Trolls and the Mystery Creature

Chapter 11

     Poppy sat on the bed next to Branch, as he slept that night. She looked down at him, sadly, as she combed her fingers through his hair.

     "Poppy..." he mumbled in his sleep. She looked at him, shocked to hear him say her name.

     "It's ok, Branch. I'm right here," she said, quietly.

     Slowly, he blinked his eyes, open, as he looked up, and smiled at her.

     "Hi," he said, softly. There were tears in her eyes, as she looked down at him.
"Hi," she responded, smiling back. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine... is grandma here yet?"

     Poppy's smile faded, as she looked away from him.

     "No... she's not here yet..." she said softly. "Just go back to sleep, ok? It's late, and you need your rest."

     He nodded, and then closed his eyes, quickly falling back to sleep.

     "I love you, Branch," she said, quietly, kissing him on the forehead.
"I love you too, Poppy," he mumbled back, still sleeping.

     Slowly, she stood up, walking away to go to bed.

     In the morning, the sun shone right through the window, shining into Poppy's face.

     "Ugh..." she groaned, beginning to wake up.

     She blinked her eyes open, suddenly seeing Branch right in front of her, his face right next to hers.

     "AHHH!" she scream, startled, as she jumped up.

     "Good! Your awake! Time to play!" Branch shouted cheerfully, as he ran outside.

     Poppy rubbed her eyes, and then yawned, climbing out of bed to join him.

     "Let's go get ice-cream!" Branch shouted, as the two of them, walked through the village.

     "Branch... it's 6:00 in the morning."
"So? It's never too early for ice-cream. Besides... grandma lets me eat ice-cream for breakfast all the time."
"Does she really?" Poppy asked, unconvinced. Branch nodded, smiling, but Poppy just crossed her arms, giving him a look saying; 'don't lie to me'.

     His smile faded, as he looked away, ashamed.

     "No..." he said sadly. "Fine... no ice-cream." He looked back at Poppy, smiling again. "But can we still go play!?"
"Actually... there's someone I need to talk to first. Come with me."

     They walked into the forest, Poppy looking around, as she shouted; "Ariana! Ariana, where are you!? I need your help!"

     Suddenly, Ariana poked her head out of a bush, startling Poppy a bit.

     "Shhh!" Ariana said. "Do you want the whole village, hearing you, and then finding out that I'm here!?"
"Sorry... I just really need your help."

     She stepped out of the bush, walking over to Poppy.

     "What is it that you need?"
"Well... you said that ray of yours wipes the memory of whoever it zaps... right?"
"That's right. But only a day."
"Yeah... that's the problem. My boyfriend sorta forgot more than a day..."
"So like... two days?"
"More like... 23 years..."

     Ariana's eyes widened at Poppy's statement.

     "23 years!? What do you mean 23 years!?"
"Shhhh!" Poppy said, shushing her.

     They both looked back at Branch, who was trying to catch a butterfly. Then Poppy looked at Ariana once again.

     "He can't know that he lost his memory, or it could cause permanent brain damage," she whispered. "But yes. 23 years. He thinks he's four."

     "Hmm... this has never happened before," Ariana said, as she began to pace, thinking. "Wait... I zapped him twice... didn't I?"
"Ugh... yeah. I think so."
"Oh no... oh no... oh no, no, no, no, no. This is not good."
"What? What's not good?"

     Ariana looked at Poppy, concerned.

     "I don't think you want to know..." she said. "It's pretty bad."
"Please, Ariana. He's my boyfriend. You have to tell me."

     She took a deep breath, looking away from Poppy.

     "Ok. Ok. Because I zapped him twice... the ray affected him more than if I had only blasted him once."
"What does that mean, though?" Poppy asked. Ariana sighed, looking back at her, before speaking. "His brain is melting."

     Poppy's eyes widened.

     "What!?" she shouted, freaking out.
"Right now he can only remember when he was a kid, but soon, his memory will begin to get worse, until he can't remember anything at all. He won't be able to remember who he is, how to walk, how to talk, not even how to breath. If it gets to that point... he will die."

     Poppy's heart dropped, as she listened to what Ariana was saying. Then she looked back at Branch, who was still chasing the butterfly happily, completely unaware of what was going on.

     "We have to stop that from happening! We have to fix him!" Poppy cried, looking back at Ariana.

     "I'm sorry... but I don't know how."

     Poppy looked away, sadly, as she began to cry. She couldn't lose Branch. She just couldn't.

     "But... I may know someone who does..." Poppy looked back up at her. "My tribe's leader. She knows everything. She might know how to reverse this."

     "Great! So we just need to get Branch to your home, and then we can fix him!?" Poppy said, excitedly, filled with hope, that they could save Branch.

     "Not a good idea. With the state he's in, it would be dangerous to bring him along... but if we can get there, and then bring my leader to him... he just might be ok."
"Than that's what we'll do. I'll find someone to watch Branch, and then we'll leave."
"Yeah... you'd have to find Branch first..."
"What?"

     She turned around, seeing that Branch was gone.

     "Oh no... not again..."