INGA & REIMA Chasing Adventure
O
nce upon a time there was a clever little girl named Inga. She lived with her mother and father in the small village of Kotokylä, set in the fell highlands in the remotest forests of
northern Finland. Inga’s parents were reindeer herders, as indeed were most of the villagers. Inga had a pretty little button nose, a bit like yours, and she loved playing in the snow and sledging with her friends. Inga was much like you or I, except for having some very unusual friends - a cuddly and magical toy called Goey - and her best friend being a reindeer. Inga found the reindeer when it was a little calf, lying in the snow weak
from hunger. The calf’s mother had no milk to feed her little one, but Inga had quickly fetched some milk from home and fed the poor little calf with a baby’s bottle till it regained its strength. The reindeer was so full of life after that that Inga named it Reima. Reima is an old Finnish name that means sprightly.
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One winter’s day Inga and Reima were watching as father was cutting fence posts to mend the reindeer fence. “Was it the abominable snowman who broke the fence? Or perhaps another monster?” Inga speculated. Her father answered, “I have wandered around these forests since I was a young boy, and I have never seen the abominable snowman or any other monsters. Not even their footprints.” Pausing for thought, Inga sniffled and looked at the fence in both directions. “Daddy, what do abominable snowman footprints look like? Or other monsters, what do their footprints look like?” “Well, I don’t know, my dear”. “So, how can you be sure you haven’t seen their footprints?” Inga’s father just sighed and went back to fixing the fence. Inga and Reima, however, decided to ski around the enclosure looking for signs of the abominable snowman or some other creature. All they could find was tracks left by a stoat, so they decided to follow them. Soon they found tracks made by a squirrel and started following them instead. After a while, they were on a new trail – that of a willow grouse.
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Following the animal tracks in the snow, Inga and Reima had wandered quite far into the fell highlands. Suddenly, without warning, a strong gust of wind blew
Shading her eyes with her hand, Inga looked towards
over the fells, howling and blowing snow all over. Inga
the horizon. The snowscapes appeared untouched and
crouched under the hood of her coat and even Reima
everywhere looked the same. How on earth would they
squinted and cowered before the elements.
find their way back to Father?
The snowstorm swirled around them for a time, before
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“That was quite a snowstorm! The snow has completely covered our tracks!�
It was then Inga heard a dog bark in the distance. She
finally continuing its journey. Inga stood up and brushed
turned in the direction of the barking and spotted a team
the snow off her clothes.
of huskies coming towards them pulling a sled with two
children. The sled came to a stop by Inga and Reima. The musher greeted Inga: “Hi, my name’s Anna! And this little rascal in the
sled and I’m sure we will find our way back together. We may find your father or the village”, replied Anna. Inga thanked her and climbed onto the sled, with
blue overalls is Nils. Could you tell us which way it is to
Reima ready to run behind it. Anna was about to
the village of Kaukakylä? I think we got a bit lost in the
command the huskies to go, but stopped to ask:
snowstorm”. “My name is Inga, and I’m sorry to say I have no idea
“So which direction should we take?” “Since we don’t know for sure, perhaps we should just
where Kaukakylä might be. Actually, we have lost our
choose a direction and follow it. There aren’t that many
way as well”.
to choose from”, Inga said decisively. “Why not try that
“So, I suppose we are all lost… Never mind, hop on the
one? No, wait, let’s go that way instead!”
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Inga and the kids from Kaukakylä went up plenty of hillslopes and down just as
many before the dog team arrived at a tiny, unfamiliar village of wooden cabins. The children stopped the sled on the outskirts of the village, unharnessed the huskies
and went to take a closer look.
The village seemed deserted, but blue light could be seen glowing through the
windows of every wooden cabin, occasionally flickering and almost fading away to nothing. Boldly, Inga stepped up to the first cabin door and knocked. There was no
response. Anna and Nils knocked on the door of another cabin, only to have the same thing happen: no response whatsoever. Inga kicked the cabin’s step and exclaimed: “This is all very odd indeed! We are lost, so somebody had better help us find our
way back home!”
Inga grabbed the door handle, pulled open the door of the cabin and stepped inside. What she saw made her rub her eyes in disbelief. Seated on the floor were two children with their eyes fixed on a glass-like rock glowing blue. They were so captivated by the light that they didn’t even notice Inga,
Nils and Anna. They looked very pale and dreamy.
“Hi palefaces! Could you tell us which way is home?” Inga asked. The children didn’t say a word; they just stared at the glowing rock as if it were
the most important thing in the world.
“Why are you staring at that stupid lump of rock?” Inga said, rather annoyed.
Anna just stared at the rock in fascination and didn’t utter a word. Shortly, Inga was no longer bothered by Anna’s behaviour, as she too became drawn in by the strange
rock. They wanted to inspect it closer. And a little closer still.
“Hold on a minute…this is actually…incredibly interesting…” Who knows how long Inga and Anna would have stared at the glowing object if Reima hadn’t clambered his way in, pulled their stocking caps down over their eyes
and dragged them out bodily by their sleeves.
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“Obviously we have to turn off those rocks”, Inga stated firmly. “But how do we do that?” Confused, the children looked around. Nils wondered: “Perhaps there’s a remote control for the rocks?” “I have no idea, but let’s find out”, Inga replied. “We need to search for clues.”
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village. Suddenly, they noticed the mouse tracks had been broken by some large footprints, probably made by the abominable snowman or some other large creature. The children peeked inside the other buildings, searched through some discarded barrels and even rummaged through piles of firewood, but no remote could be found. Or any clues for that matter.
Inga was about to step over the huge footprints before realising: “These are tracks made by the abominable snowman! Even though Father said there was no such thing. Here
“What sort of clues are we looking for?” Anna asked.
we can see for ourselves, these have been made by the
Right at that moment, a mouse appeared from
abominable snowman! Or some other monster…”
beneath one of the cabins somewhat spooked, then
The children followed the footprints, and before long
dashed into the forest leaving behind a funny trail in the
they spotted a figure standing on the edge of the forest.
snow that looked like a string of pearls. Inga pointed at
The creature was large in size and dressed in torn furs
the tracks:
and sackcloth. Fastened to its black hood were enormous
“Perhaps that could be a clue! Let’s see where the tracks lead us.” The mouse tracks made a solitary line in the snow, and the children followed them to the outskirts of the
moose antlers and lying on the snow was a large lantern glowing bright blue. “That doesn’t look like the abominable snowman! It has to be another monster” Inga exclaimed.
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The creature heard Inga and immediately turned to stare at them, squinting. It had the face of a wrinkled
Digihimputti took a few big leaps and tried to catch
granny, but the corners of her mouth and brow looked
Reima, but reindeer hooves are made for walking through
grumpy.
snow and he easily avoided her clutches.
“Is it children’s voices I hear? Who dares laugh at Witch Digihimputti?” The children went and hid behind a snowdrift and Reima pretended he was a bush. “Perhaps the lantern is the remote control”, Inga whispered. “We are going to have to put it out… Reima, we’ll distract the witch. In the meantime, you two try and turn the lantern off.” Nils and Anna crawled away from the shelter of the snowdrift. Inga took off her coat, scarf and hat. She then
As all this was going on, the children from Kaukakylä village quickly went to put out the witch’s lantern. Before they could get close to it they began to feel weak at the knees and very tired. All they could do was sit down in the snow and yawn. “I can’t be bothered will all this fuss, I’m feeling a little sleepy, I think I’ll lie down for a minute”, said Nils. “Me too, I feel a little nap would be in order”, Anna chimed in, and lay down in a comfortable position. This was indeed a fine mess! The lantern made the
put them on Reima. After that, she let out a high-pitched
children tired and lazy, so it had to be put out. Then Inga
whistle at the witch.
came up with a great idea. She pulled Goey out of her
“Phweep! Hey monster! I give up, I want to surrender! You would always catch me anyway. At the same time, dressed in Inga’s clothes, Reima approached the witch. The witch squinted once again and focused on Reima. “You are a strange-looking child! Why aren’t you
backpack, clapped her hands three times and uttered the magic words: “Goey, wake up, it’s time to shake things up! Do the same as me, it’ll do us good, you’ll see!” Then, Inga licked both her elbows and Goey came to life and started to copy every move Inga made. If Inga
watching the rock like all the other children?” asked the
broke into a run, Goey would dash across the snow. When
witch.
Inga jumped, Goey jumped too!
“I watched it for a while, but I grew tired of it”, Inga
While Digihimputti tried to catch Reima, Inga pointed
shouted from her hiding place. “I decided to go out and
Goey towards the witch’s lantern. Once there, Goey opened
play instead!”
up the lantern and tossed a snowball inside. The lantern
“Don’t you know, you little rascal, Witch Digihimputti detests nothing more than children playing? Playing is so
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stupid and all the laughter makes me nauseous! Argh!”
sizzled and crackled angrily, before going out, leaving a wisp of blue smoke!
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As the lantern went out, so did the glowing rocks in the
with the other children back to the village. Digihimputti
They yawned and stretched before realising what a lovely
shook her lantern, but it had got wet and wouldn’t work
day it was outside. One after the other, they put on their
anymore. The furious witch snarled at the children and
outdoor clothes and dashed outside.
went after them, taking huge leaps.
Anna and Nils also stopped staring at the lantern and came to. It’s just as well they did, because Digihimputti was absolutely furious that her lantern had been put out. She spit and spat, sizzled and spluttered! She grumbled and mumbled and curled her crooked fingers! Inga tossed Goey back into her
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backpack, threw on her coat and ran as fast as she could
wooden cabins, and the children awoke from their trance.
Inga, Reima and the children from Kaukakylä village caught up with villagers from the wooden cabin. “Quick, run! The witch is right behind us! Save yourselves!”
At the same time, Digihimputti flew into a terrible rage on the edge of the forest. This was all too much for the huskies, who fled away with paws dashing through the snow. The children had no choice but to grab the husky sled, sledges and skis, and sped downhill, leaving the village in a real hurry! It was a very steep hill, but there was no time to be scared. In all the commotion, even Reima jumped on the sled and slid rapidly down the hill after Inga and Goey with eyes as big as saucers! Digihimputti quickly grabbed two sledges from beside one of the cabins and tied them to her enormous feet to use as skis. She was in hot pursuit, weaving in and out of the trees and jumping over moguls at breakneck speed.
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But, as we all know, no hill goes down forever. This hill had to end, and so it did. Despite the children managing to get quite far ahead of Digihimputti, her shrill cries could be heard uncomfortably close. “We have to climb a tree, there’s nothing else we can do”, Inga shouted. So the kids started to climb a large pine tree, listening in fear at the grumbling of the witch as she fast approached. Inga was the last to climb the pine. As she grabbed the lower branch she felt something tug on her hood. It was Reima. “Oh no, you can’t climb! Let me help you.” Inga tried pushing Reima up the tree, but it just wouldn’t work. Reindeer are good at many things, but no reindeer has ever climbed a tree. In the end, Inga could only hug Reima with tears in her eyes. “Reima you have to run for help! We’ll stay hidden in the tree.” Reima started to run, while Inga took a few bounds up the tree. Right at that moment, Digihimputti came thundering down the hill and smacked right into the tree where the children were perched, clinging on for dear life. Reima and the children watched in horror as the huge witch shook her huge head. But, all of a sudden Digihimputti burst out laughing. She laughed and laughed, making the corners of her mouth turn upward to form a smile for the first time in her life. “That was so much fun! What are you children doing up there in that tree? Let’s do it again! In all my wicked years, I have never had so much fun!” Her laughs were so loud that they echoed all around.
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In the end, that is just how it went. The children and Digihimputti spent the whole day together skiing and sledging down the hill. The witch was so strong, she pulled the smaller children up the slope in the sledge. Reima was also helpful in taking the children uphill. Digihimputti laughed so much that her tummy started to hurt, but she just couldn’t get enough of the fun. It was only as night drew on that they stopped speeding down the slopes. Inga had learned from her father how to make a fire in the forest, and in no time at all they were all sitting around the campfire warming up and frying sausages. “This was such a fun day, Digihimputti”, said Inga. It was already rather late. “We have to get back home. But you can be sure we’ll come back for some more fun another day!” “I’m quite exhausted myself! Go on your way my children! Just follow the tail of those Northern Lights, they will take you back to Kotokylä village!” The children waved goodbye to Digihimputti and set off where the Northern Lights led them.
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Inga, Reima, Goey and the children from Kaukakylä village marvelled at the starry skies as they walked and recalled the most thrilling downhill runs of the day. It was right then Inga heard a familiar buzzing sound in the distance, a sound she always recognised: Father’s snowmobile! Right behind him was Inga’s mother riding another snowmobile. Father stopped the snowmobile next to Inga and gave her a big hug. “Inga, where on earth have you been?” Inga was so happy to see her parents, she couldn’t say a word, but just hugged them both very tightly. Even Father was so happy, he just hugged her back. “Well, little girl! Why don’t you tell us what you have been up to this time! Your mother and I have been worried to bits!” “I was with Reima when we suddenly lost our way in the snowstorm, but then we got a ride with these children from Kaukakylä village...and I even found some tracks left by the abominable snowman. But that’s not what they were. They belonged to another monstrous creature, but in the end she turned out to be very nice – a witch called Digihimputti...” Father rubbed Inga’s head. “I see, you mean these children gave you a ride!? The only child I can see here is you, Inga! On top of all that, there’s no such village as Kaukakylä. And, Inga dearest, there’s no such thing as the abominable snowman! I think you must have dozed off and had a very vivid dream.” Inga looked around, and it was true; there were no other children to be seen. Reima was there; Goey was in her backpack and gave her a wink; there were no children. Inga’s father laughed at her tall tale, took her on the back of the snowmobile and put her helmet on for her. Then they sped off across the snowscapes and the snow-laden forests to return home, safe and sound.
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At home, Inga’s mother made her a hearty supper with a cup of hot chocolate. And goodness was Inga hungry! Inga stuffed herself with hot potatoes and sauce and babbled on about her adventures, but Mother and Father just shook their heads in disbelief. After supper, the whole family went to sit down in the living room where a warm and cosy fire was burning. “Inga, would you like to watch some television with me? There’s a cartoon on soon”, said her father. Inga stared at the television for a short moment, and it seemed like it was glowing blue. “I don’t think I can be bothered. And when the rocks started glowing...” Confused, Inga’s mother and father looked at one another. “What rocks?” But Inga had fallen fast asleep in front of the fire before she could answer.
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Inga is a little girl who lives far away in northern Finland, in the majestic fell highlands. One day, Inga and her best friends, Reima the reindeer and Goey the magical soft toy, got lost in the snowy woods as they followed the trial of what they thought was the abominable snowman. This was the start of a thrilling adventure through snowy forests and unusually sleepy villages. In 2017, Finland celebrates its one hundredth birthday. We want to celebrate this centenary year by telling a story about the country’s nature and the great outdoors, Reima’s roots. It is in these conditions Reima clothing has been developed, and through the ages the children of Finland have grown up wearing Reima clothes. This little fairy tale is a tribute to the fun of playing outdoors and the northern way of life. Providing wonderful assistance in making this magical tale, taking children into the wintry nature and organising activities were the Ruka Ski Resort and Visit Finland. We would like to extend our warmest thanks to our partners for helping make this fairy tale come true!