Kun valkenee—

The story opens on a quiet evening in 1914 Helsinki, where the soft twilight drifts over reeds and willow leaves. Dr. Mauri Koivu sits alone in his study, the glow of a single lamp highlighting the emptiness left by his children’s departure. A rust‑coloured newspaper article about a distant professor’s daughter, Margit Barlitz, reaches him, stirring memories of a summer that never came, and a mixture of longing and duty begins to surface.

Koivu’s thoughts wander between the tender image of his twins—Heli with her cloud‑blue eyes and Tapani with a dark, searching gaze—and the quiet grief of an absent partner. The brief mention of Margit evokes a youthful yearning that contrasts starkly with his present responsibilities as a physician and caretaker. Yet the sense that something vital is missing presses on him, prompting a quiet resolve to look beyond his familiar routines.