Don't Feed The Troll

The Blame Game

 "I'll try not to blame myself. Now, you said something about my getting some clothes. I'm afraid my wallet and phone are both with the Skinwalker."

I hadn't forgotten my promise and Haseya was looking tired so we caught the 44 bus to 8th and Market and walked up the hill to Ballard Goodwill. I love thrifting. Back in Norway when I was young, we had to make everything we wore. And if you had siblings, you were given their hand me downs, so the idea of passing clothes along to a stranger when you were done with them appealed to me. I was certainly better than the rich humans who wore something once and then threw it away. Not even the noble folk back on the day had been as wasteful as that. They gave their used things to the servants, who used them well.

"Hopefully, you'll be back home soon, but get what you need here. They even have new underwear if wearing used makes you uncomfortable," I said.

She quickly picked out a couple of different outfits. "I'm not some educator in an ivory tower sort. I've been thrifting since the 80s."

"You'd impress me more if you meant the 1880s or the 1780s, but I get the point."

I was glad she got into the spirit of a fun day out between friends. Some might say a person who was traumatized should stay at home and talk about their feelings, but I'd never found that too effective. Anything can lead to excess of course. I had a couple of uncles who drank themselves to death to stop thinking about some of the battles they'd been in. Haseya would have to face her experience and learn how to live with it, but she deserved a break for the day. Tonight she would have to decide whether she was willing to confront the Skinwalker with us.

When we reached my house, I put her new clothes in the wash. She showered and borrowed my robe while we waited for them to finish. I made tomato soup, cheese sandwiches, and a green salad with tomatoes. She had two servings of each and then laid on the couch. I sat in my rocking chair and read a book.

"It seems like you've had an experience like mine at some point. Is that when you learned not to blame yourself?" she asked.

"I blamed myself at first for the incident Hall mentioned where I was almost married to a four headed troll. There was this tradition among huldra girls at the time. We knew that ancient trolls wanted us for their wives and none of us were all that excited at the prospect. Some of the more tricksy girls made up a challenge. You had to sneak into the lair of one of these trolls while they were in daysleep and steal some of their treasure. A very conceited and beautiful girl bet me that I would never do such a thing, so I did it. What on one mentioned was that even ancient trolls in their caves are awake enough during the day to know if someone touches even a coin of their treasure.