Dancing Ladies of the Mist

Imagine a forest, a very dark and dense forest, not an unhappy or threatening one, but one that is lush and green with massive trees, their crowns laden with dense foliage. Not much sunlight filters through into the forest so it’s ground is moist and full of thick undergrowth. Most of the forest floor is made up of a very thick layer of moss, bright green and dense. When you set your foot on the moss it sinks deep into it and it comes out wet from the water droplets that sit on it without any sunlight reaching it. The same moss is also quite bouncy so if you run through the forest you bounce off the moss, you can jump and bounce around the forest almost as if you were on a trampoline.

And as you bounce around the forest all of a sudden you find a lake deep, deep in the forest. This lake is probably the size of a football field, not too big, not too small. Because it is deep in the forest and surrounded by tall trees no wind disturbs the surface of the water and it is perfectly calm and flat like a mirror. It appears almost black because of the dark fertile soil underneath and around it.

As you look across the lake, on the far side of the shore you can see a little rise, which is covered in grass where the trees form a natural gap and sunlight shines onto the grassy patch. Right there on top of the rise you see a little wooden hut. It is a simple little hut, some people might even call it just a shed, painted bright red, with a small door and wooden windows with white window frames.

A couple lives in the little hut, a man and a woman, not old but also not young, who are very much in love. They love spending time together, living in the hut by the lake. The woman has a little habit: she gets up early every morning, at the crack of dawn, which can be as early as 4 o’clock in summer as the days are much longer then. So she gets up and she goes swimming in the lake, every morning. When she comes back to the hut, she makes two mugs of tea and takes them into the bedroom where her husband is about to wake up. He loves waking up to seeing her like this right after her swim, all happy and beautiful and smiling with her hair still dripping wet and her green eyes dancing. She sits in bed next to her husband, hands him his mug and for the next hour they sip their tea, chat, talk, laugh and enjoy their time together. This time of the morning is their favourite time of the day.

And so they live happily day in day out in the hut by the lake deep in the forest, until one day, as she was making food in the kitchen, she put oil in the pan, put the pan on the fire, and got distracted. The oil got so hot that suddenly it caught fire. She got a fright and grabbed the pan to take it outside but she stumbled and the burning oil poured all over her. Immediately, she went up in flames, her hair was burning, her beautiful face and skin burning, and she screamed and screamed. Her husband heard the screams and came running. He saw his wife in absolute agony, took a blanket and through it over her trying to put out the fire. He wrapped her in the blanket, lifted her up in his arms and carried her to the lake to put her into the cold soothing water.

He stood hip-high in the water, holding her in his arms, her body floating in the water; and he could see she was too burned and in such pain, he simply couldn’t save her, all he could do was hold her. She looked up at him with her beautiful green eyes and said, “it’s ok, my love, it’s ok, you can let go of me”. But he didn’t want to let go of her, his beloved wife; she was his love! All of a sudden a mist was rising out of the water all around them. He could make out little figures of ladies dancing in the mist, swirling and twirling around on the surface of the water. And he heard a whisper saying “come home, come home”. He looked at his wife and heard her respond, “Yes, I’m coming home”. And all of a sudden he understood. He understood that she was one of them. She has always been one of them. He understood that every morning at the crack of dawn when the mists are rising on the lake she went swimming to see her family; she was swimming and dancing with them. This is why she always came home so happy, with dancing eyes. And so he let go of her and she slowly sank down to the bottom of the lake.

He walked back to the hut, heartbroken, but he understood, and he thought back to the time of when they met. He used to live in the city, he had an office job, a house and a car, and lived the big city life. But he never liked it; he was craving peace and quiet, always imagining himself living in a beautiful forest far from any city. So for weeks and months he got into his car and drove around trying to find a place where he could live where he could find peace and close to nature. One day he was driving aimlessly on a road through the forest and saw a jeep track going into the forest. He followed the jeep track, and when it ended deep in the forest he stopped his car and got out. He could see a path going even deeper into the forest so he followed the path until he got to a lake with just the perfect little hut next to it, clearly abandoned but in good enough condition. And he knew this was where he wanted to live. So he gave up his job and house in the city, sold everything, ad moved into the little red hut with white window frames by the lake. And he loved being free, going for long walks, swimming in the lake and bouncing around the forest. Sometimes he got a bit lonely but it was still better than city life.

And one day, as he was walking around the lake, there was a woman standing on the path. What a surprise! And how beautiful she looked with her green eyes! They started to talk and over the next few days and weeks he bumped into her more often. They went on long walks together and completely fell in love with each other. He often wondered where she lived or where she had come from but she was very quiet about that part of her life. Eventually she moved in with him and they were happy.

He understood that she must have come from the lake. She saw him walking around her lake every day, so happy in this peaceful forest and was quite intrigued by him. So she wanted to meet him and left the lake to make it happen and meet him. She had given up her family to be with him. And she was rewarded with a very happy life she lived with him in this human form. And every morning she went back into the lake to see her family and dance with her sisters. So she had the best of both worlds!

And as he began to understand he started to get into the same habit as she used to do. Every morning he would wake up at the crack of dawn when the mist was rising from the surface of the water. He would get up, walk down to the lake and get into the water. And he would swim, surrounded by mist. And in the mist there were little ladies dancing and one of them would always come up to him, give him a misty little kiss on the nose, and would dance around him as he swam, and they chatted and chatted and were happy until the sun was up high and the mist would sink back into the water. Then he would go back to the hut, make a mug of tea and enjoy the memory of their time together. And so they carried on seeing each other every day. Summer turned into autumn and the days were getting shorter and shorter. And the water was getting colder!

One morning he got up early and tried to look out the window but he couldn’t see! It had frozen overnight. He tried to wipe the windows clear but thick frost covered them and when he got outside, the lake was frozen! The temperatures must have dropped overnight so much so that the whole lake was frozen over. He hurried to the lake but the ice was thick, he couldn’t swim! Again, he was heartbroken: when would he be able to see his lovely wife again? How long would this winter last? He missed her so much, missed her green eyes, missed her laugh. He went back inside but there was nothing to do but wait. Every morning he would get up early to check, but still the lake was frozen. After a few days he missed her so desperately and the memories were overwhelming he decided to relive at least some of the memories. So he went into the kitchen, made a cup of tea, and took it to the bedroom to sit in bed just like they used to do.

As he lifted the teacup to his face all of a sudden he saw steam rising out of the cup like a gentle mist. And in the steam he could see a little dancing lady. It was his wife swirling and laughing! She gave him a kiss on the nose. and said, “Good morning, my love”. And he had a smile on his face and his eyes were dancing.

Ragna Redelstorff – 2022