”Trolls?”
”Yeah, it’s all over the news, I don’t know how you could’ve missed it.”
I had been sitting by the lake when Björn called. The night had been cold but without snow so the lake hade turned into a perfect mirror-smooth surface. The sky was cloud-free and the sunrays were reflecting of the ice with an intense glare.
”I’m at my parents cottage up north, I barely have connection enough to talk to you.” “But then the earthquake must’ve been really close to you, it was somewhere outside Umeå.” “The cottage is in Luleå. Umeå is 124 miles away.” “Oh. Whatever, the earthquake made this deep crevice and they thought someone had fallen down there, so they sent down this rescue team.” “And there they found trolls?” I reached into my backpack and pulled up my sunscreen. I chided myself for not putting it on earlier, being exposed to the sun for too long always gave me painful red rashes. “Well, they don’t call them trolls. Some scientist guy already claims to know what they were, said they were somehow related to Neanderthals, but like on a branch in the primate evolution that’s closer to the monkeys. But I know trolls when I see them. These guys had tails. TAILS! And big ears and noses.” “Wow.” “Yep. Man, I can’t believe you’ve missed it all, the internet is going crazy with it. You don’t have a radio there or something?” “I’m by the lake. I was trying to enjoy the calm and stillness of mother nature.” “Nature schmature. My theory is they’ve been up here before. Think of it, all the fairy tales about trolls, maybe they are based on real enocunters. But then humans did what they’ve always done and the trolls got scared and moved underground.” “Probably a smart move.” I stood up, the wooden boards creaking under my weight. “Yep. Worked for a while at least.” “So, have they communicated? Said something?” “You mean the trolls?” “Yeah?” “I dunno, they haven’t released any footage. No photos either, actually. The one I saw was from someones cellphone, released on Twitter. The whole area is closed off now.” “Maybe they need to quarantine it?” “That’s true. We don’t want some Troll Flu thing happening.” “So, you called just to tell me about the existence of trolls?” “Actually, I’ve got a favor to ask of you. You know I’m moving, well, I’ll get access to the apartment already on Friday, so I think I’m gonna move my stuff on Saturday. And I got the TV and the wardrobe and the big-ass sofa… I really need someone your size.” “Sure.” “Awesome, let’s talk more about it later in the week, the press conference is starting now.” I started walking up towards the house. I scratched at the skin above my ass crack. The scar always itched when it got cold.