Once upon a time there was a young man named Hans. He secretly loved a maiden he had grown up near named Monique, but he had never told her. One day he left a note at her front door, inviting her to a candle lit dinner. As the hour approached, he was consumed by iktsuarpok* and kept pacing the floor. When she walked through the deep woods near his house her golden hair looked as beautiful as mangata**. He smiled and ran toward her, taking her soft woolen shawl. Conversation began in fits and starts, because he was nervous and the sight of her made him lose all coherent thought. As he pulled the chair out for her, he spoke in a high voice.

"Wooden you like to sit here, captain of my heart?" She laughed at the jayus***.

He asked her about her parents, and about her dress. Before she finished he asked about her favorite foods, and where she grew up.

"You are a pochemuchka****, Hans," she scolded, shaking her head. When she did, a stray curl clung to her eyelashes and he reached out to touch it. "I am from France, and the heaviness of depaysement***** brings me to tears at times."

Her vulnerability made him bolder, and he told her a story.

"One time I found a small girl who was lost. She had been walking through the forest and the komorebi^ so captivated her heart that she lost her way. It looked to her like stars dancing, and she longed to dance with them. But when I found her she was crying because she could not find her way home. I carried her on my shoulders and we ran through the trees like a gazelle, until she heard her mother calling her name, and I brought the girl safely to home. Her mother showered me with gold coins, and thanked me again and again."

Monique's breathing had slowed with goya^^

Hans refilled her glass and they slid easily into sobremesa^^^. When Monique lifted the wine to her lips he noticed the culaccino^^^^ which reminded him of a wedding ring and it made him brazen.

"Will you marry me?" the words spilled out before he could stop them.

Her face flushed and she looked into his eyes. "Yes, Hans. I have always loved you."

They held hands and walked into the forest as the first stars came out to bless their promise. He took her home and kissed her on the door step. Monique's beauty was not dimmed by the darkness. She slipped through the door and Hans turned to go home. He did not hurry, and in spite of waldeinsamkeit^^^^^ he felt the warmth of her presence by his side.

The end



*iktsuarpok- when you keep looking outside in anticipation of someone coming-inuit
**mangata- reflection of the moonlight on the water- Swedish
***jayus- joke told so poorly, and which is so unfunny you have to laugh- indonesian
****pochemuchka- person who asks too many questions- Russian
*****depaysement- feeling of not being in one's own country- French
^komorebi- light filtering through the leaves of the trees- japanese
^^goya- suspension of belief through good storytelling- Urdu
^^^sobremesa- conversation after a meal with people you shared the meal with- Spanish
^^^^culaccino- ring left on table by a wet glass- Italian
^^^^^waldeinsamkeit- feeling of being alone in the woods- German