Olaf and Friends…

Once upon a time, under a big old oak next to the Forest Lake, there lived one kind elf named Olaf.

Olaf was a relatively young elf—he was just 188 years old and soon he would go to school and learn about magic. Meanwhile, he spent his days reading books that his parents and grandparents gave him. Olaf missed his relatives who now lived in a faraway forest. The young elf decided to live closer to the Forest Lake. This lake was magical and elves often called it The Mirror Lake. It reflected all the stars at night, all the clouds, and everyone who looked into the lake.

One day, a Cloud flew to the lake to see how she looked. But in the Mirror Lake she only saw a big, dark gray cloud. The cloud started crying. As soon as the tear drops fell into the water, the cloud could no longer see her reflection and she cried even more. Do you remember a really big rain not long ago, my little friend? It was our sad cloud.

Olaf loved his lake and often went fishing. When he sat by the lake with a rod, spending long hours looking at the bobber, he dreamt about a journey to faraway lands across big seas and oceans. Olaf wanted to go to a place where he can see elephants, giraffes, and hippos. He dreamt about sea waves and imagined how marvelous it would be to look into the stars in the night sky that are reflected in the eternal expanse of the Mirror Lake.

Olaf’s thoughts were sometimes interrupted by fish hitting the bobber. When the bobber starts moving, it means that the fish is about to swallow the bait. But Olaf was too late to strike the rod and let the fish go. The fishing hook was empty but Olaf tried again. But he couldn’t stop thinking about adventures.

Long ago, Olaf had built a ship with oars. The ship only missed three sailing masts that could be made from tall straight pine trees.

The bobber went underwater again… But again Olaf was too late. “Let it go,” said Olaf, sadly replacing the bait.

In the silence that you can only have when fishing, you can hear many things that cannot be noticed in everyday life. In one of those silences while watching the bobber, Olaf heard two birds flying above his head. As any other creature living in the forest, Olaf understood the language of animals and birds. The two martins that Olaf heard talked about a sad lonely cow that they saw when flying above the fields. The cow strayed away from her herd and was left alone in the meadow.

Olaf completely forgot about fishing, quickly picked up his belongings, and ran to rescue the cow. There were not many meadows in the area where you could find a herd of cows, so Olaf in a quick and firm manner went into the direction from where the martins flew. The elf was worried about the cow—he was afraid that wolves could attack her. Also, it was the time to milk the cow as it was in the early morning.

Soon Olaf came to the meadow and found the cow. She was really scared.

The polite elf in a calm voice introduced himself:

“I am Olaf, the forest elf. I will take you home. What is your name? And where do you live?”

“My name is Biggy Moo, and I live in the village,” said the cow after she calmed down a little bit.

“What do the houses in your village look like?”