"There are many of us like you," he stammered, desperately trying to keep the creature (he refused to think of it as a troll, they didn't exist) occupied long enough for the sun to rise. It tilted its bulbous grey head as if it were thinking and hopefully considering believing the human, or at least trying to figure out if he was actually like it or just in a costume (which he was).
In the man's defence he had only been planning to go to his mate Dave's party by the lake near the edge of the woods. Dave had promised this girl he liked was going to be there and he just had to go along and talk to her for bloody once man, you can't just pine at her from a distance because that's what creepy guys do. "Don't be that guy," Dave said, "It's the best shot you've got to chat her up without coming off as the mouth-breathing social cucumber that you actually are."
With these great words of advice he decided to go as a troll, thinking it would at least be a funny conversation starter and an excuse for the way he argued when he got a bit too tipsy. Skin smothered in grey body paint, plastic horns firmly on his head and a keyboard slung around his neck he'd been all prepared to have a decent night out.
Then he took the wrong turning, heading left into the older part of the woods instead of right towards the lake and recently established café/bar/public events building. Where there should have been a path that ran shallowly alongside the woods his instead went right through the dense undergrowth, barely restrained by frequent pruning by the wildlife management team.
When he should have arrived at the lake he instead arrived at a long stone bridge that instantly reminded him of some medieval relic. At this point he should have realised that he'd taken the wrong turning and, as little as he came to the lake, even in the setting light he was blatantly not in the right place. Sadly he really didn't come to the lake that often and thus his mistake remained mere confusion and niggling doubt.
Thinking that perhaps he was only a few minutes more from the lake (albeit panicked thoughts and desperate hope that he wasn't lost) he convinced himself to carry on further. The path on the other side of the bridge looked a lot darker than the one he was currently on, the setting sun drifting through the trees gave it an eerie reddish glow that certainly didn't help his nerves.
He'd gotten less than halfway across the bridge before he heard the sound of stone and water gently hitting stone, felt the bridge shake slightly as if a sudden weight had been added to it and turned around to find what looked to be rocks roughly clumped together to resemble a person. Moss and pond weed clung wherever it could, giving the creature a distinctly aquatic look and scent.
The only thing that stood out particularly harshly against the otherwise natural appearance of the creature was its eyes. They were almost the size of his head, barely fitting onto the lumpy greyish head of whatever was in front of him (not a troll, they just don't exist, ignore the fact that you're probably on its bridge).
It didn't try to attack him right away, firstly it tried to talk to him. Perhaps it was confused by his painted grey skin and unusual horn colour, maybe it had really bad eyesight? Either way when he replied in English ("I-I'm sorry but I didn't quite catch that?") its eyes narrowed, head lowered and it let out a deep growl that seemed to resonate through the bridge below him.
And that brings us near to the beginning wherein his first thought was to convince the creature that he was like it only a different species - a sub species even. Surely it had to know what that was? As it tilted its head from side to side, eyes still narrow and growl still ongoing albeit quieter, he began to walk towards it with his palms open and in plain view - universal body language for harmless.
It backed up and allowed him to begin heading back to the car park, surviving the night seemed the best outcome for the time being. He'd hoped it would head back under the bridge or wherever it had been lurking before he came traipsing along but to his misfortune it had decided to follow him. Closely.
His every footstep echoed with its heavier stone thuds as they both went back towards the more civilised area of the woods. He wondered what it would do if he went the other path, if that was the one that ended up at the lake. Would he seem cooler with this creature tagging along behind him or would it try and eat somebody.
As he finally arrived at his car, unlocking it without a second thought for maintaining his guise as a fellow creature (still not calling it a troll) the growling which had been quite up until that point returned in full force as it began to snarl and stand taller. He desperately began trying to convince it that he was still like it, that he was just a little different.
"There are many of us like you," he stammered, desperately trying to keep the creature (he refused to think of it as a troll, they didn't exist) occupied long enough for the sun to rise. It tilted its bulbous grey head as if it were thinking and hopefully considering believing the human, or at least trying to figure out if he was actually like it or just in a costume (which he was).
In the man's defence he had only been planning to go to his mate Dave's party by the lake near the edge of the woods. Dave had promised this girl he liked was going to be there and he just had to go along and talk to her for bloody once man, you can't just pine at her from a distance because that's what creepy guys do. "Don't be that guy," Dave said, "It's the best shot you've got to chat her up without coming off as the mouth-breathing social cucumber that you actually are."
With these great words of advice he decided to go as a troll, thinking it would at least be a funny conversation starter and an excuse for the way he argued when he got a bit too tipsy. Skin smothered in grey body paint, plastic horns firmly on his head and a keyboard slung around his neck he'd been all prepared to have a decent night out.
Then he took the wrong turning, heading left into the older part of the woods instead of right towards the lake and recently established café/bar/public events building. Where there should have been a path that ran shallowly alongside the woods his instead went right through the dense undergrowth, barely restrained by frequent pruning by the wildlife management team.
When he should have arrived at the lake he instead arrived at a long stone bridge that instantly reminded him of some medieval relic. At this point he should have realised that he'd taken the wrong turning and, as little as he came to the lake, even in the setting light he was blatantly not in the right place. Sadly he really didn't come to the lake that often and thus his mistake remained mere confusion and niggling doubt.
Thinking that perhaps he was only a few minutes more from the lake (albeit panicked thoughts and desperate hope that he wasn't lost) he convinced himself to carry on further. The path on the other side of the bridge looked a lot darker than the one he was currently on, the setting sun drifting through the trees gave it an eerie reddish glow that certainly didn't help his nerves.
He'd gotten less than halfway across the bridge before he heard the sound of stone and water gently hitting stone, felt the bridge shake slightly as if a sudden weight had been added to it and turned around to find what looked to be rocks roughly clumped together to resemble a person. Moss and pond weed clung wherever it could, giving the creature a distinctly aquatic look and scent.
The only thing that stood out particularly harshly against the otherwise natural appearance of the creature was its eyes. They were almost the size of his head, barely fitting onto the lumpy greyish head of whatever was in front of him (not a troll, they just don't exist, ignore the fact that you're probably on its bridge).
It didn't try to attack him right away, firstly it tried to talk to him. Perhaps it was confused by his painted grey skin and unusual horn colour, maybe it had really bad eyesight? Either way when he replied in English ("I-I'm sorry but I didn't quite catch that?") its eyes narrowed, head lowered and it let out a deep growl that seemed to resonate through the bridge below him.
And that brings us near to the beginning wherein his first thought was to convince the creature that he was like it only a different species - a sub species even. Surely it had to know what that was? As it tilted its head from side to side, eyes still narrow and growl still ongoing albeit quieter, he began to walk towards it with his palms open and in plain view - universal body language for harmless.
It backed up and allowed him to begin heading back to the car park, surviving the night seemed the best outcome for the time being. He'd hoped it would head back under the bridge or wherever it had been lurking before he came traipsing along but to his misfortune it had decided to follow him. Closely.
His every footstep echoed with its heavier stone thuds as they both went back towards the more civilised area of the woods. He wondered what it would do if he went the other path, if that was the one that ended up at the lake. Would he seem cooler with this creature tagging along behind him or would it try and eat somebody.
As he finally arrived at his car, unlocking it without a second thought for maintaining his guise as a fellow creature (still not calling it a troll) the growling which had been quite up until that point returned in full force as it began to snarl and stand taller. He desperately began trying to convince it that he was still like it, that he was just a little different.
"There are many of us like you," he stammered, desperately trying to keep the creature (he refused to think of it as a troll, they didn't exist) occupied long enough for the sun to rise. It tilted its bulbous grey head as if it were thinking and hopefully considering believing the human, or at least trying to figure out if he was actually like it or just in a costume (which he was).
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