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It’s half-past five. “Be back before half-past five!”, our host was quite insistent with that precise time the night before. He seemed anxious about what could happen to us if we were not back in time. But here we are, at half-past five, the two of us in the immensity and emptiness of this old lava field. Alone in the middle of nowhere, we feel so small on this enchanted island. Alone, that’s what we believed until a silhouette reveals itself at the fringe of the impenetrable jungle and the desolated black lava flow. In the distance, the silhouette mingles with the deep rainforest. Only the nude upper body of a man can be discerned. A taro leaf shrouds his private parts and his legs melt with the tropical stems. With his finger, he beckons us to follow him into the jungle’s immenseness. I can feel my heart bouncing faster and faster with every second. Inquisitiveness and nervousness engulf me. We stay here, vacillating between curiosity and fear until the latter prevails. We pursue our path to the village as best we can, mysterious and anxious as it feels. Minutes pass by with the vivid thought of this intriguing encounter not leaving our mind, even for a second. We reach the village one hour later. To our surprise, all the villagers have gathered in front of our host’s house, worried because the two foreigners did not return before half-past five. I rush to tell our mysterious encounter to our host who replies without the slightest hesitation “you met an elf.”. My scientific brain cannot process this information. I must acknowledge that I have a stereotypical idea of what an elf is and that certainly does not fit what I just experienced. I unconsciously shift the subject without paying attention to his last sentence “elves sign with their finger, requesting the women they desire to follow them.” It is only later on that it clicks into my mind. I did not divulge this information to him. The curiosity submerges me again. We enter our host’s house. The natural light pours into the house from the window to the floor, the cooking fumes swirling mysteriously in the shafts of light. This mystical atmosphere provides another dimension to the story we hear: “Elves are magical spirits who live in the dense tropical forest. They maintain a profound spiritual connection to nature. Nature is their mother, and elves undertake the responsibility to care for it.” There is no internet connection and for the next days we will remain in doubt: Did we witness a supernatural creature, or does an indigenous tribe inhabit this magical island? The following day, we start a three-day overnight trek across the whole island from the native forests to the deserted, moonlike volcanic landscapes. From the boiling red lava lakes to the darkness of the night, my mind continuously waffles between fascination and apprehension at the idea of a new enchanted encounter. Blenching at any unknown noise and savouring these adrenaline rushes. A few days later, we leave the mysterious Ambrym without a new encounter. We go back to the civilisation we know and its internet connection. I decide to keep this memory untouched by my western thoughts and agree to: “It was half-past five; we encountered an elf!”