Once there was a village in the middle of the big, dark, scary forest. Mostly the villagers stayed at home, because the big, dark, scary forest was full of wolves and bears and Bear Warriors. You would be safe if you kept to the path that went through the big, dark, scary forest, though; still, most of the villagers stayed at home.
Of course, it was difficult to stay at home when your home was haunted, as Reynir Árnason found out. He had come into the village one day seeking his fortune, and had promptly stumbled into one: there was a house in the village that had stood empty, as everybody knew it was haunted, even though the last owner’s will granted the house and everything in it to the first person who could spend an entire night there and live.
Reynir had promptly declared that he would stay the night in the empty house, and live in it thereafter, and he had done so, despite the ghosts that cohabited there.
The first ghost to show itself had been that of an old pastor’s wife who had fallen to The Plague long ago; Reynir thought her very nice, and was sad to see her fade after they had had a few nice chats.
The second ghost was not so nice--at least at first. It showed up first as an owl that liked to perch on the living room mantelpiece and stare at Reynir judgmentally. Eventually, it showed itself as a large, brooding man with grey-blond hair and light eyes who still stared at Reynir judgmentally.
After what seemed like a very long time indeed, Reynir managed to start a conversation with this ghost, whose name was “Onni”. “Onni” didn’t like talking much, but Reynir was very good at talking to anyone who would listen, so they talked.
It was during one of their later conversations that the third ghost showed up. This ghost called itself “Tuuri”, and was much more personable than “Onni”, who claimed that he and “Tuuri” were brother and sister. They looked enough alike for it to be so, so Reynir shrugged and kept talking to them whenever they were around.
Reynir liked talking to “Tuuri”, and it seemed like she enjoyed talking to him; if the disapproving looks “Onni” kept giving them were any guide, “Onni” thought “Tuuri” enjoyed them all too much.
One day, though, Reynir asked about the last person who had owned the house, and what had happened to him.
“Oh, him,” “Tuuri” said dismissively. “He was a really shouty guy named Olsen, and he didn’t like ghosts at all.”
“Onni” stated calmly, “He tried to exorcise the lot of us at every turn--and he succeeded with some of us; that’s why I kept Tuuri away until I knew you wouldn’t try to hurt her.”
“To be fair,” “Tuuri” continued, “some of the others didn’t take the exorcisms very well--they tried to kill him, even.” She shuddered. “Fortunately, they didn’t succeed, or we might have had to put up with him being one of us!”
“Perish the thought,” “Onni” muttered. Then he told Reynir, “Actually, being killed ‘by a ghost’”--he put mocking air quotes around the phrase-- “won’t make you become a ghost yourself; it’s a common myth among us, no matter how often it’s disproved.”
“Tuuri” looked disconsolate all of a sudden, but Reynir was able to perk her back up without much trouble.
All in all, Reynir reflected after he went to bed, it was an odd but not bad life. And who knew what interesting conversations the next day would bring...
