At the Break of Dawn

She who lived her childhood happily.

‘Mama! Look what I have found! It’s a bear cub!’ I happily shouted and showed the fluffy ball in my hands to mama. ‘Heldebjorge! What have you done! I’ve told you before that you can’t provoke wild animals!’ I heard my mother shout in an angry voice. ‘What if his mother comes looking for us?’ I felt a little bit sad, mama was always scared and did not like it when I wandered off. ‘But he was the one who wanted to play!’ I told her as I walked up to her and put the bear cub down. ‘Bears are sacred, just like the wolves, you should not provoke them, Heldebjorge. Would you like it if you were taken away from me?’ My mama said and I felt hurt for her saying that. ‘I will take the cub back to where you took him from, now hurry and tell me.’ My mama looked at me less sternly and angrily and I told her where I found the cub.

I was feeling a little down. All I wanted to be a friend! But I understand, my mama is a smart lady, she knows that Ijna, the mother of all animals has her own rules which a human must abide by. She has always taught me to live by the rules of Ijna because she is the fairest among all gods. Ijna does not tolerate lies, Ijna does not tolerate treachery. Ijna is kind and Ijna is giving. But she will never make you sacrifice for her, for all the animals are her children.

Once my mama returned from the small cave where I had found the cub, we went inside our hut and lied down to sleep. Tomorrow is my 6th day of birth. I feel excited every year! Last year, once I woke up I saw that there were all kinds of foods stacked in front of our door. I was feeling excited this year too, even more so, since my mother seemed to be surprised about this, and as she said - this happens every year. There is a different gift for you every year!

Once I woke up in the morning, I was excited to see what my gift will be this year. I closed my ice-blue eyes to keep the suspense until the last moment after I had opened the door. ‘1, 2, 3!’ I shouted and opened them. I looked around and saw that the snow in front of our small hut had melted! But how could this be?! Green grass was revealed, flowers were blooming and there was fruit growing from the trees. It was like a small garden! I rushed to wake my mama up and tell her about my discovery. ‘Mama, come look! We have a garden now!’ I tried to wake her up and excitedly jumped around. ‘Have you been having one of your wild dreams again, Heldebjorge?’ My mama said in a soft voice with a smile on her face. ‘No way!’ I shouted and had a pout on my face. ‘Come look, mama! Come look now!’ I pulled her up and we walked outside to see the same scenery I saw just a few moments ago. Gasp. I heard from my mama and asked ‘Is everything ok?’ She did not answer for a second and then looked at me. ‘Heldebjorge, today we must give our thanks to Ijna and the owner of this land, the sleeping god. Without them, this land would never bloom.’ I nodded and started to make the ‘payment’ my mama usually makes for the sleeping god. A weaved wooden crown from sticks and fir-tree branches. ‘Wait, mama! We have flowers now! Should we weave a flower crown instead?’ I asked her feeling excited and joyous. ‘What a wonderful idea!’ Mama said and we continued to make our ‘payment’.

This was one of the happiest days of my life. I wished that this would never end, that I and mama could stay here happily and for the rest of our lives.