Odin in the mint field

Odin in the mint field(Dill McLain) ODIN IN THE MINT FIELD
by Dill McLain


Odin awoke and looked around. A ray of sunshine pierced a crack in the wall. He was dripping with sweat and his heart was beating wildly. He could hardly breathe and he was close to burst into tears because he felt so miserable. He turned around in his bed, remembered all these long, wild dreams that he had gone through in the past weeks. He finally sat up and leaned against the wall.

He felt alone, lost and sad. Sweat broke out on his brow, dripped into his sad eyes. The rumbling of his bowels was the only thing he could hear. But he was not hungry at all. No, he had no interest in food.

He sat there a long time with half-open eyes and thought about his situation.

It was clear. He was in love. And he had to go and find her, by all means. The endless meandering during all of these nights and the sad dreams must have an end.

There was a row of serious problems he had to face: Odin was a hedgehog. He lived since five years in a twig hut in the bushes under a huge tree. Just a few days before the last hibernation he saw her on one of his excursions at night in the neighbours garden. He was – unfortunately – too shy to approach another hedgehog and to talk to her. When he finally was ready to do so, snow came and covered everything in white and he had to prepare his bed for winter.

Odin cleaned his eyes with his small paws. He stretched his legs and shook his body.

Then he set up his plan: He would leave from his home, cross the next garden, which was a difficult and large territory. He would have to avoid the open grass and make quite a long turn. Twice he would have to climb over stones at the edges of the flowerbeds, an action which needed special skills. There was also the danger of meeting the big cat as well as the people from the next house who often sat in the garden or worked in the flowerbeds. If a danger came, he would have to try to hide in the next possible bushes and hope not be noticed. Then he would – hopefully – reach the wooden fence and from there he could start his search for her.

And what if she already had found a partner ? He felt a stitch in his heart. There was no time now to think about this and waste precious energy and time.

Odin crawled out of his home, looked to the left and to the right and started running as fast as he could. He crossed the path of flagstones and then marched in the deep grass. His eyes scouted carefully to all sides. He was just about to start liking his adventure, when the ground started quaking. Odin saw the man from the next house coming across the grass. Exactly in his direction. Almost desperate, Odin stopped and made himself as small as possible trying to hide in the grass. The man carried a huge clay pot with a giant plant. He came closer and closer. Finally, the legs passed only a meter next to Odin. The pot with the plant seemed to be very heavy and difficult to carry and needed full concentration of the man. Good luck for Odin. He stayed unnoticed.

As soon as he saw the back of the pot-carrying man, Odin started again to run as quickly as he could, this time in the direction of the herb beds. He reached the stone wall around the bed and with a great last effort he climbed onto the rim and let himself drop on the other side into the herb bed.

For a moment he waited there and examined the world. His heart palpitated and he was short of breath. Then he realized to his left a small field of large, dark green mint stems. He carried himself to these mint stalks and disappeared between these new and strong stems. There he sat down and recovered his breath and gratefully looked up at these wonderful green plants which spread out a healthy and fresh aroma. ‘Thank you, mint bushes !’ he sighed. He inhaled the mint and felt freshness deep in his lungs.

‘Good morning, Odin’ said a shy voice and Odin was scared to death. He ducked and scouted around, but could not see anything. The mint branches rocked gently with the light wind. ‘Who are you’ he said in an assault of spirit of adventure.

‘It is me, Persephone, the windmill’ the voice said.

Odin hesitated and thought to himself ‘Is this now a danger or a friend ?’.

‘Where are you, I cannot see you ?’ Odin whispered a bit doubtfully.

‘I am behind you, right in front of the mint bed’ said the voice invitingly and friendly.

Odin turned slowly, very slowly around and looked at the stems of the mint bushes. He investigated one after the other and moved forwards through the mint plants, permanently scouting to the left and to the right. Then he stood in front of the stonewall which surrounded the bed. He looked up, craned his neck. And then he saw a windmill with red and pink sails.

First he was astonished and did not know what to say. Then he was amused and said ‘Good morning, Persephone’. And he added intuitively ‘What nice sails you have !’. The windmill was charmed and flattered. Odin could see it. It gave him time to think about his unusual situation.

‘I could possibly help you’ Persephone said with a touch of female pride and triumph in her voice.

Odin stood there and looked at her a bit sceptically. ‘How should a windmill be able to help in such an important mission ?’ he wondered, but did not pronounce it, in order not to destroy any possibilities. Life was full of surprises and one should also be open for unusual ideas.

‘Dear Persephone, what a good heart you have, but how can you know what I need, what I am looking for ?’ he said a bit challengingly.

Wind came up. ‘Hold on, I must work now, but wait there in the mint field, I’ll talk to you as soon as I can take a break !’ Persephone answered and started to move her sails. Quicker and quicker. Until the red and the pink colours mixed and the windmill seemed like a rotating fireball.

Odin stared impressed by the windmill. He moved a bit back and sat down at the bottom of a mint stem. From there he could still see the fireball. He bit his lips and thought ‘It’s all a bit unbelievable, isn’t it. A windmill which cannot walk but rotates only her sails, how could she possibly help ?’. He sighed. Maybe his plan was too adventurous. He looked at his feet. He sat there a long while and his brave hearted mind started to fade away.

‘You have no reason to be sad, the whole world is open for you’ Persephone’s voice pulled him out of his absorption. ‘What do you think of my future, I cannot move, never. I must always stay here and work day and night, whenever there is wind !’.

Odin looked up and said sympathetically ‘Yes, this is true, you have a hard life !’.

Persephone felt flattered and said ‘I know who she is, I will tell you in a minute. Now I have to work again !’. It was windy again. The wind had come back. But Odin jumped up. ‘What did you say, you know where who is ? How do you know whom I am looking for ?’ he cried totally excited. His legs trembled and he could hardly stand still.

There was no answer. Persephone’s sails were turning quickly and without pause.

‘Why does this wind have to come up now and interfere with my important plan? Why can the wind not wait until I have found my love ?.’ Odin shouted impatiently and kicked the stonewall of the mint bed twice. He turned around and went for a walk in the mint bushes. He walked and walked in circles. From time to time he stopped and pricked up his ears and listened for a voice in the wind. It seemed to last forever.

‘Of course, I know what you are looking for’ the windmill’s voice was back again.

Odin rushed to the stone wall and looked anxiously up at the windmill with his dark brown hedgehog eyes and said almost imploringly ‘Persephone, you are really the most beautiful windmill in the world’ and when he saw that the windmill was about to climb into ecstasy he added ‘I would fall in love with you, if I could, but I am not free anymore, my heart has already been taken !’.

‘Thank you, thank you’ whispered Persephone. She smiled and looked at the hedgehog who stood there full of expectation.

‘Freya comes everyday about 3 times to the wooden fence and looks around, and looks out for you, this is clear. She was there twice this morning and will presumably soon be back. Go and sit down. I will call you when she comes. And I will give her a sign and direct her to the mint field’.

Odin was speechless and sat down. He took a deep breath. The mint plants seemed to smile at him. He felt almost dizzy. Then he realized that he did not know what to say, how to proceed when Freya would appear. He forgot to rehearse this.

Odin almost fell into panic.

He started to walk spirally again in the mint bushes always carefully listening.

A big golden-green shimmering beetle flew over his had and made a terrible noise. ‘For good heavens sake, please stop producing this horrible noise like a helicopter and sit down. An important mission is going on here !’ Odin shouted.

The beetle landed on a mint branch next to Odin and said obviously amused ‘You are sort of nervous, hedgehog, you must be in love !’.

‘Why does the whole world know that I am in love ?’ asked Odin.

The beetle broke into laughter and wiggled his back. ‘Take it easy, Hedge, if a hedgehog runs amok in a mint field at 4 o’clock in the afternoon when all others are sleeping, it must be real love, you can’t deny this, can you !’.

Odin sighed and decided to ask the beetle for ideas about how to formulate his love once Freya would finally appear. Certainly the beetle seemed to be experienced and might have seen the world.

‘Could you give me some advice about what I should say when she comes ?’ he asked and added with loud voice ‘Yes beetle, I fell in love with Freya. It is this one or no one. And I do hope she loves me too !’.

‘Yes, I love you too’ said a tender voice from behind.

Odin turned his head and a heat wave touched his body. There stood Freya at the edge of the mint field. She looked so beautiful.

‘Well then’ said the beetle, took off and left the two alone.

* * *

Freya and Odin married the same evening in the mint field witnessed by Persephone and the golden-green beetle. And the mint plants sung the famous mint field song.