a Feeling a Thought a Life worth Living

I shivered at the thought of winter approaching. All garden trolls had particular distains toward Lord Winter's reign during the closing of the stargates. Nonchalantly, I started talking to my dirty tools about what was on my mind. "Oh, and his disregard for plants is utter neglect in the mortal realm. Why the other Lord put up with his mess and would clean up after him during his reign in the summer is a complete mystery. If a garden troll were to behave so disgracefully towards Mother Nature, she would reign all sorts of terror on him." I continued to grumble to my tools as I washed and polished them. A garden troll has nothing if he does not have his cleaning routine. I finally put my precious tools away for the day. As soon as all my tools were nestled their proper place, I locked my shed up with Eathen locks and Fae magic. A garden troll could never be to careful. I gleefully wandered up the hill towards my favorite tree.

Bother, I could see Lord Winter's courtesans, the unsightly winter fairies, start their descent into the Willamette valley. I felt my skin crawl as I pictured all the damage some of those loftier faes in Winter's court would be capable of. Some of the winter fairies looked like centipedes and felt like needles. Fae of that breed would try to crawl into anything that gave off thermal energy. Other fae looked like snow dust. To the appearance of the human eyes, when snow unexpectedly gusts up or down or even left or right, they are seeing faes. To any mortal with the sight or fae, they look like terrible fly swarms. However, they do not cause much damage. "Every single one of those faes loyal to Lord Winter could never know warmth; they always freeze everything they touched," I grumbled to himself as I went through my mental checklist of chores I would have to complete if I didn't want to double my workload in the spring. "Not only does Lord Summer have to clean up after that drunkard, but apparently, I do too." But, the thought of hard work, especially work that kept winter spirits perplexed, filled me with glee. I began to feel like an accomplished trickster.

Leaning up against my willow tree, I waited for my beloved to show her face. That, and I started my vigil over my Mistress Master. She was sitting on a bench, with a picnic basket, watching the fireworks with the cursed stone by her side and a cursed dog on her lap. I could feel my ears getting hot as I huffed my disgust at that rock and dog. However, I did not want to intrude on my Mistress. I watched, from behind my mistress, the fireworks pop and sizzle to the east of the valley.

"The fireworks are so electrifying tonight," Ruth whispered as she cuddled closer to the cold stone next to her. At the same time, she snuggled further into a wool shawl. She hated feeling cold and, like Kel, her Garden Troll, did not have a high regard for the Winter Lord himself. However, tonight, Gaia was determined to stay outside and sit on her bench for the rest of the night.

With a little troll magic, I tried to pull the underground spring and temporarily reroute the hot water to run under the bench so to give off heat for my Mistress Master's feet. I hoped some of the heat would rise to provide an ounce of comfort for her night of sorrow. "That unsightly rock sitting on my Mistress's bench has caused her nothing but pain and suffering all these years," I mumbled to the tree I had been standing next to. "I wish she would let me demolish the whole crusted thing and replace the space with an oak wood Gazebo."

Think of the vines I could manipulate to crawl up the pillars and all the rosebushes I could plant around it. "No.." I sighed, "not rosebushes, the roots would only rot."

"SHH" Willa Interrupted Kel and disrupted his musings. "I want to hear what My Lady is saying!"

I glared at my beautiful green nymph partner. "You should have grown a nose by now with how much you like sticking it in other people's business," I said heatedly.

"You are just as curious. After all, you made it more comfortable for Lady to linger in her misery." Retorted Willa.

Root rot and plagues I thought to myself. She always has the last word. Wait! Kel studied his partner more closely. Is that a dead leaf on her glorious head? I should check the nutrients around her anchor tomorrow.

Winter was coming, but Kel was determined to keep his Willa, a Willow tree nymph, awake as long as possible. Another reason to hate winter he thought to myself.

Kel turned his gaze back to Mistress and listened again for her words, her stories, her concerns.

The fireworks continued to flash and stream through the night sky. Chalie eventually left her lap to barked and chased after a few fire flaries. Other fairies ascending to join in the spectacle. Fire fairies joined the show with song and dance in the sky; they dodged the streamers of light with graceful swoops. Those with the sight got to see quite a show that night.

The Summer season was closing, Summer had lost his battle with winter for the year. The fire fairies would migrate very soon, and the mark of another year has passed.

"You would never have guessed who I ran into at the fish market today!" Ruth started with some enthusiasm to the stone.

I saw that cursed dog romp around till it got tired. Then went up to my Mistress Master and had the gall to jump on her lap. That ball of fur had a curse on it. What if it spread to my Mistress. She had enough bad luck as it was.

"Will you quit your worrying? What are you afraid of" Willa was staring at him intently.

"That thing with the tail wagging and barking will give some bad juju to our Master," I whispered in my concentration of the situation.

"I don't think we have to worry about that puppy. The curse is well contained, and I can see master has already placed a second seal on it. If anything, that puppy should be afraid of you. Especially if it is a digger." Willa smiled knowing full well she had set me off.

A digger. My hard work, my garden, Mistress Master's flowers, What if it buries bones? What if it runs through the bushes? Then, it runs into the house?

As Willa watched her love's face turn from pensive to horror, she stifled her laughs and glee. She loved to challenge her husband to be more flexible. He had grown so much from the regiment of Mountain trolls and imprisonment of Big Foot. This puppy will either make him a better fae or break him, either way, it will be quite fun. Willa thought to herself as she merged her projected soul back into her anchor.

As soon as Willa went to sleep. I started back down the hill to my hovel. As much as I wanted to make sure my Mistress Master was safe, Willa did have a point. I would just go to bed and make sure I was alert enough to fulfill my duty to the woman who gave me a new life and purpose.

I reflected on my first interaction with Ruth and George.

The sun was so bright in the forest of mount hood. I thought I would go blind. But, who cared. I was scratched and cut, my beard pulled out, my head shaved. I was a humiliated troll who was left for dead. My foot became infected after I was forced to walk through the coals of a battle lost. They could have given me the dignity of taking the chains around my neck off. Where was death?

A voice, A hand, a warm flood of life-giving energy filled my wounds and closed them. Two scrawny figures stuffing something under me. Then I was slightly lifted and being dragged. This is uncomfortable, why hasn't death taken me? - Ruth later told me the thing she used to move me a survivalist stretcher

Next, I woke, I was on a cloud, no a bed, that is what they call it. It was so comfortable, I became uneasy. I couldn't move though. Something was constraining me.