The Fifth Chapter of Aarni’s Story

It has been two days since I left Nila to hike to another village, Lehto. The day was slowly turning to dusk and I started to look for a good place to set up a camp. Suddenly I heard a cry for help from a distance. With caution I went to see what was happening and found an old woman laying on top of large boulders.

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“Oh thank the forest god Tapio, I thought nobody would come help me.” She sighed with relief. “I tripped and got my ankle stuck between these boulders. Can you help, I am not strong enough to pull myself out of here.”

I was a bit wary, because this might have been a trap of some kind of creature, but I couldn’t leave now if the old woman really needed help. She looked exhausted.

“I will help you, hold on for a minute.” I climbed next to her and reached between the boulders to grab her shoe. Carefully I helped her lift her foot, hoping her old bones wouldn’t brake and soon we managed to get her out.

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“Thank you so much, I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to return to village before dark.”

“But… The way to village is over two days. It will become dark before we are even close to it.” I was confused. Maybe the old lady had hit her head too.

“Oh, but I am not talking about a human village. I come from a village of maahinen.” The old lady smiled. “If you want, I can show it to you. You can sleep over night at my house. That is the least I can do for helping me.”

“Maahinen? I have never heard of those. What are they like?” I asked and the woman laughed pointing at herself.

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“You are looking at one right now. I know it is hard for you humans to see the difference, we are quite alike, but we have our own world under the ground you are walking on.”

“Oh, sorry… I really couldn’t tell the difference. I would love to see your village and meet others of your kind. My name is Aarni, what is yours?”

“I am Emma, it is nice to meet you.”

Emma led the way deeper in the forest and suddenly I felt a bit sick to my stomach. Like I had just flipped upside down.

“Don’t worry, we are just arriving there.” She said with a calm voice.

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I am not sure what happened, but as fast as the feeling came, it also left and between trees I saw a village. It looked just like an ordinary human village, fields of wheat and oat swaying and sun setting just like in our world.

“I thought we were under the ground.”

“Our world is like a mirror to yours. The ground we are walking on, is the same ground you walk on. The lakes you fish from, are the same we fish from.”

“What about the sun? Why can I see sunset here too?”

“That is the same sun. But it is not sunset, it is sunrise here.”

I looked around amazed to think a village like this was hidden from our world. I saw workers ready for a new day, children running out to play and some still tired individuals yawning on their porches. We arrived at Emma’s house and I was a bit surprised how finely it was furnished. There were many paintings on the walls and a big rug in the middle of the living room. I saw photographs on shelves and one on a drawer that looked really old.

“That is photograph of me and my husband. From about fifty years ago. We were just married.” Emma said when she saw me looking at the old photo. “He passed away last winter.”

“I am sorry to hear that.” I sighed and looked at the other pictures. There were pictures of a boy and some others of him as a young man with a wife. “You have a son?”

“Yes. Eino is our son. He and his wife Linnea had a baby just a month ago.” Emma smiled again. “The little girl has brought so much happiness to our family.”

After talking a bit of her family Emma showed me to the guest room and I happily fell on the soft bed. It sure felt nicer than forest floor.