THE WEIRD & WONDERFUL WORLD OF SUSANN BROX NILSEN THE ENCHANTED BUSH I don’t know how much you know about Norwegian folklore, but you may have heard about trolls and huldra. We have all kinds of odd creatures in the wild over here, and I’m so lucky to live right next to an enchanted forest. Autumn has arrived — my favourite time of the year. I go for daily walks in the forest to gather inspiration, and I always bring my dog Mille with me. On yesterday’s stroll something quite extraordinary happened! It wasn’t long before Mille had her nose deep into a shrub, and I could hear her tail wagging like crazy. The full moon was beaming the perfect light on her as she rumbled through the branches. She’d clearly caught something as I could see a foreign silhouette by her side. All of a sudden a large spark illuminated, almost like someone lit a firecracker. We both got pretty spooked, so I quickly called her in. My jaw dropped when she ran up towards me — a pair of black wings had emerged on her back! I tried to wiggle them off, but they were completely stuck. What the heck!? I turned on my phone light and peeked anxiously into the bush. I didn’t know what to expect, but some kind of witchcraft had just placed wings on my dog! MABUZ & MORANA THE FLYING BATS 15 Suddenly a small voice said out of the air, “My, oh, my, where did my wings go? Have to get home for dinner … running so late …” Then a scruffy tiny troll with a green mohawk came strolling out in the light. It was just the same height as Mille, and they were now touching noses, both sniffing each other. “Oooh, you found my wings!” the troll said, petting my dog on the head. Mille was completely quiet, which rarely happens, and I was left speechless. I proceeded to stumble out some words, “We would really like to return them.” The troll smiled with its yellow teeth which reminded me of crooked cashew nuts. “No worries, she can give them back once I’m home,” it chuckled. In a blink of an eye the troll jumped on Mille's back, grabbed her ears and gave her a tap with its foot. And with a poof they took off! I stood there baffled, trying to understand what had just happened. Squinting my eyes I could see them both high up in the sky, their profiles passing the full moon. I started to panic, and decided to run home to get a flashlight and a warmer jacket. I could definitely not tell anyone about this! I would have to go out there and search for Mille alone. I ran so fast I could taste blood in my mouth, and I was kind of hoping that I would just wake up from a bad dream. To my biggest surprise, guess who sat by the front door when I arrived home!? My precious Mille was wagging her tail and greeted me with face-peeling licks. I quickly noticed that her wings were gone, and there were no marks left behind of them. However, in her collar was a piece of paper and a little bag attached. We both sat down, and I rolled out the note: Dog costume for October 31st. Toodle-oo. The little bag contained a tiny jar marked with the word eat on. Inside the jar was a yellow spark flying around, just like the one we saw in the bush! “Looks like a trip to the moon again for Halloween,” I smiled to Mille as we went inside … and locked the door. CHECK OUT SUSI’S WEIRD & WONDERFUL CREATIONS: INSTAGRAM: @SUSI_THEWEIRDANDWONDERFUL SNAG ONE OF YOUR OWN: WEIRDWONDERFULSUSI.BIGCARTEL.COM PAZUZU, CIXI CLAW & RAZOR RHUNII WOLFGANG THE WEREWOLF
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