Jag bara måste dela en text som jag fick skickat till mig. Jag hade skrivt om min ensamhet vad gäller att ha tjej och sådant. Min bekanta skickade mig detta! Jag blev så starkt berörd av det!

Today is Someday

by CJ Ekard

Once upon a time there was a young man named Johan who worked on a farm in Sweden. He took care of the livestock, from the birth of mewling calves and squirming swine to the first steps of nervous colts, and to the barn where the slaughtering was done. His work was all he had, because he could not find a mate of his own. Johan saw the love of others but could find none for himself. Even his favorite cat had an old tomcat who visited on the nights of a full moon. This was hard for Johan to withstand, as it would be for any man.

Sometimes, he would walk the farm, thinking of his two older brothers, who were married and had happy families. One day he was strolling next to an old fence that ran along the farm, and he saw an old woman, and politely greeted her.

“Hello young man. I am seeking the town of Interiktigtstad but I seem to be lost. Can you help an old woman find her way?”

“Surely,” he replied and gave her directions.

“Thank you,” she replied. “Please accept this gift,” and she gave him a small fish.

“Keep this near you, it may do you good someday.” Then she continued on her way down the lane. He put the fish in his pocket and forgot about it.

The seasons passed and Johan was still alone; he tried to lose his loneliness in his work. Every yowl of the cats at night reminded him of his own empty bed.

One morning, Johan went into the woods near the farm to look for some lost sheep that had disappeared in the night. He heard something moving through the underbrush, and before he could hide, a great bear appeared.

“Hello neighbor, aren’t you the farmer?” said the bear.

“Yes, I must say that I am,” replied Johan, for he was an honest man, especially when talking to animals, as we all should be.

“One of my cubs has wandered away from our cave. Will you help me find it?” asked the bear, with a mother’s worry in her growl.

“It just so happens that I am looking for my lost sheep. Maybe they are together, my sheep and your cub. Let us search together, friend bear,” ventured Johan.

“A good plan, I am worried, because it is almost hibernation time and my cubs should be settling down for their nap, not roaming the countryside,” explained the bear. “Kids—am I right?”

“Let’s go then,” said a relieved Johan, but he felt a sadness in his heart, because he had no children of his own.

That day Johan and the bear travelled many miles through the forest, and they told each other the tales of their lives. The man told the bear of his lonely life, and the bear felt badly for him.

They were near the end of Sweden when suddenly they heard the bleating of a sheep. They quickly ran to the sound and found both the cub and the lost sheep, but the sheep was dead.

“My sheep!” cried the farmer.

“My cub!” cried the mother bear.

The cub ran to its mother, but the sheep wasn’t running anywhere ever again.

“I am sorry my cub killed your fine sheep, Johan. He’s just a child. You must forgive him,” said the bear.

“It’s alright,” he replied, “My ewe is pregnant—sheep keep coming, but bears are rare here in Sweden.”

The bear was moved by the farmer’s kindness, and as it had become very cold, offered Johan her coat to keep him from freezing.

“Keep this near you, my friend, it may do you good someday,” and the she-bear took off her fur and wrapped the man in it. “Now let’s get home, my cubs, before something bad happens to us here in the woods.”

In the spring, Johan was restless, and travelled to the nearby sea, to stare into the waves and ponder his fate.

As he was daydreaming, a sea troll walked out the surf, and addressed him, “Where the Hell is Stockholm? I got turned around in the Baltic and I don’t know where in the world I am.”

“You’re on the wrong side of Sweden, old fellow. You’ll have to go back into the water, turn south, then back north, and veer left at Gotland. You can’t miss it,” said Johan.

“You are the smartest man I’ve ever met,” said the sea troll, “And I’ve been to America.” The troll snorted something like a laugh, reached into his suitcase, and removed a maiden’s dress.

“I stole this dress from the body of the May Queen, you must take it as payment for your help. Keep it near you, for it may do you good someday, or not--What does a troll care?”

Johan took the dress without a word, because he knew that arguing with trolls was a waste of time.

Long after that, when Johan had settled into his bachelor’s life, the king announced that the time had come for the princess to marry, and suitors were welcome. Things were slow on the farm, so Johan left and walked to the castle. He took the fish, the bearskin and the dress with him.

He had travelled many miles when he came to a river that he had to cross, but there was no bridge. On the far side of the river a maiden stood on the bank drawing in the sand with a stick, she seemed forlorn, and Johan called to her, “Pardon me miss, but how can I cross this river?”

“I’m sorry,” she replied, “The king had the bridge removed to challenge the suitors for the princess’s hand. ‘No man who cannot cross the river using his wits will marry my daughter, he said.’”

A large trout jumped and danced above the water for a moment, and Johan felt the fish the old woman had given him move in his pocket. “Today is someday,” he said and threw his fish into the river.

Suddenly, a school of fish filled the river and Johan walked across this slippery ford to the other side.

The maiden’s eyes widened and she agreed to take Johan to the castle.

They had been on the road for a short while when a great bear emerged from the forest and menaced the young people, “Ah, here’s my dinner. A two-for-one special. I’ll start with the good farmer and have you, maiden, for dessert.”

Johan looked at the hungry bear and felt a hint of recognition. He took the old bearskin out of his pack and put it on like a fur cloak. The bear stopped in his tracks.

“Could it be? After all these years? Mama!” said the bear, and he began to weep.

“Come with us my cub,” called Johan, because he knew this bear now, it was the cub who had eaten his sheep so long ago. “We are going to see the princess choose her suitor.”

And so, Johan, the maiden, and the humbled bear continued on to the castle to see the spectacle.

As they approached the castle, they could see the king above the crowd on a parapet, and a pile of dead suitors lying below. “Is there no other man here to seek the princess’ hand?” proclaimed the king.

Johan wouldn’t have moved, but the maiden pushed him forward, and called to the king, “Here is a man! He walks on water and tames wild bears. He is worthy of the princess.”

The king frowned, and sized Johan up, from head to toe, “Doesn’t look like much. What kingdom are you from prince?”

“I am no prince, my king,” said Johan, and he felt the eyes of the crowd on him. “I am only a poor farmer who came to see the princess marry.”

“How could a farmer afford to wed a princess? Can you clothe her and provide for her?” asked the king, “That is a nice bear you have though.”

“All I have is this maiden’s dress, given to me by a passing sea troll,” and Johan held up the dress the troll had given him. The crowd gasped and drew back from the glorious garment--a wedding dress of beautiful silk.

“A fine dress, but a girl needs more,” the king started to say, but then a sea troll in a Stockholm bar snapped his fingers and a fortune in gold fell from the folds of the dress.

“My husband has arrived!” shouted the maiden, because she was the princess, of course.

They were married and when the king died, years later, Johan became king and ruled justly, with the queen at his side, his sons and daughters loved him. His loneliness was forgotten.