Hidden comfortably within a burrow in the woods was a lovely little family of foxes. Mother and father fox had made their nest next to a clearing so that their young could venture out and explore the world without getting out of their sight. And so the family lived comfortably for a few weeks until one day the smallest of the litter decided to journey past the edge of the clearing. Initially the strange environment with wondrous sights and smells was fascinating to the little fox, but soon it started to get dark and the panic started to set in. In his panic, the little fox ran in the wrong direction, missing his home and running past the clearing just out of sight of his parents and siblings. By the time the little fox stopped running it had gone completely dark and rain had started to fall. Tired, hungry and scared, the little fox found a hole in a nearby tree and nestled there for warmth, struggling to fall asleep.
When next the little fox awoke, two green eyes were staring at him. These eyes were unfamiliar and the fox immediately pushed himself back into the tree, making himself as small as possible.
“Don’t worry,” a flowery voice told him, “I’m not here to hurt you.”
The fox didn’t believe the voice, but curiosity ended up winning out over fear and he poked his little head out of the tree to see who was talking to him. There he saw a giant creature. It looked like a mouse, one of the things his parents would sometimes catch for food. But instead of being a small animal – like the fox was – it was a huge creature, towering over him and standing on its hind legs. It was covered in a bunch of strange furs and had a large stick in their hands. “Hi little one, my name is Jozefin, who are you?” the voice said softly.
Out of all the things that the little fox was curious about, he was most curious about the fact that he could understand the strange creature. Most animals made noises that he could figure out a little bit, but this creature was speaking to him directly and he could understand exactly what she was saying. “I am Jap, the fox. My sister is Jozefin too”
“Nice to meet you Jap. What are you doing here in the rain?”
With his fear subsiding a little bit, the fox took in his surroundings. He was still in a strange place and rain was hitting the little leaf that the mouse was using to cover her head.
“I am lost.”
“Oh dear, I’m sorry to hear that. Can I help you out?”
“Would you do that?”
“Of course I would, helping those who need it is my favorite thing to do.”
“My favorite thing to do is playing with my brothers and sister,” the fox replied.
Jozefin, the mouse lady, smiled at Jap. “That’s a marvelously fun thing to do as well.” She held out her bag. “Here, sit in my bag and I’ll see if I can find your home.”
Jap hesitated for he didn’t know if he could trust this strange woman, but she seemed nice and he was very worried he wouldn’t find his parents again if he went alone. “Okay.” He jumped down and nestled within the bag which smelled of strange plants and honey. He then poked his head out the top and looked around.
“Where do you live, little one?” Jozefin asked.
“I live with my family near the clearing.”
She smiled. “Right, you wouldn’t exactly know where big landmarks are, would you.”
The fox looked at her quizzically. He understood her words but not their meaning. “Landmarks?”
“Right, are there any things near the clearing that stand out?”
The fox thought for a few moments. He didn’t exactly know what something that stands out would have to look like, since the clearing was just the clearing. Eventually he thought of something. “There’s a big tree with nice fruits at the center of the clearing.”
Jozefin nodded. “I think I know where to find this clearing then.” She turned around and started walking, the fox still carefully peeking over the edge of the little bag to see where they were going.
After only an hour of walking, the fox’ ears suddenly perked up. “I think I know that tree,” he exclaimed excitedly.
Jozefin looked in the direction that the fox was looking in and nodded “Then the clearing you’re talking about is a place that I know.” She went in the direction of the tree that the fox pointed at and went past it. The way the leaves smelled here was familiar to Jap and eventually the clearing came into view. Waiting for Jap at the center of the clearing were his mum, dad and all of his siblings. He quickly crawled out of the bag and tumbled to the ground before sprinting to them. They all gave him a big hug. His mother then said. “I’m glad that you were in the area, Jozefin, I worry what would happen if you weren’t.”
The woman smiled. “You know you could have called on me and I would have come immediately.”
“You’re a busy woman.”
“Family comes first.”
Jap looked confused. “Mom, do you know this nice lady?”
His mother smiled. “She’s your grandmother.”
Jozefin chuckled. “I don’t know if I like that yet, it makes me sound old.”
“Compared to us, you are pretty old.”
“So how is the nest going?” Jozefin said, sitting down cross legged at the center of the clearing. “It’s going well, although one of the kids is a constant source of worry.” She shot a look at Jap who made himself small. He was very happy to be back home, but now that he was safe he feared his mother’s anger more than being lost. It’s strange what gains and loses importance depending on where you are. The rain continued to fall so eventually the little family moved back into their burrow, inviting the kind lady in as well. There, the lady started doing something strange together with Jap’s mother. They walked to one of the walls of the room and started writing something on it, then adding twigs and flowers to the writing. They did this for quite a while as the rest of the family looked on in silence. Eventually they seemed to be done and then Jozefin – the lady, not his little sister – took out her wooden staff and touched the center of the circle they had created, making it ripple like it was water from the spring that ran past the clearing where they would often drink. Then the wall turned light blue and kept rippling. With a soft crackling. sound, the staff that Jozefin held started opening up and a similar rippling blue circle appeared in the space between the staff. She looked at Jap’s mother. “Want to test it out?”
His mother nodded and turned to her family. “Kids, follow Jozefin outside to see something interesting.” Jap and his siblings all followed the kind lady outside, where she turned bigger again, for she had made herself small to fit into their home. There, the staff split open once more and the blue ripple that went through it for a moment was soon disturbed as his mom stepped through the staff.
“How did you do that?” Jap’s big brother asked.
“Magic,” Jozefin answered. “Now your mom can come visit me whenever she wants.”
“Why would she visit you?” Jap asked. His mother had never left the burrow.
His mother moved up to him. “Jozefin and I are old friends, I traveled with her a lot before I met your father.”
Jap looked from his mother to Jozefin and back. Jozefin added. “Your mother is the fox of good fortune.”
His mom smiled. “That’s just what people call me because you’re the one that brings good fortune to others.”
Jap felt a sudden urge and blurted out. “I want to be a fox of good fortune too.”
Both his mom and Jozefin looked at him and then exchanged a glance. His mother put her paw on his forehead. “Maybe one day when I’m old, you can take my spot as the fox of good fortune.” She looked at Jozefin, who nodded in agreement. “Of course, when you’re old enough you can maybe come with me sometime.” She smiled. “Here, step through the portal to see if you have the talent or not. If you don’t have any talent, the portal will not let you through it.”
Jap stepped up to the portal and hesitated. He wondered if he had any talent. His mother then gave him a gentle push and before he knew it he was standing inside their little burrow, next to their father. It was a miracle, he clearly had talent.
What Jap didn’t know is that outside of the burrow, Jozefin told his siblings, “anyone can go through the portal if they have my permission, they don’t need a special talent,” upon which the rest of the family started running through the portal as well, tumbling on top of Jap who was still standing next to the portal in awe. Finally, their mother stepped through carefully as well, making sure not to step on any of her children. “Looks like we’re one very talented family.”
Jap would end up becoming the next familiar of the witch of good fortune, thus becoming the fox of good fortune that his mother once was before him. And Jap’s children would one day take over the role for him, until the family was so big that the burrow was four times as large as when Jap was a child. And he would be far from the last family member to get lost in the nearby forest, for they were a curious bunch of foxes. And without fail, Jozefin would come back to bring the lost children back to their worried parents. Whenever the fox of good fortune was spotted in a town, it meant that the kind witch wasn’t far behind, which is why the fox was known for bringing good fortune.
Opal Kaharis 