Ulla

Out from the bushes, to Erik’s surprise. Came not an animal, nor a man, but a Woman. It was unusual for Women to wander out on their own, as it was unsafe, and they usually tended to house chores in the villages instead. She made her way towards Erik, walking gracefully over the uneven ground, which with her long skirt made it seem as if she were floating.

He did not recognise her, and her was certain he didn’t because if he did he would most certainly recognise her as she was most beautiful. With skin fairer than his own that was without wrinkles or any sort of imperfection, and long golden blonde hair that fell past her shoulders, she was by far one of the most beautiful Girls he had ever laid eyes on.

‘Hello.’ Spoke the strange woman in a soft, warm tone. ‘I’m sorry if I startled you. I heard splashing and I came to see what it was.’

‘No! don’t you worry, you did not startle me. Its surprising as no one often comes here, especially Women.’ Now that she was closer, Erik noticed that she was quite small. Though he was a large man, so most people were small to him, she must have barely stood above five feet. Which further added to the mystery.

‘Umm, my name is Erik, by the way.’

‘Ulla.’ Replied the woman. ‘Nice to meet you.’ Putting out her little hand, almost half the size of his to shake.

‘Nice to meet you too.’ Said Erik as he shook her tiny hand. He felt quite nervous, which was strange as he was usually confident around the girls of his village, knowing to make eye contact when talking to them, which usually made them blush. But as he looked into her eyes, which were a deep sapphire blue, he almost felt like he was blushing.

‘What are you doing?’ asked Ulla politely.

‘Oh, umm. Fishing. Though I’ve not been having the best luck lately, haven’t caught a fish in days. Would you like a try?’

‘Why yes I would very much like to. Though you’ll have to teach me, I never done this before.’

‘Oh, don’t worry, it’s not that difficult. Follow me.’ Erik then led Ulla to the water’s edge and picked up his line again to demonstrate to her.

‘First, you put your bait on the hook. Like this.’ He said, showing her the still wriggling maggot that he had put on earlier. He noticed that she watched intently, strange as most girls were already either bored or disgusted by the point. ‘Then, you unwind about two feet of line from the spool like so. And then, you spin it in a circle and throw it. You should step back for this bit.’

Ulla took a few steps back from Erik, and once she was safely out of the way, he began to spin his line in a circle, once, twice, then he threw his line, far into the lake.

‘Ok, I got it.’ Said Ulla. They then went over to his basket, he gave his spare line, and she put a Maggot on its hook before going to the lakes edge. She then unwound a couple feet of line, and with Erik standing back she began to spin her line just as he had shown her, and cast it out, managing to throw it farther than he did.

‘Wow, that was good.’ Complimented Erik, surprised that she had done so well on her first go. ‘You sure you haven’t done this before?’

‘Ha! No, just beginners luck. I’ve never caught a fish in my life. So now we just sit and wait?’

‘Yes.’ Said Erik. ‘Though I didn’t bring a stool so we will have to sit on the ground. You can sit on my coat so you don’t get dirty.’ Erik then went over to his basket to grab his coat, and laid it out on the ground for Ella.

‘Thankyou Erik, your most kind.’ She then began to sit down, which Erik noticed she did carefully so as not to show what was under her skirt. Which Erik though to be suspect, as she was very careful, more than any girl he had met.

He then sat down beside her, and the two began to make small talk as they waited for a fish to take a bite of one of their lines.

‘So, where are you from? If you don’t mind my asking.’ Said Erik. ‘I haven’t seen you before, not in my village at least. The nearest village except my own is quite far away.’

‘I’m not from your village, so you’ll have not seen me. But I’m not from the other village either. I live in the forest.’ Said Ulla.

‘Is it not dangerous? There are wild animals around, and not all of them are nice.’

‘No, I can look after myself. And they usually leave me alone so I don’t have to defend myself. I find its people you have keep an eye on more than animals. People can lie, and pretend to be friendly when they’re not. But animals, their honest. If they like you, they like you. If they don’t, they don’t.’

‘Ha, you can say that again.’ Replied Erik. Though her answer raised more questions than it answered, puzzling him further. How could she look after herself? Especially with bears and wolves roaming around the forest. To them, a girl like her would be easy pickings. And they would certainly not leave such easy prey alone.

Before he could ask any more questions, he saw both their lines twitching. Having not had a single catch so far, he jumped up and rushed towards his line and grabbed it, determined to finally catch something. Whatever was on the end of his line, must have been big as it put up a hell of fight. He fought with the fish for a few minutes, but it felt like hours to him. Eventually, Erik managed to pull his catch from the lake. It was a good catch, about two feet long and good weight. It would make a good meal for his family.

‘Hey, look.’ Said Erik, out of breath. Though as he turned around, he almost dropped his catch. As he saw that Ulla, whilst he wasn’t looking had managed to catch an even bigger fish by herself.

Shocked, Erik looked dumfounded at her and her catch. ‘How?’ he asked. Unable to say anything else.

‘Beginners luck, I suppose.’ She replied.

The two of them made their way back to Erik’s basket, and put both into another empty one he had waiting to store his catch, despite his protests that she keeps hers as she had most definitely earned it.

‘It’s been lovely meeting you.’ Said Ulla. ‘But I’m afraid I must go now.’

‘Hey wait.’ Said Erik, before she was about to leave. ‘Would you like to have lunch tomorrow? I can make us a picnic?’

‘Yes, I would love to. Where do you want to meet?’

‘Do you know the clearing out to the west? Just outside my village? We can meet there, around midday?’

‘Yes, I do. That’s perfect, I’ll see you then.’ she said, smiling warmly as she spoke.

They then said their goodbyes, and Ulla turned to walk away back into the forest. ‘By the way, you should stay a while. I have a good feeling you’ll catch some more.’

‘I will, but I doubt it. Probably my only catch today considering the past few days.’

Ulla simply smiled at Erik, which gave him butterflies in his stomach. Before walking away, and disappearing into the forest.

Erik continued fishing until the sun started to set. And he caught one fish after another, getting one each time he threw his line in. eventually he had to stop as he wouldn’t be able to carry it all, this was by far his largest catch. Happy with how the day had went, Erik began to make his way home, and found himself thinking not of the catch, but of Ulla. Though he knew virtually nothing about her, he knew that she was something special. And he looked forward to tomorrow.