Brave

Trolls in the Castle

The deer dragged Edna off to discuss plans, despite all of her protests. I was left to wander around, with nothing in particular to do. I couldn’t speak to the bears, since many of them had made it clear that they would rather bury me alive. The skunks fled when they saw me approach, and the little hare and her pigeon companion remained hidden from sight, though I couldn’t tell whether they hid from me or the deer.

I thought I would duck off into the woods again and look for more mushrooms, seeing as how most of Edna’s family would much rather pretend I didn’t exist, but I was stopped suddenly by a mountain of a bear. He had more scars than the rest, and the look in his eyes all too clearly stated that he would love to tear me limb from limb. Perhaps I would have been more afraid if I hadn’t seen him cowering before a deer mere moments ago.

“You’d better not do anything to hurt her,” he growled.

“Of course not,” I replied. “Why would I—”

“Because I know your kind,” he said. He spat on the ground. “If you think I’m just going to—”

“Get to work!”

The bear spun around, his eyes wide. When he saw that the deer hadn’t yelled at him, he straightened up and continued. “If you think I’m just going to stand by and let you walk all over her, you’re wrong.”

Funny, I supposed in this world the women were expected to walk all over men, if the deer’s treatment of the bears was anything to go by. Of course I didn’t bring this up. I didn’t think it was wise to enrage a bear any more than I already had.

“Take that as friendly warning,” he said. I would have hardly called that friendly, but I didn’t think I was going to get very far arguing with a bear. I excused myself and started making my way towards the leafy curtain again, when suddenly I caught a familiar scent.

One of the skunks held a plate over his head, and on it were several mushrooms piled high. I rushed after him and snatched the plate from his paws. He looked up at me, confused, then scampered off, probably assuming I would deliver the plate instead. Well, if that’s what he thought, he was wrong. I don’t remember how many I ate before Edna made me stop. Perhaps five or six, or ten. Combined with the ones I had eaten earlier, that would have put me at a dangerously high amount, but what did I care?

“Be honest with me,” Edna said in a low voice. She kept the remainder of the mushrooms at arms length. “You aren’t troubled by any of this?”

I felt lightheaded. “Give them back.”

“You’ve had more than enough. Tell me the truth, now.”

My headache was gone. I remember feeling great, and the forest had lifted its spirits along with me. The bears sprouted flowers from their heads, and the little skunks changed from black and white to purple and green. One of them, wearing a little mushroom cap, hopped up to me and asked whether I had ever climbed to the moon.

“No, of course not,” I said. It was too high, after all, and my ladder barely reached the top of my dresser. The skunk seemed satisfied by my answer and trotted off, singing.

“Really? You’re okay with this?”

One of Edna’s brothers said something. I don’t recall what. Something about “my kind,” most likely. Edna yelled at him, though I don’t know what she said, either. I was too busy watching little bugs gather around my feet. A green ant strummed a harp while the others sung in high voices. I recognized their tune as “Knight of the Ocean Deep.” They did a much better job than the trees did, that’s for sure. I hummed along with them, and that made them happy.