Sisu

A Story by Jade

“Sisu is a Finnish term loosely translated into English as strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity. However, the word is widely considered to lack a proper translation into any other language. Sisu has been described as being integral to understanding Finnish culture. However sisu is defined by a long-term element in it; it is not momentary courage, but the ability to sustain in action against the odds.”

Sisu

Birdie made her way across campus, her small frame darting between people that weren’t watching where they were going, and doors that weren’t being held, and her bright purple hair sticking up in every direction.

“Where the hell are you?” She mumbled, glancing around for her missing friend.

“We’ve got test review. You’ve already skipped this week.” Birdie huffed, punching the commands into her phone to call the MIA friend. After a few rings, a sleepy voice answered.

“He--“

“Get to class!”

“Wha? I’m sleeping.”

“Well, you’re late, and you need this review, you s**t. Now get down here and don’t make me sit through this lecture alone.”

“I’m not dre--“

“We’re getting ice cream in the cafe after, and then some sort of fun whatever-we-decide, and you aren’t invited if you don’t show up. See you.” Click.

When her sleepy friend trudged in twenty minutes late with uncombed hair and sweatpants, she could only smirk.

“Good morning, mother.” He half-growled under his breath as he took the empty seat next to her. The lecture seemed to just drag on forever, and he couldn’t help but doze off a few times, much to his teacher’s annoyance.

When they were set free from the white-walled cage of a classroom, Birdie was already ten steps ahead of Colby, looking back and chattering away.

“So I know I said we were getting ice cream here, but man, it’s so nice out that we could go somewhere else and actually get food AND ice cream, or we could just chill out o--“

Her words were cut off as she walked straight into another girl, accidentally knocking her books to the ground.

“Oh! I’m sorry!” Birdie said, moving to help the girl pick up her things.

The girl seemed shy, letting out a small, barely audible, “Anteeksi.” as she started stacking her papers back together.

“I’m sorry?”

“An--oh, I am sorry.” The girl seemed to concentrate on saying the words the correct way, but it was still clear she had some sort of accent.

“German?” Birdie inquired, noting the hard ‘r’ sound. The girl blinked a few times before realizing what she was asking.

“No, I’m Finnish.” She said quietly, standing up and holding her books close to her, as if she was afraid Birdie might not react so nicely to that. Colby simply cocked an eyebrow, and attempted to nonchalantly straighten out his hair and dewrinkle his shirt as the two spoke.

“Birdie!” She announced, sticking out her hand. “Name’s Birdie, what’s yours?”

“I uhm, Kaija.”

“Kaya?”

“Kai-yah.”

“I’m Colby.” Interjecting, the tall, black haired male made himself known with some stupid grin on his face.

“We were just about to grab some lunch, you wanna come?”

“I should stay here…” She mumbled, afraid to really refuse.

“We can grab something in the cafe?”

Kaija thought a moment, and then nodded with a small smile. Colby nodded and followed the two, shaking his head. Birdie was the most ridiculous person he’d ever met. She had more energy than someone overdosing on caffeine, and made friends quicker than anyone he’d ever seen. If there were some sort of award for it, Birdie would win it. She’d certainly earned her nickname. She was always fluttering about, flying in and out of places before one could say hello, looking for new places to explore, and finding the freedom to fly no matter what the sky looked like.

The three talked for a while, but it was mostly Birdie grilling poor Kaija about her homeland. She seemed pretty shy, but a little proud to talk about home.

“Why’d you visit here?”

“I wanted to, and I figured why not take a class?”

“Do you like it here?”

“I guess. People are very uh, friendly here.”

“Teach me a Finnish word.”

“Uhm, Sisu. It means to keep going even when things are hard.”

Eventually, Birdie ran out of things to ask and Kaija got the chance to leave to go to class. Colby shook his head.

“How do you have so much energy all the time?”

“I’m not boring.”

“Oh! Burn!” Colby acted insulted, as he was the polar opposite�"sleepy, lazy, and a bit of a loner.

“Not what I mean. You know that. I just, I don’t know, I don’t want to miss anything.”

“Doesn’t mean you need to kill yourself.”

“I want to live. If that means killing myself, then at least I got to say I had a life to die, which is more than most people can say. I like to learn things and make friends, and if that’s a crime, then whatever. Arrest me.”

“I didn’t mean it like that…”

“I know. I’m just, I don’t know. Weird today. Sorry.”

Over the next couple weeks, they became closer friends, and even Kaija opened up a bit. They learned that most Finns didn’t talk much, which explained why she was so shy, and they didn’t really hang off their friends like they did here. They even learned a few Finnish words. But mostly, Colby just thought she was really cute, and suddenly became the guy that held doors for her, got her coffees, and generally was always trying to impress her.

“She just doesn’t like me, I don’t understand. No matter how hard I try, she just doesn’t get it.”

Birdie rolled her eyes. Colby wasn’t exactly what she’d call the brightest kid on the block.

“Maybe she just, oh, let me think about this… doesn’t like you?”

“How?! I’ve been nothing but nice!”

“What? People don’t magically like you because you’re ‘nice’.”

“What’s with the air quotes?” He asked, almost annoyed.

“Because you aren’t nice. You’re a lazy, unmotivated jerk who doesn’t really like people, albeit with a few exceptions. You don’t hold doors, and you don’t get someone coffee, you make fun of people, and you usually have to be dragged out of bed.” She snapped.

“Well, I’m nicer to people I like.”

Birdie breathed in. That was it.

“No, you aren’t nicer to people you like, because being nice has no motive! You just do those things and if something good comes out of it, GREAT, and if not, whatever! You weren’t expecting anything in return! You don’t get a treat just because you were a good boy, Colby. Sure, you can be nice all you want to her, but she’s from another country. Maybe you should worry more about the fact that she’s not staying here forever, and that she’s probably still adjusting to everything before you move in and try to get with her! UGH. You’re so annoying sometimes! You think just because you’re doing something you should have already been doing, you deserve her? No, Colby, even if you were the nicest, most perfect guy alive, it doesn’t mean you deserve anyone, it means that if they aren’t interested, you should leave them alone and stop bugging them.”

She was practically steaming by the end of her rant, and was visibly upset, but Colby didn’t dare ask why she cared so much. And as the words sunk in, he sort of deflated. Maybe she was right, he had been pushing Kaija, and she was still trying to figure out the whole America thing. Birdie took off from the table they were sitting at and took off towards her car, but she never made it there before she just started crying. She looked around to make sure no one noticed, and sat by the steps on the back door.

“Stupid idiot. People like you just break hearts.”

She’d always been the happy one, the one that ran around and made everyone smile. She was so high energy, but in reality, she was afraid that if she stopped or hesitated even for a second, she was going to lose it in front of everyone.

“Damn it…” She cursed, burying her head in her arms. She tried not to think about what had happened to her, the ‘nice’ guy who liked her. The one that had a temper she could only moderately make excuses for, and who, apparently, didn’t know what ‘stop’ meant. She felt like throwing up just thinking about it. And taking a hundred showers, and mostly just like

“Are you okay?” A small voice asked.

Birdie looked up, it was Kaija. She choked out a “Yes.” But it wasn’t very convincing with the tears still streaming down her face. Kaija clearly didn’t believe her, but she seemed to understand that Birdie didn’t want to talk about it, so she motioned for her to stand up. When she obliged, the blonde wrapped her arms around her friend in a tight hug until Birdie at least calmed down a bit.

“For Sisu.” Kaija smiled and gave her a bracelet that she’d worn every day, and Birdie couldn’t help but smile back.

Colby finally decided to meander over to see where Birdie had gone, and he opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it when he realized how red his friend’s eyes were. They’d known each other for a long time, and he’d never seen Birdie sad.

“Here.” Kaija nudged Birdie closer to Colby. “Give her a hug. She’ll like it more from you.”

“What? Why would she..?” Birdie took the invitation, though, not bothering to answer why, and just buried her face in Colby’s jacket with her arms tight around his waist. He was never going to get it.

“Sisu.” She mumbled. “It’s easier to have if another person has it, too.”

© 2013 Jade

Author's Note

Not that experienced with short stories, and I would LOVE some constructive criticism! I was also using this as an exploration of the "Birdie" character, and in fact had no idea where this was going when I started it. It's also a first draft, so I'm sure there's lots of suggestions to be given.