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Karla (last name, Paulsen) is a translator in her late 20's/early 30's who translates French literature into Danish.

She lives and works in Copenhagen, though she grew up in a small town out west and has lived in both Aarhus and Paris.

A lesbian, she is struggling to find the girl she wants to stay with, haunted by the memories of her first love when she was 13.

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There are five legs to Karla's life. Or, more accurately, there are four legs and the mountain they cover.

Lykke, who in English would've been called 'Happiness', is the mountain. Sofia, Josephine, Margot and Liv each make for a leg of their own. Stages that Karla won or lost or, if nothing else, survived and came out changed from.

Growing up in a relatively average, middle-class family, Karla befriended Lykke when she was twelve and for a couple of years, they were inseparable. Joined at the hip, and in other places, too, Karla would've contested, had she been asked. Fingers in mouth, tongue in pussy, arms around bodies, legs entangled. Lykke was her first lover, except Lykke didn't think so herself and in time with Karla becoming more outspoken about her sexuality and terming herself a lesbian, they would slowly drift apart again, a breakup which Karla would never recover from, due to the unspoken nature of it.

In gymnasium, the Danish equivalent to a student's final high school or their early college years, she met Sofia who, like herself, was openly queer and fit in poorly in small-town H.'s perception of what a girl was. Outcasts, they soon began hanging out together and eventually, they initiated a relationship that would last them fourteen months, until Sofia in their final year of gymnasium, confronted Karla with the fact that she was still in love with Lykke. It was not a quiet breakup this time. For some reason, Karla was happy about that.

After graduating gymnasium, Karla moved to a larger university city, Aarhus, to study French. The environment of Aarhus was totally different from H., much more encompassing and flexible, and she enjoyed her freedom. Josephine studied art history and was an artist herself, often drawing Karla and making her sit for her. They didn't have many interests in common, but they knew how to give each other the freedom to be who they were and as such, they'd stay friends with benefits for most of Karla's time in university.

Now a master's in French language and culture, Karla lands an internship at a small publisher's in Paris that specializes in Danish literature. Karla's main job is to pick out titles for consideration and she reads a lot of Danish literature in her small Parisian flat. Margot is a translator with the publishing house and Karla takes an interest in her, and soon they become friends, then lovers. Except, Margot is married and won't admit to the relationship. Reminded of Lykke, Karla ends her internship a month and a half in advance, fleeing to Copenhagen where she moves over the course of a month, uprooting her old life in Aarhus and finding a new job, new friends, a new existence in a new city.

In Copenhagen, she is slow to settle in, focusing mainly on her work at a major publishing house that bores her endlessly and even slower to begin trusting the people around her, but her roommate, Liv, whose name means "Life" in Danish, is patient and understanding of her, waiting for that time when Karla is ready to look at their relation and name it romantic. Once Karla does, she embraces the deep connection they have shared since day one and realizes that by finding Liv, she hasn't only filled the hole Lykke created in her life, but has found her own self.