RAJIV AND THE MAGICAL FOREST(Charles E.J. Moulton) The acrylic artwork on this page was painted by Charles E.J. Moulton in April of 2014. This story entails characters that were invented in the good night stories invented by Gun Kronzell for her son Charlie and by Charlie for his beloved daughter. This story is meant to enchant the children of the world as much as it has done me, my mother and my daughter and my wife.

Once upon a time there was a hedgehog named Rajiv.
Nobody knew how he had come to the magical forest they called the Baruckas. Only that he had appeared there on the wings of an owl that originally resided in a tree in the forest. It was told by many that Rajiv had been an Indian hedgehog that had lost his family and met these wise old bird, who told him that there was a beautiful enchanted forest in North Sweden. It was populated by trolls and magicians and lay far away from human population. It was a perfect oppurtunity to start anew.
Very early on, the sad hedgehog turned into a beloved member of the community. His best friend became a snake, a fellow he simply called Snake. The two friends moved into a nice and quiet cave up on a hill, overlooking the entire forest. Every night Rajiv and Snake sat there together on the ledge in front of the cave on the hill. They talked, looked at the stars, drank water and discussed the next day’s adventures.
Soon enough, Rajiv’s and Snake’s cave became the centre of popular activity. This was especially positive, since Rajiv had been sad once he had lost in family back in India. There was Hi-Yeey, a funny shark that criss-crossed the local lake. Picnics by the lake where especially popular, because the shark always told wonderful stories about his life in the Pacific Ocean.
Doctor Miracle, the local wizard, had transported the shark to the lake. The shark had needed the company of other animals after being feared for so long. Rajiv’s arrival became a real winner for Hi-Yeey, who looked forward to the hedgehog’s visits with all his heart and soul.
The wise 600 year old magician Doctor Miracle lived in a cave with hundreds of animals: Spirre Spider, Rollie Rat, Betty the Bat, Carl the Cat, Gudrun the Turtle and Holly the Cat among them. His cupboards and bookcases were real wonders of magic and wizardry. Doctor Miracle often used his magic bananas, which were a cure for almost any ailment. His most precious artefact was the Magic Bathtub, a vehicle that could fly through space and time and had done so on many occasions.
The Magic Bathtub was often used by the two local trolls, Uggel-Guggel and his brother Klampe-Lampe. Uggel was wiser, calmer, a bit older and more organized. Klampe had a heart of gold, but was a bit unorganized. His big feet always got in the way.
But the trolls had been through a lot in that bathtub: they had visited their good friend Ching-Chang Chao, a Chinese princess, the American Indians, and even the Bear-King Bakimbe on the planet Trenutschia. The Bear-King became a great friend of Rajiv’s, by the way. He often flew over to Rajiv’s cave on his flying camels, bringing his large barrels of honey with him as a present to cheer up his friends.
Lulli Barucka, the oldest living troll-woman in the enchanted forest, often sat on her rock and combed her hair, sang her songs and received visits from all kinds of enchanted creatures. Bull and Drulla, Uggel and Klampe’s fun loving parents often came to visit her, just to talk, nothing more. It helped Bull to forget the pain in his left leg. Drulla always came with a knitted sweater or a nice cake, just to cheer up the old woman, whose love for Doctor Miracle had not disappeared even after all these centuries.
Of course, there were other troll-family-members, as well. Kulleribytta, the troll who loved rolling herself forward instead of walking. Dunkeliklunk, who spent most of his time drinking mead. Timotey, the sweet troll, who spent all her time putting flowers in her hair.
One day, it was a Tuesday to be exact, was to be espacially valuable to all the enchanted creatures of the Baruckas. The evil magician Abra Kadabra had finally become a good magician. He spent all his time laughing for no reason at all. He had been invited to join the birthday party of the Barucka’s favorite friend: a baloon named Billy. This baloon had a wife and a child and 100 relatives, who spent their time in two places: on a sweet island off the coast of Argentina and on a planet far away in the Andromeda Galaxy. They often visited King Bakimbe on his planet. Of course, the Bear-King was coming to the party, as well.
Rajiv couldn’t sleep. He woke up shortly before dawn just to look at the start and witness the sun coming up. When it did, the 103 balloons (namely Billy, his family and fríends) came flying in from Argentina, smiling and singing, laughing and joking.
It was grand sight.
Klampe-Lampe had prepared a dance, that had the whole ground shaking.
This made the evil magician turned good, Abra Kadabra, laugh so hard that he bounced.
The Bear-King Bakimbe invited everyone for honey.
The friends talked, laughed, sang, drank and ate the whole night through and even until the next evening. When Billy left for home again that next evening, Rajiv and Snake sat on the ledge in front of their cave again, looking at the stars, and just thinking about how wonderful their lives were.

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