Whispers Are Wind: Do Not Build Your House With Them - Bråkan

“Wind may rattle a door, but it does not hold up beams.” - Bråkan

I once mistook Ingun for a huldra.

In my defense, I had been told she might be.

In my second defense, I did not look very closely.

Whispers had reached the barn before she did. They arrived in low tones and raised brows. They sounded certain. They sounded convincing. I decided it was easier to believe what I had heard than to decide for myself what I saw.

That was my mistake.

Ingun, if you are reading this — and you probably are — I was wrong. I have told you so already. I will say it again here. I was wrong.

A whisper is a strange thing. It moves quickly. It carries just enough detail to feel important. But it rarely carries the whole truth. By the time you try to hold it still, it has already changed shape.

I built an opinion on something that could not hold weight.

It is easier to repeat a rumor than to apologize for believing it. I do not recommend that path. Apologies are heavier, but they stand longer.

If someone tells you a story about another — that they are strange, or silly, or not worth knowing — pause.

I am speaking of the kind of whisper that makes someone smaller.
The kind shared with a smirk.
The kind that invites you to laugh before you have even looked.

Those are not warnings.
They are winds.

Look with your own eyes.
Listen with your own ears.
Decide with your own mind.

Wind may rattle a door.
It may stir the straw.
It may even sound fierce for a moment.

But wind does not hold up beams.

Do not build your house with it.

— Bråkan