Troll Brother

  ~~~

  Although at first the trip through the forest was a quiet one, the little group realized after about ten or fifteen minutes of climbing that there wasn’t really anything they should be terribly cautious about. At least not for a while. And the conversation opened up a little.

  “So…how did you change into a tree in our yard? It kinda seemed like you needed water to do that,” Rob asked.

  Kile harrumphed and glared suspiciously at her while she answered. He was still having troubles getting past the idea that he was supposed to trust a part-pixie, and the reflex came naturally.

  “Well, your sprinklers must have gone on last night. There was a little pool of mud near those trees and I decided to see if I could do it instead of coming inside.”

  “Hmmm,” Robert seemed to agree. “Can I ask you, does it hurt?”

  “No. Not at all,” Marissa smiled as she shook her head. “It’s a little different though. It’s like…sounds get muffled. It’s almost like once I change all the way that I’m hearing through my leaves or something. …I dunno how to describe it exactly.”

  “But you could hear us talking, right?” Kile asked as he trudged along behind them trying to keep up.

  “Sort of. I mean, yes, I heard the words. But they were sort of quiet. I could hear the breeze better actually.”

  “So maybe that’s why you think you can hear through your leaves? The movement is what you’re hearing?” Rob suggested.

  “Maybe. But I can also kind of feel what the ground right around me was doing. For instance, it seemed like I could hear bugs moving around. And…this might sound a little weird…”

  Rob waited for a continued explanation, but when Marissa slowed with discomfort on the topic he had to prompt her. “It’s okay…it can’t be any more weird than you being a faerie I don’t think.”

  “True,” she smiled. “But…I think I actually heard a bird talking.”

  Kile snorted. “Birds talking! Ha! Birds are stupid animals, they don’t talk. Now…wolves! Wolves talk!”

  “No really, Kile! Maybe you can explain to me how animals actually do it then. Because I wasn’t hearing words exactly, but I swear as that little bird landed in the tree next to me I felt like someone was saying “fire!” over and over again.”

  “Oh…” Kile responded somewhat more seriously. “I did see that bird while we looked for you. It looked tasty. I haven’t had any birds since I came down with Robbie.”

  “That’s not what the other trees said,” Marissa turned to respond with a mock grin on her face. Kile wasn’t sure whether she was telling the truth or not and stumbled a bit on his response.

  “Eweee…” Rob said, half-heartedly at Kile’s appetite.

  Marissa continued, “Anyway…I’m not sure what’s going on. It felt like that little bird was scared. And then the other trees started repeating the same thing: fire. Fire. I don’t see or smell any right now, so I guess we just wait and see. But it seemed like the trees were worried about what this particular fire meant.”

  “Or you don’t speak bird very well yet…” Kile suggested.