Skumring

In this darkness, it becomes harder and harder to see, and the other senses take over. It is quiet. Or is it? Isn't there something moving?... Is it merely the stream in the distance, the wind in the trees and our own footsteps and breathing that we can hear? Or is there something else out here? The shadows are no longer what they are purporting to be. There's the smell of earth and wet forest. Mist. The air feels cold and slightly damp against the skin. The birds are beginning to calm down. Or are they? It is at this moment that reality fades away, and the fairytales take over. This is the hour of the wood spirit. It lurks in the shadows and then observes us as we wander deeper into the forest. Here lives the 'hulder' with her long, beautiful hair and her beguiling tones. She has taught many a fiddler her songs, but we must also be careful not to be lured completely into the dark. Look for her tail. In a clearing there are live flowers growing. Here we meet Alice. On her walk in Wonderland, she meets the Red Queen who rather whimsically turns into a sheep sitting inside a dark shop where nothing is what it seems. Deep inside the shop, she ends up in an intense discussion with Humpty Dumpty about what would happen if he fell from the narrow shelf he is sitting on. The birds in the forest observe all this from a distance. They fly between the trees and keep an eye on the adventures of the forest. This is the kingdom of the night birds, until the sun rises and the birds of light take over. - Ida Løvli Hidle