Joris

Joris pouted.

He had argued with Lucas after falling asleep instead of collecting wood for the campfire in the evening. Therefore, he had to collect wood now, in the rain. If there was one thing Joris didn't like, it was getting wet. And this forest scared him. He didn't want to get lost again.

Under the tarpaulin, his brother and his friends stayed dry and talked while he got wet. Terrible. He had been tired. And? The wood got wet now anyway. Why should he collect it? It would be very difficult to light it.

The whole thing was unfair and made no sense to him. And he, stupid as a child, did what they asked of him. But Lucas and Molly were scary when they were upset.

A noise made him look up. Leaves rustled. Then he saw a figure among the trees. The person seemed to be floating and hadn't noticed him yet.

Quietly he crept closer. As if spellbound by the beauty of this person. Pale pink skin with fine blue lines. Long light hair and a dress made of almost transparent fabric.

He sat down by a tree and watched the person float among the trees and pick flowers. But then the figure turned around, he could not tell whether it was a man or a woman. The person looked at him directly. Frightened, they hurried deeper into the forest. Joris couldn't help it. He followed this wonderful creature until he arrived at a small waterfall, whose water fed a small stream, which probably led to the river. The figure hovered above the water and looked at him in shock.

"Hello", Joris said quietly. "Please. Who are you?" The figure smiled fleetingly, then seemed to dissolve into the air. Joris blinked.

Sighing, he looked around. He didn't know where he was. "Such crap!" And he no longer held the wood he had collected in his hands. He had probably dropped it.

Beautiful flowers bloomed around him, some of whose petals were as big as an umbrella. They smelled sweet. In general, it always smelled sweet in this forest. A strange, but not unpleasant smell. A few fairies sat on the branches of the trees and scolded indignantly. Joris sighed.

He followed the stream, hoping to find his way to the river and then to his friends. Although he sometimes had the feeling that he had to leave the creek and walk deep into the forest, he resolutely ignored it. In fact, he quickly realized that he was very close to the riverbank. Soon he saw the tarpaulin and his friends. And he heard a melody calling him to the water.

Dreamily, he followed the voices. They sang in a foreign language. It sounded different from the melody with which the willow-o-wisp had beckoned. Beautiful. Dreamy. Mesmerizing. He saw nothing but the river until an obstacle stood in his way.

"Joris!" Molly stood in front of him.

He smiled ecstatically at her. "Molly! Do you hear that? We have to go to the water."

She held him. "No! Don't listen. They're sirens!"

"What..." He blinked. "Nice. I have to go to them!" He tried to push his way past Molly. "Listen. They want us to go into the water! They promise us all miracles. Surely, they are beautiful. Come."

"Joris!" She slapped him. This woke him up from the trance. The spell was broken.

"What?" He rubbed his cheek in confusion.

"Sirens try to lure us to the water. Ignore their singing. Don't listen to their voices."

The singing. He still heard it. "Oh." He didn't want to end up as a meal. "I almost followed them."

"I know. My husband and I were no different. Charlie has brought us back to our senses. He immediately understood what was happening. That seems to break the spell. Come. Why didn't you bring wood? Whatever... We'll collect some later."

"Oh, the wood. I dropped it." 

"Never mind." Molly sighed.

They sat down with Charlie and Lucas under the tarpaulin. He briefly saw something disappear in the water of the river. Presumably, those were the sirens.

"You won't believe what I saw! A beautiful woman. At least I think it was one... She was floating!", he said excitedly when Lucas asked about the wood. "I followed her to a waterfall. There she disappeared. She was so beautiful. I lost the wood when I ran after her."

"Probably a nymph", Molly murmured. "Why did you follow her? You could’ve got lost! Not just the wood."

He sighed. "I know... But..."

"Joris is in lohoove!", sang Charlie, laughing. "Joris is a fool. A fool in love! Joris kisses a nyhymph!"

"Very funny!", hissed Joris. "If you had seen her, you would know what I mean."

Charlie grimaced. "Nope. I don't think so. Too much bosom for my taste."

Joris rolled his eyes.

Ehlin