A long time ago, in the early 1900s, in a region called Ulcinj in southern Montenegro, there was a mountain and on that mountain was a village called Salc. This village was once home to people who lived very simple lives.

The Winter Solstice had just passed and it was Christmas Eve. A local Christmas tradition was that on Christmas Eve one member of the family must retrieve seven logs from the woods so that they could use it as wood for the fireplace.


One out of the seven logs had to be thicker than the other six, which were thinner.

There was a villager named Gjergj. Gjergj was sitting near the fireplace in his home. The Christmas tree was up. His wife said to him, "You better go get the logs. We're almost out of firewood as it is." Gjergj got up and put his coat on. His wife said to him, "Remember, six thin logs and one thicker log."

Gjergj replied, "Yeah, yeah, I know." Gjergj went outside and he saw that the sun was going down, so he went to grab a lantern, and then he walked toward the forest. Gjergj walked into the forest and realized that it was about time to turn on his lantern because darkness began to appear.

As Gjergj walked deeper and deeper into the forest, he began collecting logs. Gjergj had six logs so far, and he saw branches everywhere but they weren't thick so he couldn't take them. Gjergj looked and looked, but he coouldn't find the right one.

Gjergj was just one log away from being able to turn back and go home. Gjergj kept on saying to himself, "All I need is one more damn log." His frustration grew and he still couldn't find the right size log.

Gjergj must have walked at least four miles deep.

As soon as it was pitch black and his vision grew weaker, he was contemplating if he should quit his search or just keep going on. Gjergj began to walk slower and slower, and his exhaustion grew with each step he took. The temperature was dropping and the snow on the ground made it difficult to walk.

Gjergj walked and walked until he saw what looked like a log and a thick one, too! A smile covered his face. Gjergj began to walk toward the log to try and retrieve it, but as he got closer he began to see a white figure floating above it. At first he didn't make much of it; he thought he began to see things due to his exhaustion. When he got closer to try and take the log, more of these white figures appeared, and they began to make moaning noises.

Gjergj froze with fear he didn't scream or anything. He just gazed his eyes on the white figures. Gjergj then regained his focus and realized that he was standing eye to eye with ghosts, and that is when he began to scream and he dropped the logs and ran away. Gjergj ran and ran until he fainted from exhaustion!

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