This story my grandmother told me long ago.
The story is written from her name:
“I was only five years old. It was the end
of summer 1933. My parents and I went to deep in the forest cut grass for our
cow.
I was sleeping when my parents were working
and when they went to sleep in the evening I wanted to play.
I heard a child's laugh and when to see
what was going on. And I noticed a little girl hiding behind a small pine tree.
The girl looked at me and started to laugh.
She touched my dress and my hair and was laughing even more. I gave her my
small doll and the girl looked like she had never seen dolls before.
We played all night, running from tree to
tree or making dresses for my doll from grass and flowers.
In the morning the girl walked me back to
my parents and run away. All night she did not say even one word to me, only
giggling and laughing.
Since that time I had never seen this girl
any more.
One evening may be ten years from that time
someone knocked our door. I was alone at that time, I looked outside and found
out I forgot to lock the door.
Then far away, near the road to our river I
noticed that forest girl waiving me. The girl looked a bit older, but did not
change much. She waived again and jumped to the river.
The next morning my parents came home all
scared. My father told me that someone robbed our neighbors house.
Later I heard that the little girl was a little mermaid, you know that Russian mermaids live in forests and can walk. If they like someone, they will always help."
