Elsa always liked the quiet of the forest in the evening.  There was something beautifully calming about the way that sun shone between the branches of the trees that made her think of childhood stories of trolls and fairies.  Memories of playing with her sister flitted through her mind while she could hear her mother’s voice telling them stories of magic.  The time she spent in the forest was some of the happiest years in her life, when all she need was a familiar path and bucket for picking berries to lift her spirits.  She needed that familiarity after how quickly everything had changed.  And how much it was going to change still.

Crouching down low, she tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear that had escaped from her ponytail before returning to meticulously picking blueberries.  It was therapeutic, the mindless task freeing her thoughts from whether she was making the right choice to move to America, if she should follow Björn despite the trouble they had been having in their relationship, and if she actually could leave Sweden. 

It was the last thought that really kept her awake at night, her chest tightening anxiously just at the thought of not being able to see the snow glitter under the moonlight, missing a midsommar celebration, or even just the quiet of the forests with only moose and hedgehogs for company.  Sweden was her home and no matter how great the society was in New York, or how fantastic the opportunities.  There was something about leaving that made her feel panicky that went far beyond the jitters of starting a new adventure.

“I should just tell him I’m not coming with him,” she sighed, dropping a few blueberries in her bucket.  “How can I leave this?”

As if to answer the wind picked up, causing the branches of the tall pines to rustle.  It was like a symphony to her, the quiet sounds of the forest softly singing stay, stay here.  What did she need with living out the Swedish dream of being a Svensson?  Sure, she had been infatuated with the cliché of getting the Volvo, the house, and a baby, but that dream had all taken place on a quiet street in a quiet town in the north of Sweden.  Not in the hustle of New York City and not with a man who made it clear he was leaving with or without her. 

Standing, she looked out over the little clearing and felt a weight lift from her shoulders.  Her decision was made.  She wouldn’t move, not for ultimatums and taunts that if she truly loved him she would give up her life to be with him.  Björn would just have to go by himself and live the fast paced life he craved without her.  Smiling, she turned to go home when suddenly a small blonde head caught her eye before it disappeared into the trees.

“Hello?”  

The head reappeared along with the rest of the little girl it belonged to, her blonde hair bouncing as she giggled and jumped near the opposite edge of the forest.   Elsa stared for a moment, caught off guard by the sudden intrusion into her family’s little bit of forest.  It was rare for people to wander onto their land even though Swedish law allowed anyone to pick berries anywhere, no matter whose property it was.  Her family’s summer cottage was just too far off the main roads to get much traffic during the season.

Still, the girl couldn’t be out there alone.  Glancing around, she searched for the her parents but saw no one nearby.  “Are you lost?”

The child giggled again before turning and running back into the trees.  “Wait,” Elsa called out, dropping her bucket and following the child.  “There’s nothing back that way!  You’ll get lost!”

The girl didn’t seem to hear as she continued to run, her light hair streaming behind her like ribbons of pale gold.  Elsa felt a surge of panic at the thought of bears and snakes that liked to live in the soft moss near the blueberries.  It was no place for a child to be left alone, especially not with the approaching dusk when the animals grew more active.  “Please, stop!” she called out again only to get a trickle of laughter in reply.

Pushing her legs, she tried in vain to reach the girl, but it seemed no matter how fast she ran the child ran faster.  The high-pitched laughter echoed around the trees as she sprinted across the mossy forest, her feet sinking into the soft ground and catching on roots and rocks.  A chill filled the air, the sky suddenly darkening as she continued her chase despite the sense of foreboding that began to fill her. 

“Wait,” she called out one last time, her feet finally slowing as the girl disappeared behind some distant trees.  She stared after the child, sweat running down her face as the laughter started to echo from all around her.  “Where are you?”

A happy squeal was all that answered her, growing slowly louder and deeper, sending chills down her spine.  The wind began to blow harder as the noise grew closer to her, the trees thrashing against themselves so that their branches began to snap.  Elsa turned in a circle, her heart beating wildly against her chest as the forest morphed into a violent crash of dark noises and deep laughter.  From the corner of her eye she saw the little girl running between the trees, her hair growing darker with each glimpse. 

She wanted to scream, to run and hide, but her body seemed frozen as the noises only grew and the wind began to beat against her body.  Voices seemed to echo around her with the laugh while dark shadows darted behind trees before she could fully see them.  Fear and confusion clouded her mind when suddenly something roared behind her and everything went black.

2: Trolls

Her head was pounding, spinning mess of muffled sounds and dulled sensations.  Each beat of her heart seemed to add to the achy pain that for a moment overwhelmed her.  She tried to open her eyes, but her body fought the simple action.  It was like being half-asleep in a nightmare, her mind willing her to move while her limbs remained locked in a paralyzing coma. 

“Is it alive?” she heard a voice call out, high and nasally from somewhere around her.  “Do you think it survived?”

“I dunno,” a deeper voice answered, the words slow and labored as if the speaker found talking difficult.  “It’s still leaking its juice.”

“It’s blood,” a third voice said.  She wasn’t sure why, but the voice sounded more threatening than the other two especially by the way it emphasized blood.  She felt a cold rush of terror fill her at the words, but even her wildly beating heart and the surge of adrenaline did little to help her break out of the fog.  “It wasn’t behaving?”

“When Lil’ Bear doesn’t behave I just smack him on the nose,” the deep voice answered.  “Then he quiets down.”

“That’s what I tried to do.”

“Maybe you found a weak one.  A sticky, weak one.”

“Yeah!  Why’d ya bring back a sticky thing like that?  It don’t even move or do nice tricks like Lil’ Bear,” the nasally voice said just before something small and hard fell on her painfully.  It was just what she needed as the fog instantaneously disappeared and her body jerked up with the sharp pain.  She gave a quick shout, her wide eyes searching for the source of the voices, but all that she could see was shadows in the trees as she clumsily climbed to her feet.

“Who’s there?”

For a second nothing seemed to move.  The voices fell silent as she strained to make sense of what was happening.  The details were confused and blurry as she fought through the throbbing dizziness that threatened to send her to the ground again.  Calling out again in a tight, frightened voice, she felt the world tip and spin around her.  “Who’s out there?”

A rustling sound came from the darkness of the forest, mixing with a deep grunting noise to create a terrifying soundtrack.  The nasally voice spoke again, its words echoing around her.  “What’s it doing?”

“Dunno,” the deep voice answered before it let out a panicked yell.  “Lil’ Bear!  Come back!”

Elsa felt her muscles tense as the deep voice was quickly overwhelmed by a booming crash from the distant trees and heavy, wild grunts.  Taking a step back, she felt her body preparing to run, the adrenaline overriding the pain from her head and the paralyzing affects of fear.  Yet she hesitated, unsure of which direction to go as the noises pressed in around her like a horrible nightmare.  That’s when she saw it; huge paws and a thick brown coat that did little to make the bear’s snapping jaws seem at all friendly.

The breath seemed to escape her as the animal sprinted towards her, its sharp teeth glinting in the little light around her.  She tried to move, to run and hide from the charging animal, but her feet had lost any of the quick energy they had possessed only a moment before.  Instead she watched its approach with the dread of knowing that she stood little chance against an enraged bear when suddenly it jolted to a stop.

For a fleeting second, she felt a cascade of relief wash over her.  Yet it was short lived as another large crash boomed just behind the bear, the deep voice from earlier rumbling as a massive body smashed into view.  “No running, Lil’ Bear!”

This time Elsa screamed.  She barely even heard her screams as her mind fought to process the creature’s long, brown hair and thick grey limbs that jutted out like tree trunks from a large, round body. 

“Why’s it screamin?” the monster yelled, its hands covering its large ears as it glanced back at the forest.  “Make it stop, Boyg!”

The ground shook and the trees snapped as more heavy footsteps approached.  Elsa felt the air whoosh out from her chest in a frightened wail as a taller, leaner version of the thing with the bear stepped out from the darkness of the trees, quickly followed by another that seemed to be a mix of the others. 

“Stop that racket,” the medium monster order, his dark eyes staring at her hard and cold.  “Stop it, I say!”

Elsa felt her screams only grow louder and more hysterical as the creature moved towards her, its large hand grabbing her and squeezing.  “Quiet!  Before you wake the whole mountain.”

She felt her voice fail her as the monster tightened his grip on her, lifting her up from the ground.  It stared at her like she was an annoying pest before shaking her roughly, starting her sobs fresh.  The creature growled a sound of disgust, throwing her to the ground and turning to his companions.  “Completely useless pet!”

“You just need to train it,” the nasally creature said, peering down at her where she sat sobbing.  “Like Bragi and his bear.”

“Train it?” Boyg yelled.  “How am I suppose to train that?”

The three creatures all turned to stare at her just as another voice joined the terrifying gathering.  “Good morning, Master Trolls!  What keeps you out so late?”

“That’s none of your concern, Lindsson,” Boyg answered as a young man no more than thirty stepped out from the trees. 

Elsa felt her sobs stop as she tried to comprehend the new piece to a very confusing puzzle.   The man didn’t seem afraid of the monsters as he moved towards her, his icy eyes wide with wonder as a hand moved through his sandy brown hair.  Then again, he also had a very sharp looking sword at his hip to give him protection along with his green jerkin and brown leather boots to protect him rather than just a pair running tights, rubber boots, and a thin blue zip-up. 

“Who is she?” the man asked, his eyes locking on to hers for a moment before turning back to the massive creatures.

“She’s Boyg’s new pet!” Bragi answered.  “Now Lil’ Bear has a friend.”

“But where did she come from?  I’ve never seen her in the Lowlands before.”

Boyg shoved Bragi a little, giving him a fearsome look before turning back to the man.  “None of your business.”

“You know that anyone in the Lowlands belongs to me, Boyg.  If she came from there you have no right to claim her as a pet.”

“She’s not from there.”

“Alright, then where?”

Boyg shifted slightly, his harsh voice growing distant.  “It don’t matter.”

“The truth, troll.  And I want it now,” the man said, drawing his sword.

“He took her from the other world,” the nasally troll answered quickly to the nods of the one called Bragi.

“She followed me.  That makes her mine,” Boyg rumbled.  “Hedji and Bragi saw me do it.”

“She’s a human?” the man asked slowly, his eyes meeting hers again before turning back to the trolls.  “Are you sure?”

“Not all of us have forgotten the old ways.”

Again, the man turned and looked at her, giving her hope that he might save her.  Yet when she mouthed the simple plea of help he turned back to the trolls without even acknowledging her.  “What are your intentions with the human?”

“She’ll be my pet.”

“A noisy thing like her?  Are you sure you want to keep her as a pet?”

“I’ll teach her some manners,” the troll answered, crossing his arms.  “Don’t you worry your pretty little head, Lindsson.”

“Oh, I’m sure eventually you will, though I don’t know if she’ll ever stop looking so gloomy.”

“What do you mean?”

“She doesn’t seem to have the same kind of spirit that Lil’ Bear does,” the man said, pointing to the bear that sat contentedly by his troll master.  “She’s just noisy and messy and, well, gloomy.”

The trolls looked at her again, this time their eyes more critical of all the flaws the man had pointed out.  Part of Elsa wanted to scream out that she was not a gloomy person, that she was quite happy and very cheerful most of the time.  Yet, one sharp look from the stranger was enough to keep her quiet. 

“She is sticky,” Hedji said with a slow nod. 

Bragi quickly agreed with his friend with an over-dramatic nod.  “And what if she doesn’t stop leaking?”

“She’s still my pet.”

“What if I were to trade you for her?” the man pressed, taking advantage of the trolls’ shifting opinion.  “I’m curious about the human and don’t mind a little gloomy mess.  Then you can be free to get a nice pet like Bragi has.”

Boyg looked down at the bear, a small smile softening his ugly face.  Elsa couldn’t understand why since the bear still looked every bit as wild and dangerous as it had a few minutes earlier.  Still, she wisely kept her mouth shut while the man and the trolls discussed her fate. 

“I would have been the only troll with a human pet.  If I’m trading her its for that bobble you keep around your neck.”

The man’s smile faltered a little, his eyes darting to her and then down towards his chest.  “Are you sure that’s what you want?  Not a cow or a flock of sheep?”

“I want the bobble.”

“Fine,” he answered, opening his jerkin a little and pulling out a massive blood-red ruby on a heavy silver chain.  “If this is your price then I will pay it.  Do we have a deal?”

Boyg’s face broke into a huge smile, his uneven teeth only adding to the ugliness created by his thick skin and large nose.  “Deal!”

“Then it is done,” he said, handing the expensive piece of jewelry to the troll.

“You take good care of my human.  Or I’ll come and take her back.”

“Don’t you worry, Boyg.  I have no intention of letting any harm come to your old pet just as I hope you don’t plan on breaking my amulet by doing anything stupid.”

“Stupid?  Bah!  This will make me a favorite of the king!”  the troll shouted, holding the gem up for his companions to see.  “Even he can’t say he has the Lindsson’s bobble hanging from around his neck!”

“No, he can’t,” the man agreed.  “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be off.”

“Alright,” Boyg answered, giving her a sad look.  “Goodbye, Lil’ Human.  You were a fun pet even if you were gloomy.”

Elsa wasn’t sure what to say or how to react, so she kept her mouth shut and crawled to her feet.  Thankfully the trolls didn’t seem interested in her any longer as they marched back through the woods admiring their newest acquisition. 

“Keep silent until we’ve reached my camp,” the man instructed suddenly, his smile being replaced by a nervous frown.  “These woods aren’t safe right now.”

“But –“ she started, only to be stopped by a shushing noise.

“Not now.  We can talk when we are at camp.  Just follow me and keep quiet.”

His words caused a new fear to settle in her.  Unlike the sharp, stabbing fear of an immediate threat, she felt the cold squeeze of the unknown as she silently began to follow her savior into the dark forest.  She could only hope that wherever he was taking her, it would be better than ending up with the trolls.