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Lullabies For A Blackbird

It's been a week since almost everyone started helping dinging the escape tunnels, and the main team said they were almost done! Just three more days of digging, then everyone can get out. Just the day before Trollstice too.

He will just dig a little bit more before he visits Branch and Floyd. The latter of which is watching his daughters. He wonders what they are doing at this very moment.

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Floyd sat there on a couch, holding a book and reading it aloud to a pink trolling, Poppy, on top of his head. To the right of him was another trolling with crazy blonde hair, Viva, leaning against his shoulder, trying to see the colorful pictures on the children's book. 

He was released from the hospital two days after he was checked in, and during those two days it got crazy. Almost everyone in the troll tree started digging escape tunnels. The King being one of them needed a babysitter, so he thought it was a brilliant idea to have him babysit them. Which probably wasn't the best idea considering that he was in the hospital, but he doesn't mind. It wasn't that hard to watch them, though the doctors said to not exert himself, and to not take off those bandages yet.

Currently he is in the living room of his pod, and is just reading a children's book to them, Branch sitting to the left of him writing down a lot of things in his notebook. He's been doing that a lot lately and it's concerning him.

Lately Branch has been waking up screaming. He would come in when this would happen, only to find him writing in his notebook. He assumes Branch writes them down as a coping mechanism, but he sometimes hears him mumble, something about Trollstice and it happening sooner? He isn't sure what's going on with his brother, but it's freaking both him and the princesses out. 

“The end.” Floyd said, finishing the last line of the book. He then quickly shut the book and said, “Time for bed!”

“Aww, but I don't wanna!” Viva said, pouting.

“Ya!” Poppy babbled agreeing. “No sweep!”

Floyd just sighed, “Want me to sing you to sleep?” 

Both the princesses and Branch perct up at that. Witched kinda surprised Floyd, he knew Branch loved it when he sang, but he thought nothing would bring his brother out of that book.

“Yeah!” Both Viva and Poppy said. 

“Well then you better get ready for bed so I can do it.” He said, smiling at how bright their eyes got. 

The princesses quickly got off the couch, or in Poppy's case got off of Floyd, to get ready, Branch following behind them. Floyd quickly stopped him before he got anywhere. “We need to talk.”

Branch looked at him with confusion, but complied and sat down. “What is it?” He asked.

Floyd to a deep breath, “I want to ask you…about your nightmares.”

Branch seemed stunned for a moment and quickly replaced it with a blank look. “What about them?”

He put a hand on his little brother's shoulder “You've been waking up screaming, bitty B, and I'm worried about you.”

Branch got very defensive and shrugged his hand off, “I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me.”

This made Floyd a little upset, “What do you mean your fine? You probably had a rough week since me and Grandma have been taken, and your acting like that never happened!”

Branch snapped back at him, “What about you!? You look like you have had a rough week too! You look like you fought your way back home, and you act like nothing happened!”