He sat on the dew-laden grass beneath a huge oak tree in the centre of the meadow. His face a picture of concentration, tongue peeping out between his lips each time he did a particularly complicated part of the necklace.
His thick stubby fingers surprisingly nimble as they wound, twisted and wove the delicate pieces together.
A smile flashed across his face each time he finished attaching one component, and reached to the pile for another.
Sometimes he pulled a bit off to help blend the chain, sometimes used a length of twine to secure a stubborn, badly shaped piece.
Eventually the pile was depleted, the necklace wasn't long enough, his smile flickered to sadness as the disappointment set in.
With a world-weary sigh the troll heaved his immense bulk off the ground, he picked up the huge wooden club, and for the second time that day set off walking towards the nearby village to collect some more bits and pieces for his necklace, about a dozen or so more corpses should do the trick.
©2013 Stephen. J. Green.
I know it wasn't the intention, but I loved interpreting Paragraph 3 as him reaching for another smile over and over. Enjoyed the feel of this, even though I imagined it would end grim.
ReplyDeleteThanks John, I like your take on Para 3 too. :-)
Deletethreading skulls? Nice! :-)
ReplyDeletemarc nash
Thanks Marc. Yeah, threading skulls, and limbs, and innards, and all the other necklace-making stuff that villagers are made of. Bwuhahahahaha!! :-)
DeleteOh my! Here I was feeling sorry for the sweet fellow and then wham, he ain't so sweet after all. Great story Steve!
ReplyDeleteHi Deanna, and thank you.
DeleteYou shouldn't be so hard on him, as trolls go he may be very nice once you get to know him. :-)
Now I imagine he's making it for his sweetheart. I was somewhat startled when you finally used the word "troll" in paragraph 6 -- I had to go back and re-read to see if there were any previous clues to his identity. Great fun!
ReplyDeleteThank you, I do like to throw a curve at the end of a story whenever possible, many of my flashes do tend to hang the final paragraph. :-)
DeleteOoooh - grisly necklace there - loved the build up and the neat surprise at the end.
ReplyDeleteHiya Brinda, and thank you for the lovely comment.
DeleteIt's probably not a necklace you would wear with a little black number is it?
I actually pictured a necklace of bones before the twist at the end lol. I was going to say so in my comment and say that maybe I have read too much horror. Then you went there...lol. Brilliant. Descriptive and dark, my favourite kind of tale.
ReplyDeleteHi Casey, and welcome. Thank you for the kind words, I like dark humour, and also tend to use misdirection quite often too. I sometimes wonder that I haven't read and watched too much horror myself. :-)
DeleteI like this! I find it bittersweet, grim and yet kind of sweet. I mean trolls can court too, it's just that it's a bit more bloody than with humans... One hell of a necklace that would be!
ReplyDeleteHi Cindy, yeah, the troll didn't think he was doing anything wrong, it's all in the perspective really, isn't it? Whereas, from the perspective of a villager...
Delete:-)
Nice twist. The villagers had better run and hide!
ReplyDeleteHiya Chuck, yup, I think that's a very good idea, mind you he's already paid one visit so they're probably not expecting to see him again so soon. :-)
DeleteThat's dark, Steve! Either the troll really values his jewelry, doesn't value the villagers' lives, or both. Probably both, methinks.
ReplyDeleteHi Richard, I think this is just a regular troll/villager relationship, a bit like the lion/zebra one. :-)
DeleteAh you started off so sweetly as well!
ReplyDeleteHi Icy. Sorry about the ending, but I just couldn't help myself. :-)
DeleteIt's such a drag to run low on materials just when you get a creation figured out... loved the twist at the end!
ReplyDeleteThanks Katherine, I know exactly what you mean, it's a bit like getting home from the shops, just to realize you've forgotten several items. :-)
DeleteI remember that when I made daisy chains as a child, I would pierce a hole in a stem using my thumb....eeww! The stubby fingers made me think of Gerard Dieupardieu...and I still had him in mind at the end! Grissly indeed.
ReplyDeleteHi Justin, I do believe that may the same method that the troll is using. ( Sorry about eeww.) :-)
DeleteNot the twist I was expecting at all, but it brought a huge smile to my face. Very nicely done, sir. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Danielle, just making someone smile makes the writing worthwhile. :-)
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