Troll Brother

  Chapter 19

  A Time to Every Season

  The next morning by 9 AM when Kile was apparently still snoozing off the late night and excitement of July Fourth, Robert dressed, ate his cereal breakfast (because he was tired of Kile’s crunchy egg and bacon meals) and had headed out the door to see if he could talk to Marissa. There was no sense in delaying, and he’d had a bad thought in the middle of his sleep during the night. Marissa’s “something important” might not be the same as Robert’s. Instead of telling him that she really did “like him, like him” he had dreamt that she was trying to tell him that he was standing in quicksand and needed her help. It was a sobering thought and he was anxious as he approached her home to find out what she really wanted to tell him.

  Robert had to ask at the door for Marissa and was greeted by a pajama’d about five-year-old who apparently still liked her toes inside a good set of fuzzy PJ’s…even on a summer morning. He realized he actually didn’t know how many siblings Marissa had, and had no clue there were young ones still in the home. He vowed that long before they could ever transition to the official boyfriend/girlfriend stage at some point he’d need to ask a lot more questions.

  “Hey, Robert!” Marissa greeted trotting down the stairs. She was pulling a hoody on, despite the forecasted 94 degrees for the day. “Let’s go on a walk, if that’s okay?”

  “Oh, sure!” Rob answered. If he were honest, he’d go wherever Marissa told him to at that point.