Olina and the Mystery of the Lost Hare E-Book

Maria Meng Smedemark

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 71

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Springtime is well overdue and Olina literelly stumbles into another exciting adventure, on her daily walk in the forest. Why is the season of spring delayed? Who is the lost hare, and why is she lost? Come on, let's find out! Go ahead, just open the book... Great to read together.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Foreword

A Meeting in the Forest

On a Hare Hunt

Troll-Hill

A Walk with Birk

The Dream

Elfrid the Owl

A Red, Bushy Tail and one Exhausted Hare

In Birk’s Hollow

An Unexpected Encounter at Bombil’s

The Book of Legends and Stars

The Legend of the Bird who Became a Hare

The Goddess of Spring

The Hare Hunt Continues

Captured

The Escape from Elef

The Rescue Mission

A Cap is Lost

The Surprise

The Spring has Sprung

Springtime in Whisper’s Forest

Names of characters and places in the story

Foreword

This story has its inspiration from old traditions. Spring is a time of rebirth, growth, transformation and welcoming the new. There isn’t much documentation about the Spring Goddess Ostara, or Eostre as she is also called, so I have taken the liberty to create a story about her and the two hares. The short legend in the story is also inspired from various small articles about the Goddess transforming a bird into a hare which wonderfully triggered my imagination.

For me springtime is magical and always brings a sense of hope and joy: All the little sprouts coming up, the lovely flowers stretching their necks to reach the still fledgling sunbeams and the birds chirping happily as the days gets warmer and longer.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone involved writing this story and getting it out there. To you Pam who my editor, thank you so much, you’re a star! To Jo Le-Rose and Mike Robinson whose teachings and inspiration never seizes to amaze me and help me and so many to continuously grow. And last but not least to Alexander, my love and best friend, thank you. It is such a joy to be able to share this story and the support and love has given me wings.

So, the deepest thank you from all of me to all of you, Maria

A Meeting in the Forest

A cold wind blew through the courtyard as Olina opened the door. It was the beginning of April, and spring was well overdue. Ever since Christmas she had been walking in the forest every day, enjoying the fresh air and the deep silence of winter.

She walked across the courtyard towards the path to Troll-Hill. Her feet found their way all by themselves without her having to think about it, and before long, she was joined by the farm cat Mons who followed her at a brisk pace. She laughed a little to herself as Mons looked up at her meowing. “Yes Mons” she said cheerfully, “you just come for a walk in the forest with me, much better than strolling around the yard. Mum goes nutty when you walk around her legs and she's almost falling over you in the kitchen.” Olina giggled as she stopped and stroked the old cat over his soft, gray fur. He immediately started to purr and rub against her legs.

She quickly regretted letting him follow. He wasn’t going to stop rubbing against her legs any time soon now he had caught her attention. She started walking again as Mons continued to rub against her leg, nor had she taken more than two steps when she laid as long as she was on the ground across the wet forest path. “Mons!” She exclaimed chuckling, “that's why mom throws you out of the kitchen...” but she didn’t finish her sentence, as she was staring straight into a pair of big, round, brown eyes.

Olina held her breath. She had never seen a hare so close before. They were usually shy and mostly active at dusk and at night. The air was cold and humid, and she could feel her nose running and that she would soon need to sniff. Several moments passed, and only when the hare began to move did Olina dare to breathe again. To her surprise, he turned around and slowly jumped a few jumps in the direction Olina was heading. Everything stood still at that moment. It felt very special, as if the hare wanted something from her. She slowly got up and barely noticed that her pants had two big, brown-green, wet patches on her knees.

As she took a few steps toward the hare who was sitting and looking back at her, he turned and jumped a few more times. That’s when Olina realised that the hare wanted her to follow.

On a Hare Hunt

Olina stumbled after the hare as he set the pace. He jumped off, and off they went in between branches and shrubbery off the path. Olina had a hard time keeping up, because she had to look where she went all the time so that she didn't get branches and twigs in her face. Suddenly she stopped. The hare was nowhere to be seen. She stood for a moment, listening. There was complete silence in the forest. Olina could see her breath in front of her, freezing up in the air. She sniffed a little as her nose started to be runny again, as she held her breath to be able listen better. It was as if there was something rustling in the leaves towards the clearing farther ahead. She began to slowly move forward, still listening as she squeezed her eyes together to see better between branches and leaves in the thick shrubbery. Well, there was something there all right. Something was moving over there. She walked quietly, partly to look after the branches and partly trying not to scare the hare. If it was him.

To her surprise, she realised that she was in the clearing that was right next to Cairn-Hill where her big Christmas adventure ended a few months ago. She smiled at the thought, it had been so exciting, sometimes a little too exciting, she thought, but she had made some good friends, the wood-elves of Troll-Hill and Bombil who lived on the farm at home upstairs in the gable of the hay loft. It was some time since she had last seen him, because he had gone on a trip after Christmas. Where? Olina did not know.

She was torn from her thoughts as she reached the middle of the clearing. There was a lot of tall grass, and there seemed to be something moving at the other end. She gently sneaked forward, trying not to make excessive movements or noises. She reached the other end, but there was nothing where she felt the grass had moved. She looked around, but there was nothing. It was quiet and there was nothing to see.

After looking around in the clearing Olina decided to head towards Cairn-Hill, which was not far. Maybe the hare went over there. She had often been to Cairn-Hill since Christmas because there was no doubt that it was a very special place.

Halfway through the clearing, she changed her mind, thinking she would visit her friends in Troll-Hill instead. Maybe Birk and Gro were home, she thought. They were so much fun to be with. Gro was always playing games while Birk was always up for exploring. She loved the two wood-elves a lot, and not least their parents Trude and Magne. Their home was filled with heart warmth and open arms. “Maybe they know the hare”, she thought. “Of course, they do”, she murmured to herself, after all, they know all the animals in the forest… “I wonder where Mons got off to. He's probably gone home again.” She looked down at her wet, spotty pants. Only now did she realize that she was freezing, as the sharp cold had begun to bite. She set the pace, at the chance of sitting snugly in Troll-Hill.