”
Rolf moved the boat backward until it was close to the rock. Saga threw the last piece of fish onto its wet surface.
The crab followed. It climbed down from the boat, took the fish and disappeared between the rocks.
Rolf steered back beneath the bridge.
On the harbor side, May was still standing by the steps. From the little boat, she looked like a giant.
Rolf steered into open water. Saga raised the sail, and within seconds the dock sank around them until May was simply May again.
Rolf looked up at the sail and laughed.
“I've been sailing for years, but that was something new.”
He brought the boat next to the steps and tied it up. Then he went ashore.
“May, this is Rolf,” Saga said. “May is the one who found the boat this morning.”
“Then you're the one I should thank,” Rolf said. “And Saga too. Thank you for taking care of the boat while I was stuck on the other side of the bridge.”
May nodded and looked back at the boat. Then she shook her head.
“I've seen it happen several times now, and it still feels impossible.”
Rolf opened and closed his hands.
“I've had this boat for a long time. Even so, I always look at my hands afterwards.”
Saga looked down into the cabin. Earlier that evening, she had seen the whole room through a tiny window.
Now she could walk inside it.
She turned toward the fjord beyond the harbor.
“Are you going sailing again this evening?” Saga asked.
Rolf looked out at the water.
“I was thinking of taking a short trip out on the fjord,” he said.
“If May wants to come too, I'd love to go sailing,” Saga said.
May smiled.
“Well, count me in!”
“Then let's take a little trip out on the fjord,” Rolf said.
Together, they went up to the dock and bought bread, smoked fish, cheese and strawberries.
When they returned, Saga picked up her bag from the steps and carried it aboard. May followed. Even more windows were glowing in the houses on the hills around the harbor.
Rolf opened a cabinet in the cabin.
“The life jackets are here,” he said. “The life ring is at the back.”
Rolf checked the ropes and switched on the cabin light and the little warm lights around the table on deck.
Then he steered out of the harbor.
When they reached the fjord, the wind caught the sail. Rolf switched off the engine, and the boat continued quietly across the water.
Saga stopped in the middle of the deck.
It was almost the same picture she had seen from her hotel window: three people on a sailboat, a table with food and little warm lights around them.
But now she was one of the three people on the boat.
They sailed farther out into the fjord.
From the water, Saga could see the whole harbor town. Houses covered the hills on both sides, and many windows glowed above the dark water.
Farther ahead was a small island with dark trees. Behind it, a lighthouse flashed.
Saga stood at the front of the boat for a while, feeling the wind on her face. Then they sat down at the table on deck. As they ate, the sky grew darker and more windows lit up along the hills.
May looked at Saga.
“What was it like under the bridge when you were small?”
Saga remembered the wooden beams high above the mast, and the drop of water that had fallen beside the boat.
“I knew it was the same bridge, but everything looked completely different.”
Rolf looked at her.
“And the crab?”
Saga picked up a strawberry.
“I prefer it at its normal size.”
Rolf laughed.
After dinner, Rolf showed her how the boat turned when she moved the wheel. For a while, Saga steered it herself.
The fjord opened up before them. On one side, dark trees stood close to the water. On the other, the town lights climbed the hills.
By the time they turned back, it was night. The lights along the dock shone over the dark water.
Saga saw the hotel high above the dock. One of those windows up there was hers.
A few hours earlier, she had stood there watching a sailboat disappear out onto the water.
Now she was returning from that same direction.
At the dock, Rolf tied up beside the steps. Saga and May went ashore.
“Thank you for the trip,” Saga said.
“Thank you,” Rolf replied. “And thanks for your help.”
Rolf waited until everyone was off the boat. A little while later, he lifted the tiny sailboat out of the water.
“Good night,” he said.
Saga and May watched him walk away along the dock with the boat under his arm. Then they said goodbye and went different ways.
When Saga returned to her hotel room, she went to the window.
The harbor lay far below her. The lights along the dock shimmered on the dark water. Several sailboats rested at the docks for the night.
From up here, they almost looked like models.
Saga stayed at the window for a while.