It was a beautiful early spring morning. The melting snow was giving way to budding flowers and grass. The birds were singing in the trees. The warm sun filtered through the waking tree's new leaves, glittering the forest floor with golden light. Two figures were walking through the forest; a white, furry, and rounded looking creature named Moomintroll and a knee-high young lady in a red dress with her ginger hair in a ponytail, making her head look like an onion named Little My. Moomintroll was out looking for a pretty rock in the forest to give to Snork Maiden and Little My was an unwelcome participant.

"How about this one," Little My said as she picked up a rock that looked like an old man's dying face, "This looks just like her."

"Oh, absolutely not," Moomintroll said, "and it does not look like her at all. If you're going to be here will you, please, actually help."

Little My dropped the rock then immediately picked up another rock that was in the shape of an ass, then said, "Look. This one looks even more like you."

Moomintroll groaned with a disapproving shake of his head. Then he turned his back on her to continue searching by himself.

All was quiet for a few minutes then Little My called out for Moomintroll to come see something.

Moomintroll groaned but he went over to Little My, but not without complaining along the way, "Little My, I swear, if this is just another set up for you to make fun of me I will—AH!"

Through some bushes, Moomintroll could see Little My standing over a body. The woman has long straight, raven black hair. Skin color like a deep dark lake. Wearing clothes that he's never seen before that have mysterious stains on her front.

"You killed someone!? Don't worry. I'll get Mama. She knows how to bury a body," Moomintroll said in a panic.

Before he could run off Little My pegged him with a rock and said, "I didn't kill her you ninny. She's still alive. See. Her chest is moving."

"O-oh," He stuttered, then he said, "I've never seen a troll like her before."

"You would think random strangers would have the decency of showing up passed out on the boarder of our valley or washed up on the beach, not in our back yard," Little My said as she poked the young woman in the side with a stick.

Moomintroll rolled his eyes at her then knelt down to see if there was any bodily damage to the passed out young woman.

"She seems fine, but she reeks of booze," he said.

"Let's stack rocks on top of her to see how many we can stack before she wakes up," Little My said already having balanced three rocks on the young woman's knee.

Moomintroll knocked the rocks over and said, "Stop that and help me wake her up!"

Little My clicked her tongue then said with a sigh, "You're no fun."

The little lady then walked on top of the passed-out woman to stand on her stomach, then she lifted her up by the collar of her shirt, then slapped the passed-out woman in the face while yelling, "Wake up!"

This immediately woke the woman up and she screamed from the shock of being hit and flopped over on her side to grab her sore cheek and her head. Little My was still on top of her.

"Did you really have to hit her," Moomintroll asked.

Little My shrugged, then said, "That's always been my experience with drunks."

"Britney," the young woman groaned, "You didn't need to hit me."

"My name's Little My," she said.

The young woman looked over her shoulder at Little My and said, "Oh no. I must have been separated from my friends."

She sat up, as Little My hopped off her, then as the young woman was reaching for her pants pockets, she saw Moomintroll and freaked out.

"AAAAHHHHH!" She cried out.

"AAAAHHHHH!' Moomintroll cried in surprise from her sudden cry.

The woman clutched her head in pain and through gritted teeth said, "Dang hangover," then looking up at Moomintroll she asked, "What the heck are you!"

"Um, I'm Moomintroll," he said.

She looked at him in confusion then she muttered to herself, "Am I dreaming… No, you don't feel pain in dreams," then to the other two she asked, "Where am I? I was in Theresienwiese participating in Oktoberfest with my friends."

"We have never heard of this Theresienwiese or Oktoberfest," Little My said.

"You're in Moominvalley," Moomintroll said.

"Hmm, sounds Swedish. So, I drunkenly got lost, left Germany and somehow ended up in Sweden," she mused, then she sighed and said to herself, "Why is Europe so small?"

Little My and Moomintroll looked at each other then looked back at the woman.

"If you come with us you can take a bath and get something to eat and we can figure something out about how you got here," Moomintroll offered.

The woman sighed then said, "Alright."

She stood up and she towered over Moomintroll and Little My, with the top of Moomintroll reaching just under her shoulder and with Little My reaching just under her knees. Moomintroll was impressed by her height but Little My wasn't, thinking that Mymble was taller.

"This way," Moomintroll said as he pointed towards his house.

As they walked, she asked, "So, what can Moomintrolls do?"

"I don't understand," He asked.

"Like, do you know magic, or do you have a special innate ability that humans don't have or something," she asked.

Moomintroll was about to answer her, but then Little My said, "Ha! The only innate ability Moomin has is storing everything he eats like he's a fat snowman."

"Ooooh! Hush you!" Moomintroll said as he kicked in her general direction.

Little My laughed then ran ahead of them.

"She's a bit mean spirited, isn't she," she said.

Moomintroll only huffed, but then he said, "I think you're confused. Moomintroll is my name it's not what I am. I'm a troll. Specifically, I'm an Arial Hippos."

She had a look of deep thought on her face, then she said, "I'm sorry then. I'm Sam. What I am is human."

"Hmm. I'm never heard of a troll called a human before," Moomintroll said.

Sam smiled, then said, "Well, that's because a human isn't a troll," then under her breath she said, "not unless they're on the Internet."

"What?"

"Nothing," Sam said.

The two of them walked out of the forest to come upon a clearing. In the middle of the clearing was a three-story tall, blue, cylinder shaped building with a red cone shape for a roof. Farther beyond it was a small stream with a bridge over it and next to the bridge, on the other side of the stream, sat a lived-in camp sight.

"Well, I've never heard of a human before. So maybe Papa knows what you are," Moomintroll told her, "He's been everywhere one can go and has a lot of books."

"Neat. But you can just ask me what humans are considering I am one," Sam said.

"True," he agreed.

After Moomintroll opened the back door to the cylinder house, he shouted, "Mama! I brought home someone new to the valley!"

"I'm in the bathroom Dear!" A kind sounding woman shouted back.

"Little My has probably already told her about you," Moomintroll said as he walked inside, "Come on."

Moomintroll then patiently waited for Sam as she took a moment to take off her shoes before coming into the house.

"You didn't have to do that," Moomintroll said, "No one will mind if you wear your shoes inside."

"Thank you, but that's impossible for me," Sam said with a nervous smile.

As they walked through his house, Moomintroll told Sam about the history in his home, like how his father built it. How his mother decorated it. How the tree next to their front door was planted inside by him as a toddler and they haven't the heart to chop it down since. And how sturdy the place is in general. It filled Moomintroll with pride to see someone so impressed by his family home while Sam looked around the house with joy on her face.

Moomintroll led Sam upstairs and on the second floor they found Moominmamma coming out of the bathroom. She looked exactly like Moomintroll, white, furry, and round, but she wears a red and white striped apron around her middle that covers her legs.

"Ah. So, you are the drunk my children found," Moominmamma said, then she introduced herself and said, "I already drew you a bath and I'll have some new clothes for you soon too." Moominmamma had both of her hands around Sam's right hand and patted it to comfort her. Then she looked down and said, "Oh my. Did someone steal your shoes too?"

"No, she just left them on the back porch," Moomintroll said.

"Oh, you didn't have to do that, Dear," Moominmamma said.

Sam took her hand back then said, "Thank you, but you have to understand that I was raised this way."

"Very well," Moominmamma said as she opened the bathroom door and gestured for Sam to enter, "Take as long of a bath as you need. I'll come over soon with your new clothes."

"Okay," Sam said as she went for her back pocket and pulled out a wallet, "How much should I pay you all for these services?"

Both trolls looked at Sam in surprise.

"We're not going to charge you anything, Dear," Moominmamma said, concern etched over her face.

Moomintroll watched Sam's face, like the rotary dial phone in her head was spinning in a circle that wasn't calling anyone.

Eventually Sam said, "Okay," then she reluctantly put away her wallet and went into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

"Moomin, Dear. Will you go to the guest room and open the windows to air it out? I also want you to tidy it up a bit and make sure the bed doesn't smell musty," Moominmamma said.

"Okay Mama," he said.

Moomintroll then walked down the hallway to the guest room while Moominmamma walked up stairs to get to the attic. Once in the guest room, Moomintroll did everything his mother asked of him and as he was sniffing the bed, Little My showed up.

"Hey!" Little My shouted hoping to startle him.

"What!" Moomintroll asked, startled.

"Look at this book Moominpappa got out," she said, showing off the book cover.

Moomintroll read the title out loud, "List of Extraordinary and Dangerous Extinct Creatures?"

"The drunker said a weird word, and I went to Moominpappa to see if he knew what a "human" was," Little My said as she opened the book and laid it flat on the floor, "Listen to this—Humans have long been extinct since the rise of troll kind. Many compiled studies of these creatures suggest that they were a dangerous and innovative people, driven by their base needs and wants. It is suggested by their fossils that humans were driven extinct very suddenly, though there is no known working theory as to how the mass extinction happened," After she finished reading that passage, Little My said, "If we're not careful, she might eat you and your parents. Spit you like a pig over a fire." Little My had an evil little grin on her face, hoping to scare Moomintroll.

Moomintroll couldn't help but imagine Sam with sharp fangs and claws slobbering over his Mama and Papa, but then he remembered how nervous she seemed about the idea of wearing her shoes inside, how patient she was when he wanted to look at other sources about humans besides her, and how confused she was about not needing to pay them for their kindness.

"I highly doubt she's going to eat us," Moomintroll said.

"It could be all a trick," Little My said as she snapped the book close, "If I were you. I'd be ready for anything." Then she ran off cackling.

Moomintroll shook his head at Little My with a disapproving huff. Then he went back to work on the guest room.

Finished with the guest room, Moomintroll went downstairs to the kitchen to see his family and Sam were already there. Sam looked nice and clean, without any leaves and sticks in her hair or dirt on her face, though he did think that the bath would get rid of the strange dark coloration of her skin, but he supposed that's just what her skin looks like. The dress that Mama got for her was the biggest dress that he's sure that they own, but it was still too small for her, but it was something for her to wear for the mean time.

Moominmamma was setting out breakfast food in front of Sam and filling a cup with tea and another cup with water for her to have. Moominpappa, who looks just like Moomintroll, white, furry, and round, but with a black top hat on his head, was examining Sam using a large magnifying glass. Little My was scrutinizing Sam with Moominpappa.

"How are you feeling," Moomintroll asked as he sat down next to Sam.

"I still got a headache, but it'll get better with time," Sam said. Then with a frown she turned on Little My and Moominpappa and said, "Will you two cut it out already."

"I'm terribly sorry," Moominpappa said, putting down his magnifying glass, "It's just finding a human. It's unorthodox. And it's a marvelous find that could get us Moomins on the front page of the news."

"I don't think I'm newsworthy sir," Sam said, "What's newsworthy is what the heck is with your mouths, like why are your mouths on the side of your face instead of on the front?"

Little My couldn't help but laugh.

Moominmamma, as she sat the final plate of food in front of Sam, said, "That's just how we are built, Dear."

Sam sighed then started to dig in. After taking a few bites she said, "Ma'am, your food is delicious."

Moominmamma giggled then said, "Why thank you, Dear."

"After you're done eating, maybe you can regale us with tales of how you came to be here in our humble valley," Moominpappa asked.

Sam nodded; her mouth stuffed with food.

Once she was done eating, Sam told them how she's from America and that she went to Germany with her two best friends, Britney and Jake, so that they could celebrate making it through their first year of college together.

"Ah, so you're no ordinary hunter-gatherer human. You're a scholar. I'm a bit of a scholar myself you know," Moominpappa said.

Sam gave Moominpappa as confused look, then said, "I'm not a scholar. I'm just going to college for a specific thing."

"Alright, well, whatever you are or aren't, how did you get here," Little My asked, "We've never heard of Germany or America or that one word that you said contained the October fest that you were talking about before."

"Theresienwiese," Sam said.

"Gesundheit," Moominmamma said.

Sam looked at Moominmamma like she couldn't believe what she just heard her say. Then she said, "I don't know how I got here. I was pretty drunk. I remember being with my friends. I remember being in a forested area and I remember hearing the sounds of the partying around me and then there was this weird strange green glow. Then you smacked me awake."

"Well, that's better than nothing," Moomintroll said.

"I've also been meaning to ask, but do you have a landline that I can use. I've been trying to call my friends on my cellphone, but I can't get a signal," Sam asked.

"Ah, yes, I have a rotary phone in my study," Moominpappa said. He gestured for Sam to follow him and he said, "This way."

Once Moominpappa and Sam were out of the kitchen, Moominmamma started cleaning up the table with Moomintroll helping her.

"The poor thing," Moominmamma said, "Separated from her friends. Unable to contact them and lost in a world that's so strange for her. I hope we can help her."

"I mean. You already are," Little My said.

"She's right," Moomintroll said, "Besides, I'm sure we'll get her home one way or another."

Moominmamma smiled at her kids, then said, "You two are so sweet."

After finishing the dishes, Moominmamma informed them that she was going to do laundry and she asked Little My to help her. She was reluctant, but she went with Moominmamma to help her out. Leaving Moomintroll to himself.

Moomintroll started walking up the stairs to his bedroom on the third floor to grab his fishing pole to see if Snufkin wanted to go fishing with him and also to tell him about the new strange guest that they have. When he was walking back downstairs, with fishing pole in hand, he saw a dejected Sam walk into the guest room and close the door behind her with Moominpappa looking worried.

"What happened?"

"She couldn't contact anyone. Not her friends. Not her school. Not her workplace. Not even her family. It's really sad," Moominpappa said, "I'm going to check on our phone line. Maybe it's not working the way it should. We barely use it anyhow, so maybe that's it."

Moominpappa walked down the stairs to go do what he said. Moomintroll stood next to the guest room door for a second, then he knocked on it.

"Sam. Do you want to go fishing with me?" he asked through the door.

"No thank you," her muffled voice said through the door.

"Okay. I'll be sitting on the bridge in front of our house if you change your mind," Moomintroll told her. Then he left her alone.

Moomintroll walked out the front door of his house to see Snufkin already sitting on the bridge, fishing from the stream. He looked about the same age as Moomintroll, wearing a long, long-sleeved green coat that went all the way to his ankles, with a matching green broad rimed hat that looked a lot like a witch's hat. Wrapped around his neck is a yellow scarf and in his mouth is a pipe that he was smoking on.

"Morning Moomin," Snufkin called out after taking his pipe out of his mouth, "How went the rock hunt for Snork Maiden?"

Moomintroll groaned as he sat down beside Snufkin on the bridge and said, "I completely forgot about that."

"Oh? What happened," Snufkin asked, as he dumped out his pipe into the stream and placed it into his left breast pocket.

As Moomintroll threw out his line he told Snufkin about the strange person they found in their backyard, in the forest, and how she's a human and that she doesn't know how she got into Moominvalley.

"I doubt she's a human," Snufkin said, "They've been extinct for thousands of years by now."

"Yah, well, I don't know why she would lie about it. I've never heard of a human until this morning," Moomintroll said as he reeled in his line to cast it out into the stream again.

"Hmm."

"And she's really upset about not being able to contact any of her friends or family," Moomintroll said, "So it makes even less sense that she would lie about what she is."

"Hmm."

"Then there's the fact that she keeps saying all these strange words like cellphone and Internet and October fest," Moomintroll said.

"That last one doesn't sound so strange," Snufkin said.

"Oh, trust me. If you heard her say it, you know it would be a weird word," Moomintroll said.

"Seems like we have quite the mystery on our hands then," Snufkin said.

"Yah."

"The only person I know that knows the mysteries of the world the most is The Witch," Snufkin said.

Moomintroll shivered, "I don't really want to go to her."

Snufkin reeled in his fishing line, and as he stood up, he said, "Well, my curiosity is piqued now. She's our strongest lead out of anything. So, I'll go by myself. You can stay here to learn more from your guest."

Moomintroll hastily reeled in his fishing line to follow Snufkin and said, "N-no! I'll come with you. Be your back up."

Snufkin tipped his hat at Moomintroll with a small appreciative smile on his face. After leaning their fishing poles against Snufkin's tent, the two of them made their journey towards The Witch's Cabin.

It was past noon when they made it to The Witch's Cabin. The property of The Witch's land was the most distinct during the springtime. The trees were black and gnarled and without a trace of any greenery on them, not even moss. The land was muddy, rocky, and was the snowiest out of the entire valley. The cabin leaned against the mountains that surround the valley and was as black and gnarled looking as the trees surrounding it. Once Snufkin and Moomintroll were close enough to her property, they turned around and started walking backwards towards The Witch's Cabin. Showing their respect for her privacy.

They heard the door open, and The Witch yelled, "Why are you two kids here again? I didn't put a spell on anyone today or during the winter."

The Witch is a hunched over woman with a cane in her hand to help hold herself up. She's wearing a purple dress, a navy-blue wool coat, and a teal scarf. Despite her advanced age, her hair is still a bright orange color.

"We seek your wisdom, Witch," Snufkin said.

"And what wisdom is that?" she asked.

"Um, I found a human," Moomintroll said as he fidgeted with his tail.

The Witch was silent for a couple of minutes as she processed what he said, then she said gruffly, "Alright. Get in here you two."

The two of them turned around and walked into her home. The inside of her house was much cozier looking than the outside does. There are doilies covering every piece of furniture in the cabin. Dried herbs and spices hung from the rafters. Plants in pots large and small filled every conceivable space inside The Witch's home. The two teenage boys followed The Witch to her kitchen, and she motioned for them to sit at the kitchen table and they did.

She sat in front of them then said, "By the way you said you "found a human" implies that they aren't a fossil."

"Her name's Sam and she seems nice," Moomintroll said.

"None of us have any idea how she got here," Snufkin said.

"I can think of a few ways as to how she got here," The Witch said.

"Like what?" Snufkin asked.

"It depends. Did she describe anything about what happened before she came to the valley?" she asked.

"The last thing she remembers is a strange green glow before we woke her up," Moomintroll said.

"Oh good, then it's not reanimation," The Witch said.

Moomintroll paled at the thought.

"So what is it," Snufkin asked.

"It's most likely that the human you have isn't from this world at all," she said.

"That sounds crazy," Moomintroll said, "How is that possible?"

"There are several ways for a person from a different world to enter our world. Like wild magic. Wild magic is a part of the very fabric of nature and space. Like most animals you can domesticate it or tame it to help you in your life but most of it is so wild and dangerous that improper care of it could destroy you and whatever you were trying to use the magic on. That wild magic then escapes into the folds of the universe to flee from what was done to it. Once it escapes, it leaves a tear in the universe, and anything can fall into the tear into our universe, to close the tear once more. Then there's creation magic," The Witch said.

"What's the difference between wild magic and creation magic," Snufkin asked.

"Creation magic is an innate ability that all sentient creatures contain within themselves. It is unlocked when someone is creating art, like painting or poetry, but it can also be the art of fighting someone or the art of growing something. For example, someone could write a story about a human society and put so much detail and care and love for this story into it, that when they die a being from their story could manifest into our world," The Witch said.

Snufkin and Moomintroll looked between each other then back at The Witch.

"Or it could be that the world she once lived in has rejected her for some reason," The Witch said, "There are too many possibilities for how she got here."

"Is there any way we can get her back home," Moomintroll asked.

"No. I'm sorry to say," The Witch said, "To be honest I never thought I'd live to hear stories of a stranger popping into existence again."

"Again?" Snufkin asked.

"Yes. When I was a girl, just learning my craft, my teacher told me stories of her encounter with a stranger who also came from another world. They were my favorite to hear about as a child," The Witch said as she stood up. The boys followed her lead and stood up too as she said, "Be sure to send her my way. I'd like to speak with this Sam."

"Yes Ma'am," Moomintroll said as they followed her to the front door.

Then the two of them left The Witch's property. By the time it took them to walk home it was evening.

"I don't even know how to tell her," Moomintroll said.

"Bad news is bad news, my friend. You will just have to rip off the band-aid," Snufkin said as he took his hat off and sat it on the ground by his fireplace, revealing his short ginger hair.

"Mmm."

While he was starting a fire, Snufkin said, "It may be sad, but staying here in Moominvalley isn't all bad, and if she wants, she can leave whenever she wants, to do whatever she wants."

"Mmm."

"Have a good night, Moomintroll," Snufkin said, his campfire sparking to life.

"Good night," Moomintroll said as he grabbed his fishing pole from his tent, then he slowly walked over the bridge to his house.

Once inside his house he could hear his family in the kitchen. He saw that his mother was setting out food for dinner with Moominpappa helping her.

"Oh, there you are Dear," Moominmamma said, "Where did you go off to today?"

"I went adventuring with Snufkin," he answered.

"Well go wash up and will you go see if Sam's ready to eat. I don't think she's left her room all day," Moominmamma said.

"Okay, Mama," Moomintroll said.

As he walked up the stairs, he passed Little My who was coming down from washing up herself. He passed the bathroom and he hesitated at Sam's room, but then he walked on to his room upstairs to put away his fishing pole. On his bed he found a stone and a note. He picked up the note and read—

I overheard you talking to your friend about you getting a pretty stone for a different friend. So I thought I'd find one for you since I distracted you from that quest. I hope they like it.

From Sam

PS. – Your voice carries like crazy. I bet I could hear you through the vacuum of space.

Moomintroll picked up the rock and examined it under the setting sun's rays. It glinted and sparkled under the light and had an almost rainbow sheen to it and it was a nice oval shape. Moomintroll thought that Snork Maiden would absolutely love it. He sat it down on his bed side table, then walked back downstairs then knocked on Sam's door, on the second floor.

"Sam? Can I come in?" Moomintroll asked.

There was no answer.

Moomintroll then opened her door, just to peak in to make sure that she was alright. He found Sam sleeping beside her bed on the floor. The blankets and pillows wrapped around her. In comparison to Sam, the bed in the guest room did look small. He closed the door and left her alone and went to wash up. Once in the kitchen he was asked about Sam.

"She's fast asleep. I didn't have the heart to wake her," Moomintroll said.

"Oh. Poor thing," Moominmamma said as everyone gathered around the kitchen table and sat down.

"She must be worried sick about what her family and friends are thinking of her," Moominpappa said, "I've been trying to help her contact them, but there's nothing wrong with our phone and she says there's nothing wrong with her "cellphone". I told her we'd write letters to them tomorrow."

"I don't think that will work either," Moomintroll said as he played with his green beans.

"Alright, spill it," Little My demanded.

Moomintroll then told them of what he learned from The Witch with Snufkin.

"Oh my," Moominmamma said.

"How are we going to tell her," Moomintroll asked.

"In the morning," Moominpappa said.

"Maybe with a side of cereal," Little My added.

"I'm serious," Moomintroll said.

"So are we," Little My said.

"Dear, there's nothing we can do for it. All we can do is tell her the truth as soon as possible and then help her cope with being here," Moominmamma said.

The four of them continued to eat their meal silently. Once they finished, they cleaned up and they all went to bed.