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CHAPTER 1
Once upon a time there was three trolls who lived under a bridge. This bridge stood between a tiny village and a very large forest.
One day a young man in the village set out for the bridge to get to the forest, then to the city market on the other side. He had wagon full of pots and wares from the village to sell.
The young man drove along with his team of oxen. The pot holes made the wagon bounce up and down as the wagon wheels rutted across them.
The wagon made a sharp thud and bump every time, but the village wares were fine though. They had been very well packed in straw and cloth to keep anything from breaking.
As the wide stone bridge came into view, the young man could already hear the thumping of the ground, as the three trolls came out from under the bridge.
The trolls names were famous in the village; Gare, Bone Musher, and Gurot.
They were the ugliest, meanest things you have ever seen.
The warts on their faces looked like they had warts on them. Hairs thicker than a wild boar sprouted in all the wrong places. Their skin was green and grey and patches of fungi and mushrooms grew off of them.
The smell was like their smiles. They could have broken glass and curdled cream.
The young mans' face turned a little green when they spoke. For the breath that they had turned colors and smelled of sulfur and copper oxides from a blacksmiths furnace. Gold growled Gare, "Food" snarled Bone Musher, "Riddles" smiled Gurot. Gurots' smile made the young man very uncomfortable. It was the sort of smile that showed only the evil that was behind Gurots hard, soulless eyes.
The young man had no gold, for he had sold no wares. Nor did he have food, save for two very small meals. "A riddle", the young man said. Gurot stated the riddle, "What uses four legs in the morning, three in the evening, and none and night". The young man did not know the answer to the riddle.
The trolls laughed and snickered and said, "If you don't know the answer and try to continue, we will eat you and take everything you have". So the boy left not wanting to be eaten or to lose all the wares the village had produced.
The young man got back to the village and told the village people the riddle that had been put to him. The village elder told him to go back and try again, and they would think on the riddle and work out the answer. So the brave young man went back and thought about the riddle that had been posed to him.
The road seemed to drag on for a long time, for the young man dreaded seeing Gare, Bone Musher, and Gurot. He heard the thumping of the familiar footsteps and the bridge and ground shook. "Gold" growled Gare, "Food" snarled Bone Musher, "Riddle" smiled Gurot. "Riddle" said the young man.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Three Trolls Under The Bridge"
by .
Copyright © 2018 Sir Cobbleham.
Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse.
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