Wanda Phinn’s journey to Öland

Wanda Phinn’s journey to Öland is the point at which her fascination with Atu Abanshamash Dumuzi becomes a deliberate break with her former life. In September 2013, she leaves her job without notice and travels toward the Nature Absorption Academy, convinced that a future with Atu awaits her. The journey is shaped by a widening gulf between what Wanda expects and what she encounters: warnings, a refusal of course places, an empty station, and finally Pirjo Abanshamash Dumuzi herself.

Departure and fixation

Wanda does not hand in her notice. She throws her cap on the floor, says goodbye to the woman at the control, and slips out. The departure is abrupt, but the narration presents it as relief rather than a loss: the wall into Victoria Embankment Gardens seems to slide away, the wasted days and the sounds of the park recede, and the world opens before her. She imagines herself among a select few, with her whole life still ahead. Leaving work is thus more than a change of destination. It is her first concrete act in service of the life she believes Atu can offer.

That certainty dates back to her encounter with him in London. Atu had caressed her cheek and called her his flower; Wanda had lost consciousness, then come around to find herself enthralled by his eyes and feeling his lips on the back of her hand. She has made that charged, disorienting encounter the basis for a future she believes she has dreamed of. The journey follows from that conviction: she does not treat the meeting as a passing flirtation but as evidence of a bond that can be resumed if she gets to the right place.

Warnings and arrangements

Wanda tells Shirley about her decision and receives a sustained effort to dissuade her. Shirley points to the contrast between the Academy as it appears on a screen—beautiful buildings, unusual rituals, and the sea close by—and the possibility that, in person, the encounter with Atu will prove to have been only flirtation. She warns that his attractiveness and charisma draw women, and that Wanda may have wasted her journey. Shirley’s own warning carries weight because she too has felt the force of Atu’s charisma. Wanda nevertheless promises that she keeps her word, refusing to let her friend’s familiarity with the attraction turn into a reason to retreat.

She writes to the Nature Absorption Academy on Öland to give notice of her departure date and ask whether someone can meet her at Kalmar station. Her plans extend beyond the courses she originally booked: she hopes to take more classes and, if possible, remain as a volunteer helping to spread Atu’s ideas. Wanda is not travelling simply to attend a scheduled course. She has already pictured a continuing place for herself within the Academy and its work.

A few days later, an email tells her that the courses are oversubscribed and that she should not expect an opening before the end of the year. The message comes from Pirjo. Wanda refuses to accept the practical answer as final; she believes that matters will change when Atu sees her and assumes that their encounter can pick up where their earlier meeting left off. The name of the sender turns an administrative obstacle into a personal one. Wanda anticipates a fight with Pirjo, though she has not yet decided how to settle their score without Atu finding out.

The journey north

Wanda’s journey properly begins when she boards the train in Copenhagen. The flight has been ordinary; the train ride through unfamiliar landscapes feels to her like a fairy tale. She hears the language as something magical and exciting, belonging to the world of sagas and a vanished past. The landscape reinforces that sense of entering another life: broad farmland is broken by bedrock and long dry-stone walls, then gives way to red wooden houses and extensive pine forests. She imagines this Swedish countryside as the place where she will find her kingdom and throne, escape herself and her past, and live with Atu for the rest of her life.

The scale of her preparations shows how firmly she has committed to arriving without an invitation. She has sent another email announcing when she will reach the station. If no one comes, she has booked a hotel and brought enough money to stay for several weeks. The refusal of a course place has not altered her objective; it has only made her plan to wait in person. In her mind, persistence will secure an audience with Atu. Her confidence turns uncertainty into an inconvenience she believes she can outlast.

On the train, a man opposite asks whether it is her first visit. As they pass Karlskrona, with only half an hour remaining before Kalmar, he explains that he is a journalist in the city and has interviewed the guru at the centre on Öland. He describes his experience as mixed, says he saw fraud and manipulation rather than what the Academy claims to offer, and reports that Dumuzi tried to captivate him without success. He asks whether Wanda is sure of her decision. She confirms that she is, more than ever. The warning is direct and comes from someone who has visited the centre, but it meets a resolve that has grown stronger rather than more cautious.

Arrival and confrontation

At Kalmar station, Wanda stands by a flagpole and squints into the sun. No one has come to meet her. She thinks of taking her luggage to the hotel, where she can arrange a taxi, and expects to be at the centre within three quarters of an hour. The absence of a welcoming party does not send her back or even dislodge her plan; she is already translating disappointment into the next step of the journey.

As she is about to lift her suitcase, a woman rounds the corner at speed on a scooter, dressed in white from head to toe and clenching her teeth. Wanda recognizes Pirjo from her expression and instinctively clenches her fists. Their meeting gives a face to the resistance already present in the oversubscribed-course email. Wanda greets Pirjo and identifies herself with an innocent smile, while Pirjo understands that she will not be satisfied until she has stood before Atu.

Pirjo says that a return ticket has been arranged for Wanda. Wanda replies that she has come to meet Atu and cannot go back before doing so; she acknowledges that there are no course places but insists that she has to see him. Pirjo explains that Atu is not at the course centre. Wanda immediately substitutes waiting for departure: she knows the Frimurare Hotellet is nearby, has checked that rooms are available, and is willing to stay for a couple of days until Pirjo can contact her. The journey therefore ends not with admission to a course or a meeting with Atu, but with Wanda establishing herself within reach and refusing the return route prepared for her. The encounter leaves the central conflict plainly set: Wanda’s hope of access to Atu now depends on getting past Pirjo.