A Troll's Curse by April O'Malley

Author:April O'Malley [O'Malley, April]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-09-27T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Jojin dipped the rough brush back in the paint bucket then straightened so he could paint the boards around the tavern. For the last couple of days, he and Hen had been hard at work fixing minor issues around the village. They started with the tavern since Gerald was letting them have the upstairs room for free after what they did. He claimed it was for saving him from the pixie infestation and giving him a brand-new shed, but Jojin sensed it was from what occurred afterwards. The Sheriff had hidden away for two days after being covered in pixie vomit and, well, other bodily waste in front of the entire village.

Gerald couldn’t stop chuckling about it any time someone mentioned the man or pixies. Jojin found he liked the tavern owner, especially since he was also feeding them chowders and stews, along with enough bread to keep Jojin’s hunger at bay. Every time they ate, he watched in fascination as Jojin packed it all away. To the rest of the villagers, he appeared as a smaller woman still, not a large troll.

When he woke that first morning still appearing as Jin, he’d been upset at first until he remembered what the day before felt like. He’d been accepted. The villagers had been kind to him. Talked to him as if he was one of their own. Eventually, he would have to come clean with who and what he truly was, but that was potentially months down the road. By then, he had all the faith in the world that Henrietta’s plan would work. To say he had faith at all was a miracle in his eyes. Trolls never believed in destiny or higher powers, or power at all. They were stronger than most creatures and usually squashed whatever came along threatening to hurt them. But with that new spell of Henrietta’s, he felt the villagers’ appreciation for him and the witch. Every day brought new insights into the world around him, a world, he realized, trolls took for granted.

It was a beautiful place to live in, filled with so much life and awe. Jojin painted another two boards, getting green splotches on his face and arms, and kept on smiling.

“Well now, I leave you alone for an hour and look how much you’ve done,” Henrietta commented, as she returned with another bucket of fresh paint. “This place is going to look incredible in no time.”

“I do like the green,” Jojin agreed. The sun which had shone brightly all morning long slipped behind a bank of dark clouds. “Another storm’s coming.”

“I see that.” Henrietta tilted her head back as she stared at the clouds.

Despite the progress they made in Bleakwater, the strangeness surrounding the village continued to get, well, stranger. There was a storm nearly every day and they lasted for hours, lashing the village with strong winds and heavy rains. The river had risen so much, a couple of the fishermen had to abandon their homes for fear

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