Not placing two knives crossed on the table, as it brings bad luck

Scene: A cozy kitchen in Aarhus. The smell of fresh rye bread and herring lingers in the air. Mikkel is preparing lunch while Lars sets the table.

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Lars:
(Gasps) Mikkel! What in Odin’s name are you doing?

Mikkel:
(Looking confused) Uh… buttering the rye bread? Unless butter’s forbidden now?

Lars:
No, no! Look at the knives! You’ve placed two of them crossed on the table!

Mikkel:
(Looks down) Oh. That? Yeah, I just put them like that so I could grab the salt. Didn’t realise I’d summoned the spirits of misfortune.

Lars:
It is misfortune! Don’t you know what that means? Crossed knives on the table invite conflict. Bad energy. My mormor used to say it brings quarrels into the home.

Mikkel:
Lars, you know I love your mormor stories, but don’t you think it’s a bit much to blame knives for family arguments? I mean, by that logic, IKEA should be a war zone.

Lars:
(Seriously) It’s not just her! It’s a well-known superstition. You never cross knives. Or else someone in the family ends up fighting. It happened in 2014. Christmas dinner. I swear to Thor, I saw the knives crossed and an hour later, Uncle Henrik was yelling about pickled cabbage again.

Mikkel:
Or maybe Henrik was just drunk and has terrible taste in fermented vegetables?

Lars:
That’s not the point! It’s the pattern. Every time those knives are crossed, something goes wrong.

Mikkel:
Okay, let’s try a little test. (Grabs two knives and deliberately crosses them on the table) There. Boom. Crossed. Let’s see what happens.

Lars:
(Leaps up) Don’t! At least uncross them before we eat. Please. I don’t want the herring to go sour or something.

Mikkel:
(Laughing) Herring’s already sour. That’s the whole point.

Lars:
You laugh, but traditions carry wisdom. These beliefs came from somewhere.

Mikkel:
Sure, but that “somewhere” might be a time before hygiene and indoor plumbing. I mean, people thought eclipses were caused by wolves eating the moon.

Lars:
Better safe than sorry, I say.

Mikkel:
Okay, fair. But if we never question stuff, we’d still be afraid of stepping on cracks or walking under ladders. At some point, you’ve got to ask: Does this actually make sense?

Lars:
Does love make sense? Or déjà vu? Not everything has to be logical to feel real.

Mikkel:
True. But when something can be explained — like knives not controlling your fate — maybe it’s better to let go of the fear. Or at least not panic in the middle of lunch prep.

Lars:
(Chuckling) You just don’t get the thrill of believing in something beyond reason, do you?

Mikkel:
I do — I believe in coffee saving lives every Monday. That’s supernatural enough.

Lars:
(Smiling) Alright, Mr. Rational. How about this: I won’t freak out this time… but you owe me one trip to the flea market this weekend.

Mikkel:
Deal. And you let me buy whatever ridiculous “scientific gadget” I find without calling it cursed.

Lars:
Fine. As long as it doesn’t involve crossed knives.

Mikkel:
(Picks up knives again) Cross my heart and hope to— oh wait, better not.

(They both laugh and clink their glasses of elderflower soda.)

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[End Scene]