Текст книги "Olaf and Friends…"
Автор книги: Dmitrii Pastushenkov
Жанр: Детские приключения, Детские книги
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Olaf the Elf and Friends
Chapter 1. A Secret in the Forest named Olaf
Once upon a time, under a big old oak next to the Forest Lake, there lived one kind elf named Olaf.
Olaf was a relatively young elf—he was just 188 years old and soon he would go to school and learn about magic. Meanwhile, he spent his days reading books that his parents and grandparents gave him. Olaf missed his relatives who now lived in a faraway forest. The young elf decided to live closer to the Forest Lake. This lake was magical and elves often called it The Mirror Lake. It reflected all the stars at night, all the clouds, and everyone who looked into the lake.
One day, a Cloud flew to the lake to see how she looked. But in the Mirror Lake she only saw a big, dark gray cloud. The cloud started crying. As soon as the tear drops fell into the water, the cloud could no longer see her reflection and she cried even more. Do you remember a really big rain not long ago, my little friend? It was our sad cloud.
Olaf loved his lake and often went fishing. When he sat by the lake with a rod, spending long hours looking at the bobber, he dreamt about a journey to faraway lands across big seas and oceans. Olaf wanted to go to a place where he can see elephants, giraffes, and hippos. He dreamt about sea waves and imagined how marvelous it would be to look into the stars in the night sky that are reflected in the eternal expanse of the Mirror Lake.
Olaf’s thoughts were sometimes interrupted by fish hitting the bobber. When the bobber starts moving, it means that the fish is about to swallow the bait. But Olaf was too late to strike the rod and let the fish go. The fishing hook was empty but Olaf tried again. But he couldn’t stop thinking about adventures.
Long ago, Olaf had built a ship with oars. The ship only missed three sailing masts that could be made from tall straight pine trees.
The bobber went underwater again… But again Olaf was too late. “Let it go,” said Olaf, sadly replacing the bait.
In the silence that you can only have when fishing, you can hear many things that cannot be noticed in everyday life. In one of those silences while watching the bobber, Olaf heard two birds flying above his head. As any other creature living in the forest, Olaf understood the language of animals and birds. The two martins that Olaf heard talked about a sad lonely cow that they saw when flying above the fields. The cow strayed away from her herd and was left alone in the meadow.
Olaf completely forgot about fishing, quickly picked up his belongings, and ran to rescue the cow. There were not many meadows in the area where you could find a herd of cows, so Olaf in a quick and firm manner went into the direction from where the martins flew. The elf was worried about the cow—he was afraid that wolves could attack her. Also, it was the time to milk the cow as it was in the early morning.
Soon Olaf came to the meadow and found the cow. She was really scared. 
The polite elf in a calm voice introduced himself:
“I am Olaf, the forest elf. I will take you home. What is your name? And where do you live?”
“My name is Biggy Moo, and I live in the village,” said the cow after she calmed down a little bit.
“What do the houses in your village look like?”
“All the houses in my village have roofs made of red tile. The farmers I live with have a blue house that is in the very far end of the village,” said Biggy Moo after she was calm again.
“I know this village,” said Olaf, which made Biggy Moo very happy. “But why didn’t they find you? They probably looked for you when you got lost.”
“I was eating really tasty meadow grass and sometimes found sweet berries—probably, wild strawberries. I didn’t find any more berries closer to the forest, and did not notice how I left the meadow. Probably, it was when the shepherd and farmers were looking for me. When it got darker, I realized that I need to go back but no one was here.”
Olaf took the cow by the bell so that he would not attract much attention, and took the cow to the village. They quickly passed the forest trails and came to the village of Biggy Moo. The cow immediately recognized her house and hurried to the gate that were open. Biggy Moo asked Olaf to go inside:
“I will always be happy to give you some milk or something tasty.”
“See you, Biggy Moo!” said Olaf and waved his hand.
After Olaf left, he heard how happy were the farmers when they saw their favorite cow. Olaf smiled and thought: “Maybe I did not catch any fish but I did a good deed!” When the elf returned home, he had some oatmeal for breakfast and decided to take a little nap…
Chapter 2. How Olaf the Elf Met Yessy the Coon in the Pine Tree Forest
The time had come to go and find some tall pine trees for the ship. In the forest where Olaf lived you could only find broadleaved trees but for a good sailing mast you need to use tall and straight pine trees. It was the early summer. The weather was warm both during the day and at night. For the trip, Olaf took only the most important things: an axe, matches, and a raincoat. The elf heard about the pine tree forest from an owl who lived not far from his house.
“My relatives live in the pine tree forest,” said the owl. “It is a forest with tall pine and Christmas trees and very special air.”
Olaf couldn’t wait to go the forest, to breathe this air and to find the best sailing masts for his ship. Before the trip, he decided to stop by the owl’s house once again and double check the directions with all the turns that would be ahead.
“Thank you, owl, I wrote everything down just in case, so I would not get lost,” Olaf exclaimed before setting off.
Have a wonderful trip, Olaf!” said the owl and waved her wing.
From the beginning, the road seemed very interesting.
As soon as Olaf came to an unknown place, he met a very peculiar coon. The coon’s behavior was a little strange and Olaf could not resist paying attention to him. The coon was looking for something in one place, and, then, he ran to the opposite side and started digging again. Olaf was interested in how it all would end. The coon very soon got tired, sat on the ground, and started crying.
Olaf came to him and asked, “Why are you so sad?”
“I lost…,” said the discouraged coon.
“Lost what?”
“It!”
“It what?” Olaf did not understand.
“The whistle.”
“What whistle?”
“The magic whistle.”
“What do you mean ‘magic whistle?’”
“When you blow this whistle you can control the air.”
“Why do you need it?”
“Why don’t you understand?” The coon seemed surprised. “In the village there are houses, on their roofs there are these things that start spinning as soon as the wind starts blowing,” he explained.
“Windmills?” Olaf interjected.
“Probably.”
Though Olaf did not really understand the importance of the coon’s whistle, he still decided to help him find it.
“Are you sure that you lost it somewhere here?” asked Olaf.
“I’m not sure,” sighed the coon.
“When was the last time you saw the whistle? Was it somewhere nearby?”
“In my opinion, but I’m not sure…,” the coon was trying to remember, “I was sitting on a stump on the hill. There were many wild flowers around me and in the distance I could see some windmills.”
“I think that you know this place very well. You probably go there often.”
“Yes… The Hill of Dawns and Dusks – it is one of my favorite places. This is where I saw the whistle last time.”
“Let’s go there!” said Olaf.
On their way they started talking. The coon told Olaf that his name was Yessy and that he liked to wander along the forest looking for interesting items.
“Ok, here we are! The Hill of Dawns and Dusks!” said Yessy.
The view from the hill was magnificent.
On one side there was a river and a dense forest, on the other side—a little village with windmills and large fields where animals were pasturing.
Yessy stood on a stump and said, “Every day I stand here and call for the wind.”
“Let’s find the whistle!” said Olaf, who sat on his haunches. “Why did you try to find the whistle there? I don’t really understand it.”
“I did not notice that I lost the whistle at once, and when I understood that I did lose it, I started looking for it in the grass under my feet and in nearby bushes,”
Yessy jumped from the stump and looked into the grass from the other side.
Soon Olaf heard the happy coon, who shouted,
“There it is! I found it!” Yessy started blowing the whistle and pointed at the windmills and told Olaf, “Look!” The windmills were spinning and the village came back to life in the eyes of Olaf. “It is a truly magical whistle…,” said Olaf.
Chapter 3. The Brave Hare
The wind pleasantly tousled Olaf’s hair. It reminded him of sailing masts and the journey to faraway lands and sea adventures ahead. He decided to ask his new friend Yessy to join him, so he told his friend, “I am about to sail off for an adventure across the rivers, seas, and oceans. Right now, I am on my way to find some sailing masts in the pine tree forest. Do you want to join me in my adventure? We will have so much fun!”
“And with my magic whistle the journey will be even more fun!” Yessy was very happy about the invitation and whistled so loudly that the trees bent because of the wind. “I know this forest well and can show you where to find some good pine trees!”
They quickly reached the pine tree forest.
“Here the pine trees are straight but not very tall,” said Olaf, who knew what to do, “Let’s go deeper into the woods—there we can find good pine trees near the river at the far edge of the bank by the sheer drop.”
They walked faster and suddenly saw a strange looking bush. From a distance you could have seen that it was shaking. The friends decided to take a look at the bush but they did not know what was going on. When they came up to the bush, Olaf spread out the branches and saw a big hare. The hare was shaking in fear.
Olaf smiled and bended toward the hare, so he could see him very close and said in calm voice, “DON’T BE AFRAID.”
The Olaf’s words worked their magic and the hare stopped trembling. With both ears up, the hare squinted one eye and asked, “Who are you?”
“I am Olaf the Elf,” Olaf said.
“Nice to meet you, Olaf. And I am the Brave Hare!”
Both Olaf and Yessy could not keep from laughing.
“So, you’re the brave hare…,” Olaf asked. “And what are you doing here in the bushes?”
“I don’t know,” the Brave Hare stated.
“Come with us, Brave Hare. We are looking for three masts for our ship, and then we’re going for an adventure. Actually, we need one more sailor to join our team.”
“Unexpected events tend to be quite interesting,” the hare thought and accepted the invitation.
“He is indeed very brave,” said Olaf to Yessy.
Chapter 4. A Thorough Preparation
“Here is the river, and there are the pine trees!!!” said the happy Yessy.
The immensity of the softwood forest impressed Olaf and he took a deep breath so he could feel the power of the clean air. He even felt a little bit dizzy. The owl was right—it is an incredible feeling to breath such air.
“How would we transport the masts to the ship?” the friends asked Olaf.
“Let’s think…” said Olaf and scratched the back of his head.
After having a discussion, the friends decided not to cut down the trees because they are heavy and it would very difficult to carry them. Instead, they decided to sail to the trees by the ship and install the masts on the water. The friends were very happy that they found a good solution and went back home to prepare for the journey.
“We should stop by our houses and get supplies and everything else that we need for the journey. It is probably going to be long,” said Olaf.
First, they stopped by the Hare’s house. 
The Brave Hare took a whole pack of his favorite carrots, a lens which he often used to look at different bugs, and a water bottle. Then the friends went to Yessy’s place, which was a big and spacious cave where he loved to sleep. There the friends spent the night as they were tired and it was getting dark outside. Besides, everyone was really hungry. 
The friends started fire using dry firewood which Yessy kept in case of cold nights, made porridge, and after dinner they quickly fell asleep on spruce and pine branches.
Yessy was the first to wake up in the morning and, while his friends were still sleeping, he made breakfast, brewed herbal tea with blackberries, and even packed all the supplies for the journey. He took some rootlets, dried berries and mushrooms, his favorite rod and (just in case
) checked
his whistle once again.
Yessy’s guests could smell the treat in their dreams and it started to pleasantly wake them up. The hare, while he was waking up, knocked his left paw on the floor next to Olaf’s ear. Olaf was dreaming that someone was knocking on the door. He woke up. The brave hare joined Olaf and opened his eyes too but he was still dreamy and closed them again. He was dreaming about two little boars from the near-by meadow who were trying to steal his carrots. The smell of tea finally woke the hare up.
The friends had a quick breakfast of nuts, honey, and tea. Stretching his arms after a pleasant nap, Olaf asked Yessy, “This is a very lovely place…are you sure that you want to go for a journey?”
Yessy showed his backpack to show that he was indeed ready, whistled and said,
“It is time to go!”
The friends had just one thing to do before the journey—to stop by Olaf’s house, which was in the big old oak by the lake. “You have a wonderful house!” the friends said when they entered the big, dry, and cozy place.
The place was clean and neat. Olaf went to the big chest of drawers that was standing in the corner.
“This chest of drawers used to belong to my grandfather and then he gave it to me as a present,” Olaf told his friends.
Olaf took a big disk with an arrow behind the glass made of yellow metal and put it on the table.
“What is this?” asked Yessy and the Brave Hare.
“My grandfather’s mariner compass—he was a seaman,” Olaf said.
“And how do we use it?” Yessy saw this peculiar thing for the first time.
“It will help us not to get lost in our journey because the arrow on the compass always points to the north. It is very important when you are in the sea because there are not many landmarks.”
“Ha-ha! There are no landmarks at all!” said the Brave Hare.
“You forgot about the sun and stars,” Olaf argued, “…but you need to know how to use them and besides you will need maps and a clock.”
“But we don’t have any maps or a clock,” said the confused Yessy.
“It is ok, I think, this way it is going to be even more interesting. The compass should be enough,” Olaf reassured his friends.
“Tell us, Olaf, where are we going to sail?” the friends asked him.
“To Africa. There we can find animals that none of us has ever seen: big elephants, giraffes with long necks, giant, heavy hippos, and many others. There is no winter, it is hot all year long, and crocodiles live in the rivers.”
“Are crocodiles dangerous?” said Yessy who was a little bit worried.
“The main thing is to keep the distance from the water and be attentive,” answered Olaf.
“Then I will need a firm stick for protection, just in case,” Yessy concluded.
“I will need one too,” the Brave Hare agreed with his friend.
The friends packed more things and finally Olaf said, “Let’s go, friends! I will show you the ship, it is at the pier, on the other side of the house.”
“Wow!!!” exclaimed the new adventurers, who did not expect to see such a big ship. “And how are we going to sail this thing?”
“The course will take us to the pine trees. There we will make masts, sail the boat, and then the wind will take us anywhere.” Olaf winked to his friends. “Although the ship is big, it is easy to maneuver,” he explained.
Chapter 5. The Departure
The friends packed everything including the water and food supplies and put them on the ship. “Let’s start our adventure, friends!” said Olaf as he lifted the anchor made of a big stone to the bow of the ship.
The ship sailed off, slowly ploughing through the waves. Olaf stood by the helm of the ship. The Brave Hare was hanging from the bow of the ship. He was either looking ahead or down into the water, where he could see small fish—as if they were seeing the adventurers off and were also happy. Yessy went down to the cabin to organize the supplies.
It was noon. The friends arrived to the place where their future sailing masts grew. They moored the ship to the bank of the river using two ropes. Olaf took his big axe and climbed to the bank.
Then he had to climb up the roots which were hanging from the rocky plummet just like ropes. Finally, he found the pine trees. You could easily hear the loud sound of the axe in the quiet forest. Soon, with a cracking noise, the trees fell into the water one by one. The Brave Hare and Yessy caught the floating trees and tied them to the ship. When Olaf returned to the ship, he put the axe back to its place and said, “Now we will sail to the flat shore, where we can start a fire and prepare the masts.”
Olaf stood again by the helm. The Hare, just like before, was at the bow of the ship, and Yessy took his favorite rod with a hook and white feather on top and started fishing. The first strike did not take too long, and very soon, to everyone’s surprise the friends heard Yessy as he happily shouted,
“I’ve caught a big perch for lunch!”
The ship was moored to the shore and after they threw the anchor into the water, the friends started working. Olaf worked on the masts, the Brave Hare picked up dry branches for the fire, and Yessy made fish soup.
As soon as the masts and fish soup were ready, the friends had lunch. The soup was delicious. However, the Hare politely refused to eat it, preferring to munch on his favorite crunchy carrots. Meanwhile, Olaf and Yessy enjoyed the fish soup so much that they started slurping it. After lunch, the friends rested before installing the masts together. It was difficult, but they worked thoughtfully together and rather quickly completed the task.
“Olaf, can you bring me the axe please? I see some really good branches that we can use as sticks which we, by the way, forgot to pack.” The Brave Hare remembered the conversation about crocodiles.
“Here is the axe, Brave Hare,” Olaf said as he handed his axe over.
The Hare made the sticks and went back to the ship, gave the axe back to its owner Olaf, and gave Yessy his stick that would help to defend themselves from crocodiles.
“Thank you, the sticks are great. Also, we can use them to push off from the shore!” Yessy told the friends his idea.
“We have truly multifunctional sticks!” Olaf joked.
Chapter 6. Here Comes the Sea
“Yessy, take your magic whistle,” said Olaf. “The river here is broader, and we need to test our sails.”
The wind immediately blew and the ship rocked a little bit. The Hare, who was hanging from the bow of the ship, did not expect this and almost fell into the water. “Hold on!” the friends shouted as they pulled up the hanging hare and helped him to climb on the deck.
“You have a very cool whistle!” said the hardly-breathing Hare to Yessy. “Can I use it?”
“We can do it later—look how fast we are sailing!” Yessy told the Hare.
Soon the friends smelled the salty sea water.
The river turned into the open water and the shore was far behind.
“It is scary to sail away from the shore. If lose it from sight, we will never know where the shore is. What if the ship sinks?” said the worried Yessy.
“We have a big and firm ship, so don’t be afraid and whistle again or let me whistle,” said the Brave Hare, now feeling even braver than usual. He himself was surprised by his fearlessness.
“Don’t worry, Yessy, all adventurers are sometimes afraid,” Olaf cheered up his friend. – “And, after all, don’t forget that we have a compass. Maybe you should try fishing. It will calm you down.”
Olaf started singing a song, and soon the friends sang together:
We do not see the shore,
But we need adventures more and more.
I am with my friends, we are not afraid,
We will find the way anyway.
We like to help each other,
Even when waves hit one another.
We will find new lands
With a compass in our hands.
The friends could no longer see the shore—only the water around them with the sun slowly drowning into the sea. It was getting dark and it seemed that the sea mixed with the sky and erased the horizon. In such moments you are afraid, and this unexplainable fear of the power of nature can come upon even experienced adventurers.
Olaf tried to drive away these gloomy thoughts by taking his compass and putting it in front of him. In this moment it seemed that his grandfather, an experienced seaman, was sitting next to him. His worries left him. The arrow on the compass pointing to the north looked right at him, which meant that the ship was moving directly to the south.
The stars slowly started to be reflected in the sea, and the moon became a good lantern. 
Olaf thought about the lake next to his house. The things that he had dreamt about were now happening in real life. Both happiness and agitation were mixed together in Olaf’s head. What would happen next?
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