The Circle (Hammer) - By Elfgren, Sara B.,Strandberg, Mats Page 0,97

only just make out the contours of the people filling the space.

She doesn’t want to be here. She never asked to be chosen. But she can no longer control the admiration of those around her. It’s spread on to people she hasn’t even tried to influence. They are simply affected by the fact that other people seem to adore her. And this is the result.

The Lucia crown on her head is heavy. A few drops of wax drip on to the head cloth protecting her hair.

‘And one … two … one, two, three, four!’

The music and drama teacher, Kerstin Stålnacke, is counting enthusiastically. She’s waving with such exuberance that her Santa-red tunic is billowing like a sheet on a clothes line. Her hennaed hair is sticking straight up on top of her head. On ‘four’ the Lucia procession starts singing behind Anna-Karin.

‘Natten går tunga fjät, runt gård och stuva …’

Anna-Karin mimes the well-known but incomprehensible words as she marches slowly into the darkness.

The burning candles cast a warm glow around her as she moves. Faces appear out of the darkness. There’s Vanessa, breaking a heart-shaped ginger biscuit into three pieces. And there’s Minoo, watching Anna-Karin gravely. Kevin is rocking back on his chair and drumming his fingers on the table. Felicia and Julia smile like the fanatical members of the Anna-Karin sect they are. It was they who nominated her to be this year’s Lucia. The song seems never-ending.

‘Natten var stor och stum. Nu, hör, det svingar. I alla tysta rum, sus som av vingar.’

More drops of wax land on Anna-Karin’s headcloth as she walks through the darkened cafeteria. The air smells of alcohol-free mulled wine and warm bodies, and when she approaches the back of the cafeteria, where they’ve cleared away the tables and chairs to make room for the Lucia procession, she catches a whiff of coffee from one of the teachers’ tables.

When Anna-Karin takes her place at the front of the space, and the procession gathers in a half circle behind her, she sees the principal staring right through her. She starts to perspire with the heat of the candles, and a clammy sheen spreads across her face. The palms of her hands, in the traditional Lucia pose, are damp. Max is sitting next to the principal, smiling encouragingly at her. Petter Backman, known for putting his arm around his female students the first chance he gets, is on his other side and lets his eyes wander covetously over her.

Finally the song ends. Ida, who is a handmaiden and is standing to the right of Anna-Karin, belts out the final ‘Luciaaa’ so her voice carries above everyone else’s. It’s obvious that she wishes she could do a solo. Ida is used to being the school’s Lucia, and Anna-Karin hopes that she’ll resist the temptation to set fire to her hair with her candle. She is reassured to see the assistant principal, Tommy Ekberg, with a fire extinguisher at the ready.

One carol leads into the next, and Anna-Karin mimes through them. Kerstin Stålnacke flails her arms as if she has just stepped on a wasps’ nest.

Anna-Karin catches sight of Jari, who is skirting one of the walls until he’s standing just a few metres from her. He’s alone. And he has eyes only for Anna-Karin. Her smile is suddenly genuine. And he smiles back, glowing and sparkling more brightly than any of the candles. It’s nearly over.

‘Hej tomtegubbar slå i glasen och låt oss lustiga vara …’

Anna-Karin holds Jari’s gaze.

‘En liten tid, vi leva här, med mycket möda och stort besvär …’

Anna-Karin hears Ida get ready to belt out the final verse.

‘Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee–’ The high note gives way to a piercing scream. ‘… eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!’

Everyone in the cafeteria falls deathly silent. The principal leans forward, about to stand up. There is a loud thud next to Anna-Karin and she whirls around so suddenly that the crown of candles slips off her head and hits the floor, some of the candles breaking loose. The singers in their long white gowns jump away to escape the flames, and out of the corner of her eye Anna-Karin sees Tommy Ekberg running towards her with the fire extinguisher.

Ida has dropped to her knees. Her eyelids are twitching and her eyeballs have turned so far into her skull that only the whites are visible. Her lips are moving and Anna-Karin thinks Ida is saying her name. She leans close to hear better.

Ida is as quick as a cobra. Her hand flies out and grabs Anna-Karin’s