Dennor ❦ A not-so common fairytale

The map

The next morning, Lukas and Mathias were back on the road again.

The first man from yesterday, the one cutting firewood outside, had taken Lukas' scrip while they were sleeping and filled it with rations, such as apples, bread, a couple of chicken legs packed inside a leather cloth and tied together with a string, and two glass-bottles of fresh water.

However, when Lukas and Mathias had left the house, it was entirely empty. Lukas had pointed it out, but Mathias decided to brush it off and go, since they did say they'd only stay for the night.

Lukas had eventually agreed, and that's how they found themselves walking along a trail in an unknown forest, hopefully going somewhere towards Dovrefjell.

None of them said a word to each other, just walking in silence. Although instead of the normal, comfortable silence, it was more of an awkward silence.

Neither really knew why it was awkward, it just was. Both lost in thought, none of them were paying much attention to where they were walking, either. Not until Lukas suddenly stepped over the edge of a small cliff, and yelled as he slid down the dirty side of the cliff, like a slide.

Mathias stopped in his tracks, and looked wide-eyed down at Lukas. "Lukas!!" He yelled, seeing as the norwegian had somehow and luckily made it safely down.

Lukas shakily stood up, and brushed some dirt off of his pants before looking around. He noticed an old woman in the distance, who seemed hunched over an old tree stump.

"What is that?!" Mathias suddenly shouted behind him, looking at the old woman, as well. He'd slid down after Lukas, as soon as he'd seen Lukas was alright.

"Shh! Not so loud!" Lukas whisper-yelled back, before looking back at the woman. He slowly walked closer, and Mathias followed from behind him.

He stopped a couple meters away from the woman, observing her. She seemed like she was hunchbacked, and dressed in a dirty, old rag. Her hair was white and long, sticking out here and there like spiderweb.

He jumped back, as the woman suddenly shouted;

"Are you just going to stand there and stare?!" Came an old, raspy voice from the woman. "Help me!"

Shocked by the woman's sudden outburst, Lukas hurried over to her, and Mathias followed behind. Now that he was closer, he realised her nose was stuck between a gap in the tree stump.

"Now? Are you going to help me, or not?!" The woman yelled again, and Lukas quickly turned his attention back to reality. "What do you want me to do?" He asked.

"See that axe over there?" The woman asked, pointing at an axe laying on the ground beside the stump. "Take that axe, and get me out of here," She said.

"You want me to cut your nose off?" Lukas asked, horrified.

"What?! No! How stupid are you?! Take the axe and widen the gap so I can get my nose out!"

While Lukas was trying to get the woman's nose out of the stump, Mathias was watching and trying his best not to laugh.

He understood this was probably serious, but he couldn't deny that it looked absolutely hilarious.

Finally, the old woman pushed away from the tree stump as her nose was free. Mathias stared, seeing as her nose was almost as long as half of Lukas' arm.

The woman stretched her arms, and turned to look at Lukas. "I've been standing here for the past three years, and I've had nothing to eat at all. You don't happen to be carrying any food with you?" She asked, sounding grumpy.