EQAO

Chapter 24 - Trolls And Chipmunks

"Guys?"

"Jessica!"

"We'll figure out a way to meet up again. Look for-"

"No. There's nothing we can do but keep moving."

"There must be something!" I cried desperately.

"Just go." said Sameera, and I could imagine her shaking her head.

"We'll try to stay together as much as we can." Anika said.

"Meet you at the end." Kat tried to sound light-hearted.

No, not again...

My whole body was screaming at me to find a way back to my friends. I set my jaw, and ran as hard as I could away from them. After what seemed like countless hours of running, I saw something in the distance. As I got closer, I realized it was... a river? I stopped, and stared at this marvel in front of me.

How is there a river in the middle of a maze?

I looked to my left, and saw the water stretch on endlessly. To my right however, was a bridge. In front of that bridge, was none other than a troll.

Ugh, how cliché.

It was massive, with its green and scaly skin covered by armour way cooler than mine. It was holding a large club, about the size of my leg. I walked over to it, and rolled my eyes.

"I guess now I have to answer a riddle or something." I said sarcastically.

"Oh, I'm terribly rubbish at those." the troll replied in a high-pitched voice, "No. I just have one question for you; am I ugly?"

I blinked.

"What?"

"Do you think I'm ugly?" the troll repeated.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"So you do!" the troll's nostrils flared.

"I never said that!" I said quickly, "I just really don't see why it would matter if you were ugly."

"You don't see, human? You don't see? How am I to get another troll to like me if I'm ugly? All the other humans who have passed by here have called me ugly, or have lied to me. I can always tell."

"So trolls only like each other based on looks?"

"Don't all creatures?"

"Well," I said thoughtfully, "humans do sometimes. But most of the time, we like each other because of a person's personality and their actions. Looks don't always matter."

"That seems fairly complicated." the troll said after a moment.

"Not really. I think it works better than just looks."

The troll shrugged, "Well you might be right, but I still want to be pretty."

"And that's okay too. I'm sure there's a troll just waiting to get to know you."

"Yeah," the troll perked up a bit, "you're right. Thanks, human!"

"Alright, so would it be okay if I crossed your bridge?" I took one cautious step forward.

"Sure. But it's not my bridge."

I stopped mid-step.

"It's not?"

"No. It's his."

The troll pointed to a tiny chipmunk that was seated on the bridge. I bet you're thinking now that the chipmunk turned into a giant monster that tried to kill me or something. Strangely enough, you'd be wrong. Nothing out of the sort happened as I swiftly walked past the small animal.

Hopefully, I won't meet any more trolls, especially not an angry one...