Content warning: snakes
1.10.2021 Magical (girl) transformationIt had been almost a year and a half since Sointu's magic was discovered. A young man who introduced himself as a
noita had been to Kaijatsaari a couple of times to meet her. He had left her some books, but Sointu didn't seem very interested in them. Every now and then Joni asked what she had learned, but she would roll her eyes and say that the books were a complete waste of time.
Last winter, when her vipers had gone to sleep (under the house, much to the dismay of some of the villagers, but hey, a
noita was definitely a good thing to have, so they had to cut her some slack!) Sointu had been so bored that she had actually read through the books, and she had taken to singing songs of her own fashioning. Sometimes they sounded like something from the Kalevala, but sometimes there was so much hissing it sounded completely alien. In either case, while some only left her frustrated, some of the songs seemed to work. The fish catch was good, the cats had many live kittens, and the winter storms were severe, but they lost no one all year.
While Joni couldn’t' even begin to understand how it worked, he had some tiny insight on what was going on. Ever since that first encounter, he had felt that the adders… approved of him. He had never felt threatened by them, even when they got all agitated hissing (later it turned out this was very useful, because it meant something was nearby that needed being disposed of).
This feeling was not shared by everyone in the village. Most people tried to be friendly and polite, but it was clear they shuddered at sight of the vipers, and it didn't really feel very welcoming. Some actively shunned Sointu, and some even the entire family. No one had been in a hurry to move out of the island, though. Happy to accept the good fortune, of course!
***
September was ending, and the vipers were sluggish. Sointu, on the other hand, was overwrought. She worried about the snakes, but more about the long winter months without their company.
"Dad, why must they sleep all winter?"
"Well, see for yourself, they need the sleep. They are all groggy already."
"Yes, but why? They tell me it's because of coldness. But if they were in here with us, and we kept the fire going all the time, they wouldn't get too cold, would they?"
"Um, dear, I don't think that would work. Firstly, I don't think mom and your brothers would agree. But also, I'm sure the snakes…
"Vipers!"
"Yes, the vipers, they need their sleep. They are built that way."
"They tell me the same. "We cannot live in your housssssee. We will wake up in ssspring." But I don’t' want that! It's not fair!"
***
By the first of October, all of the vipers were under the house. Sointu was sulking on her bed, facing the wall.
"Come on honey, you must get up! We can't lie around all day!" Joni was cheering her daughter along. But she didn't answer, beyond a quiet hissing sound.
"Come on lazypants. Your chores don't wait for your friends to wake up!"
Joni grabbed Sointu's shoulder and shook her. The girl felt limp, and cold. Joni got worried. Finally, Sointu seemed to come around. "What isss it, dad? Let me ssssssleep… Wake me in the sssssspring…"
Now Joni was alarmed for his daughter and shook her vigorously. "Sointu! Are you all right? Don't tell me you are going to hibernate?"
"Whyyyy not… sssspring is better… ssssstay warm…"
Sointu opened her eyes. Just for a second, Joni was staring at vertical slits, where he daughter's eyes should be. A hissing sound was coming from her mouth. Joni yelped and let go of her, even though he was still strangely more surprised than actually horrified. "Sointu!"
"Aww dad! Winter is boring! And I hate chores!" Sointu sat up, yawning, and glared at her dad with her perfectly normal blue eyes.
Here’s the first one on them, Playtime:
https://ssssforum.com/index.php?topic=1130.75And here’s a photo with some vipers (not by me!) taken in 2017 near Tampere. Don’t click if you don’t want to see snakes
https://www.aamulehti.fi/kotimaa/art-2000007410696.html
