Tove and the Spider Girl

This is a story of a different place than you have ever been to. A place in the forest where gnomes and elves and other beings live. They have made their home here and live together in their villages.

The gnomes are adventurous beings, with skin dark as the night and always with an adventure in mind. The elves, on the other hand, like to stay at home and be with their family. They have fair skin and wings shaped like butterflies.

This story starts when an elf suddenly goes missing. It's Tove's grandfather. He's a special elf, and likes to wander by himself in the forest. And that's what he did that day. No one thought it was strange that he didn't come back over the next couple of days, he'd done that before, but when a full week had passed, they started to wonder.

Had anyone seen him?, they asked. But no one, not the elves nor the gnomes, had seen any traces of him. One day, as Tove was wandering the edges of the village to look for him, a gnome came running to her. Tove had seen her before, her name was Sara.

"Is your grandfather missing?", she asks as she comes up to her.

"Yes, have you seen him?"

Sara shakes her head and says,

"No, but my mum is missing too."

"Your mum?"

Sara nods.

"She's been gone for several days. She was only meant to go to my grandmother, but I visited her today and she said my mum never came there."

Tove sits down on a rock next to her.

"I've never heard of two people disappearing from the village at the same time."

"Do you think something has happened to them?", Sara asks.

"It must have."

Sara sits down next to her.

"We need to find them".

Tove nods. She's right, they need to look for them.

"But I don't know where my grandfather could have gone" she says.

"I know where my mum went, so maybe if we go in that direction we'll see something."

That seems to be a good idea, and although she's a bit afraid to leave the village, Tove says,

"We'll go tomorrow."

Sara stands up and hugs her.

"We'll find them, don't worry."

Tove prepares that evening, packing everything she might need, but she can't sleep that night. This is the first time she'll leave the village, and she's afraid, but she's happy she'll have Sara with her at least.

The next day they meet at the edge of the village and Sara seems to be in a better mood. The gnomes like going on adventures, and so she says,

"I think we'll find them, don't worry."

Tove hopes she's right, and she nods as they set out.

They walk the whole day, following the path to Sara's grandmother's home. The path is as Sara remembers it and nothing seems out of the ordinary until, as the afternoon comes, Sara stops and points at the forest.

"Look, there's a path down the trees. It hasn't been there before. I must have missed it the last time I came to look for my mum."

She walks up to it and then looks at Tove.

"Shall we follow it?"

Tove doesn't like the idea of going outside the normal roads, but she wants to find her grandfather, so she nods. They set down the path, and not long afterwards it gets darker and darker. Sara stops, and looks around.

"The sun hasn't set yet, it shouldn't be this dark."

Tove has been so focused on walking this strange path that she hasn't noticed, but now when Sara says it, she realises she's right. It shouldn't be dark yet.

"Do you think we went wrong?", she asks.

Sara shrugs.

"I don't know, but it's strange. Let's walk a bit further, we can always go back".

They keep walking, and soon a thick layer of mist envelops them. Even Tove knows there shouldn't be this misty this time of the year. She wants to go back, but what if her grandfather is here?

"We need to find somewhere to sleep, we won't find our way back now", Sara says.

She takes Tove's hand.

"In case we get lost", she says, and continues walking.

After a while, they find an old tree trunk with a hollow in it, and Sara says it will be a good place to stay for the night. It's snug as they crawl inside, and they need to sit close together, but at least they'll keep warm. Tove wonders if this is where her grandfather went, and what happened to him if so.

They don't sleep much that night and Tove thinks she can hear noises outside, but maybe she's just afraid. It's still misty in the morning, but they need to keep going, so they crawl out and continue walking. It's difficult to see anything in the thick fog and after a while, Sara says,

"What if we're going in circles? We don't see anything."

"I can fly up and see if I see something from above," Tove says.

She lets go of Sara's hand and takes to the air. It's all misty up here, too, and she doesn't see where she's flying. She's almost on her way back down when something suddenly sticks to her arm, and she stops abruptly in the air. She tries to see what it is, but the mist is too thick and whenever she turns, another part of her body gets stuck until she can't move at all.

"Help!"

"Tove?", Sara calls from the ground.

"I'm here!"

"I'm looking for you, wait!"

She hears Sara moving about below, and soon after her voice comes from the ground right below her.

"I'm climbing up!"

Is it a tree I'm stuck in?, Tove wonders. She can hear Sara coming closer until she's right next to her.

"This isn't normal," she says, and even Tove hears that she's afraid now. I'll cut you down, she continues and takes out a knife.

The mist is letting up slightly and Tove sees she's stuck in a giant spider web. What kind of spiders must have done this?, she wonders fearfully.

"Almost done," Sara says, when she's suddenly pushed to the side.

Tove hears her scream and moments later she sees a big spider coming up to her.

"We need to get away! Go, you are free!", Tove screams.

"I won't leave you!", Sara shouts back.

She jumps onto Tove and cuts her loose, and they start to fall.

"Hold on to me, I'll fly us both!", Tove calls out, but they are too heavy, and they tumble to the ground.

The landing is hard, and for a moment Tove lies still.

"Are you okay?", Sara asks.

"I think so."

"We need to leave."

Tove gets up, her legs shaking, but they've barely moved when they see a spider coming down the path.

"Run!"

Sara takes her hand, and together they run, but another spider comes onto the path and then another and another, and soon they are surrounded.

"What shall we do?", Tove shivers, but Sara hushes at her and points at the forest.

There, a girl is coming, followed by two spiders. She stops in front of them and smiles.

"So, I've caught you, too."

"Us too? What have you done to my mum?", Sara shouts.

"Oh, they are my friends now. And you will be, too".

Tove glances at the girl, but plucks up her courage and whispers,

"I don't want to be your friend, I want to go home."

"But it's too late for that now", the girl says.

Tove's legs are shaking, and she tries to think back on all the stories her grandfather told her. They've always brought her comfort and one of her favourites has a princess in it and there the princess became friends with the dragon. It's a strange thing to think about in this situation, but she suddenly has an idea.

"Why are you living in this forest?," she asks.

"I've always lived here," the girl answers.

"Don't you have a family?"

"No."

"And friends?"

"Only the spiders, and the people they catch."

"That must be lonely," Tove says.

The girl goes quiet for a moment.

"It is...", she whispers.

"Don't you want real friends? People you don't need to catch?"

"No one wants to be my friend!", the girl shouts.

"Why?"

She can hear the girl sobbing, and Tove realises she really is lonely. Her anger falls from her and she says softly,

"We can be your friends."

The girl looks up.

"Really?"

"Yes, but not like this. You need to let us go first, and also the people you've caught."

"You won't run away?"

"No, I promise."

The girl glances around at the fog.

"But we can't be friends in this misty forest, it's not so nice here."

"You can come and stay with me if you want."

"Can I?"

"Yes, but you need to promise to be kind."

"I promise!"

The girl makes a sign to the spiders and they slowly back away. Tove wonders what she's said yes to, but she couldn't leave the girl once she realised how lonely she was.

"I will get your family, wait here."

The girl leaves and Sara looks at Tove.

"Do you think she'll do it?"

"I hope so."

They huddle together in the misty forest until they can hear voices, and soon after Tove sees her grandfather coming out from the fog. She runs to him and hugs him.

"My child, you found me", he says.

Tove sees Sara's mother come out too, and the girl follows. She looks ashamed as she stops in front of them.

"I'm sorry."

Tove takes her hand.

"That's okay, we're friends now."

The girl clicks her fingers and the mist slowly fades away. They are standing in a forest, not so different from the one where Tove and Sara live.

"I promise I will be kind", the girl says.

Sara's mum comes up to her.

2You shouldn't kidnap people just to have friends", she says, but she smiles.

"I won't," the girl whispers.

"What's your name?", Tove asks.

"I... don't have one."

"I'll call you Katya."

The girl smiles.

"I like that."

They walk back together after that. This time, Tove isn't afraid when she knows she'll go back and her grandfather and Sara's mum are with them.

As they come to the village, Tove takes Katya to her house and, true to her word, she's kind. They become friends and Katya stays with her and visits Sara and her mother sometimes.

No more people disappear from the village after that, and once again they live happily.