Are you afraid of the dark?

​There is something hypnotic about bonfires. The sound of the crackling flames and the flickering warm light that grows stronger as the dark night closes in around you. The last rays of daylight are about to burn out and a friend who has kept me company for a few hours is on her way home again. With the exception of a couple on the other side of the pond, I sit alone by the water's edge looking into the flames. Behind me my hammock is prepared and ready with my sleeping bag. When I am asked if I think it's scary to sleep alone outside, the answer is always no. I have been on several solo trips and it doesn't bother me to sleep alone outside, whether it's in the woods or in the mountains. Therefore, it feels a little strange that tonight I'm suddenly feeling a little nervous as the darkness closes in around me. Horror movies I keep at arm's length, while trying to forget the ones I've already seen. But tonight it feels like they are so easily accessable at the top of my mind. The stars begin to appear in the sky that is about to turn into a dark shade of blue. The forest is now mere black shadows, but there is enough light left for the trees to be reflected in the surface of the water. It's beautiful to look at! At the same time, I have to admit to my selft that I can't shake the eery feeling. Tonight I'm reminded of the very human experience of being afraid of the dark.

The eeryness sticks with me as I start to wrap myself in the sleeping bag. An image from the "Blair witch project" flashes before my eyes before I push it away again. Not now! There is an old little farm, not too far from the pond. Thoughts that it might be haunted is simmering beneath the surface. I'm getting myself all worked up by the idea now. The nervousness is actually starting to make me tremble a little. Trying to calm myself down. There are no such thing as ghosts. Cell-coverage is low and sporadic, but I try to distract myself with the phone. Trying to think of something else. Someone sends me a text telling me that as long as I'm not near Retthellasetra I'll be fine. That's where I'm at. This must be a joke? My body stiffens and my eyes are watering up. It feels really silly, but the urge to pack up and leave is overwhelming. I'm sitting upright in the hammock, eyes wide open, while adrenaline is starting to pump through. Please say it's a joke! It turns out it was a joke. I take a few deep breaths  and lie back down again, slightly on guard. Tell myself that the rushed feeling is due to the chemicals in my body and that it will soon calm down. As with other dark thoughts and feelings, the fear of darkness also eventually lets go. There will be no fleeing home through the forest with goblins and scars. I calm down and finally get to sleep. There is nothing lurking around the water and in the forest. The scariest huldra here is actually me. And even huldra is allowed to be scared of the dark sometimes.