Rosiepuff was on the couch crocheting a plushie. Instructions on how to make a unicorn. The newly bought kit laid open with all required wool. Finally getting the hang of her new project Rosiepuff finished the first out of four legs. Tranquility painted her features. Normally she would simply knit but, Rosiepuff decided she wanted a challenge.

" Hey Grandma. " Clay kissed Rosiepuff's cheek.

" Hello Peachfuzz. How was school?" Rosiepuff looked up from her progress. "Where's Floyd?"

" He joined the sewing club. They're more of a fashion thing than just sewing. Floyd wants to make the clothes he always wants but, can never find in the market. School was okay. Viva and I learnt how to bake a cake. " Clay put his book bag aside.

" Oh that's lovely. Glad Floyd found a new hobby. What flavor was the cake?" Rosiepuff stopped crocheting completely.

" Black Forest... We tried..." Clay nervously laughed.

He pulled out a container of half a fallen apart forest cake. The vanilla cream wasn't evenly mixed properly with the dye so there were red spots. The cherries stayed on though and the three dark chocolate sponge layers were partly burnt on one side. For a first try it was certainly an experience.

" It looks..." Rosiepuff paused. " Delightful,Dear. I'm sure it tastes nice. There's always room to improve."

Placing the container on the coffee table the cake continued to lean over,falling onto its side. The layers needed more cream to stick together but, it wasn't dividing itself all the way. Moving the leg she crocheted to sit on top of her kit with its tools.

Then Spruce skipped into the pod with John not too far behind. John rubbed his arm like someone had made good on their end of putting him in place for being the worst. Getting punched in the arm didn't bother the eldest at all but, something else was. Like there was a secret waiting to be shared and it was desperate. John could barely stop smiling looking at Spruce's direction while Spruce being the best mood still glared at his brother to not spill beans. Growing suspicious Rosie raised an eyebrow at the current display of happiness and secretacy.

" Is there something I should know about, boys?" Rosiepuff asked blankly.

John snickered. " Ask him." He pointed to Spruce.

" Spruce..." Rosiepuff turned around.

Spruce returned to the living room with a bowl of cookies in his hand and a can of whipped cream. He crashed down onto the bean bag and sprayed whipped cream between two chocolate chip cookies. The can rested by his side while the bowl took a seat on his lap. Glancing up Spruce ate the mini cookie sandwich.

" Yeah, Grandma?"

" Why is John looking like he's going to explode with an announcement?" Rosiepuff asked.

" I told him to shut up. I'll tell you the rest later..." Spruce shrugged.

A month later Spruce dashed to the cage bars and snatched Brandy's letter. Butterflies had marked his stomach as their home now but, sparks also shared his body. They were electric boosting not just the troll's energy levels but, his mood and soul. The fact he made this whole pen pal situation work without getting caught for more than a year sent thrills through him. This stunt was worth it. Every single second was worth it.

Without a second thought, Spruce ripped open the seal. Inside was a tiny postcard, the usual letter, a seashell charm attached to a black string and a photo which was as long and wide as Spruce's two hands combined. The photo revealed a woman resembling puppets Bergens used to entertain children but she was bigger,more vibrant in colours, had hair resembling a ball of knitting wool and delicate features.  The most beautiful woman he ever laid eyes on. Her warm, loving and easy going personality even shined in the photo as much as they did in her handwriting.

Gasping at her beauty for the first time Spruce's ,or should we say Bruce's, heart skipped a beat. His eyes sparkled with glittery hearts as blush spread through his cheeks. Still staring at the image in awe Spruce had to force himself to stop looking away to check for any trolls or Bergens nearby. Nobody was around in this part of the cage due to it being the most shadow covered area. His sight was still clear and manageable since the natural little was simply dim.

" Please don't hate me. Please don't reject me. Please don't be mad." Spruce uttered to himself glancing at the closed letter.

Too nervous to open the letter,the male troll stored the picture in his hair and reached for the postcard. While Brandy did know he was a troll since day one due to context clues,this was the first time she sent some items for troll sizes. The postcard was blank as usual but, it had a new scenery to show off. A beautiful sunset in the forest with a mountain view. He could see the beach, ocean, parts of the mountain and the forest all at once.

Redirecting his attention to the necklace he picked it up. His eyes scanned from every angle before tying it around his neck. Taking a hand mirror from his purple hair, the male troll stepped into the full bright light of the sun and looked into his reflection. The simple charm hung around his neck matching the vibe of his every day outfit perfectly. His thumb traced around the edges feeling how polished the jewelry was. Smiling softly Spruce fully wrapped his hand around the shell holding it close to his heart.

Eventually the nineteen year old did look back at the only item he didn't review. The letter. Something about it scared him. Hearing a snap of wood from outside the cage the blue skinned troll panicked,rushing to fold the letter smaller and tossed it into his hair. The envelope got thrown in a secret and protected spot where all evidence of his risky relationship was hidden. None of them peeked out.

Familiar marching was getting louder by the second. Once in a while there would be Bergen guards from the castle checking on the trolls. They never unlocked the cage or came in but they would check from every angle. Sometimes the Bergen Chef,the giver of nightmares and grief, would join them then open the cage getting real close. If the trolls were lucky the Chef didn't take any trolls but, that monster liked collecting trolls in order to turn them into new recipes for her published cookbooks.

" Shit! Shit! Shit!" Spruce cursed running back to the tree.

Sweat ran his body as his heart pounded in his chest so loudly Spruce could hear it in his ears. His wide eyes darted for the pods as other trolls who also heard the marching buried themselves into the leaves. Launching his purple hair at the nearest tree limb, Spruce threw himself up into the tree. Landing right before the pod he shared with his family, Spruce ran in and shut the door locking it. Breathing heavily he sank to the floor.

" Spruce?" Floyd uttered faintly.

" Their back..." Spruce whispered.

Clay's eyes widened. " Is Chef with them?"

" I don't know. " Spruce admitted. " Where's Grandma? John? Branch?"

" Branch is upstairs. John is trying to help Grandma distract him and drown out the Bergens. " Floyd answered.

" Oh Thank God!" Spruce sighed with relief.

The inspection lasted a half hour this time. The guards didn't leave as soon as they came but, their marching away until it was gone left trolls questioning whether to come out again or not. Sound and music didn't return to the Troll Tree until a few hours. While everything did return back or normalcy older trolls were still glancing at the cage bars from time to time growing more paranoid. They hadn't had a check like this in months so it occuring once more sent chills.

The next day, Spruce sat on his bunk of the bunk bed with legs crossed. Reaching into his fluffy hair he pulled out the folder letter. Yesterday's scare brought the letter to the back burner but, after calming down from the thought of death it was time to do some reading. John,Floyd and Clay had taken Branch for an appointment leaving Spruce and Grandma Rosiepuff in the home. Unfolding the letter the paper rolled out to touch the floor. Quietly reading a grin and adoring spark painted Spruce's expression. Brandy wasn't mad at him for admitting he's been using a fake name. In fact she seemed to take it very well and made jokes out of it in her writing.

" Hey Spruce... " Rosiepuff knocked on the door.

" Yeah, Grandma?" Spruce glanced down.

" Where did you get... that?" Rosiepuff pointed to the large letter.

" Oh... Remember that pen pal I got last year? Well Brandy writes a lot." Spruce folded up the letter again and put it aside.

" Okay then tell me more about her. Starting to feel like you've been hiding her from me. You should invite her over sometime." Rosiepuff joked taking a seat next to Spruce.

Spruce chuckled nervously at the suggestion of inviting Brandy over. That task was currently not possible for obvious reasons. Maybe one day if and when the trolls escape it could happen but, right now the Bergens would definitely make sure it would never happen. They would most likely freak out of the islander remotely getting closer to the cage then chase her away the second she started trying to talk to the trolls inside. Brandy wasn't too fond of hearing about the cage the Troll Tree was in when he finally told her the truth about his and his village's situation.

" She's fun and easy to talk with. Funny,kinda sweet, beautiful and has this warm, understanding and kind vibe to her. Brandy loves turtles and is in college. Hospitality is her major. She works in a restaurant as a waitress part time. Never once had she judged me for being me. You would have loved her. " 

" You seem to really, really like this girl." Rosiepuff commented taking hold of Spruce's hand.

" Yeah. Brandy is amazing. Who wouldn't love her?"

" You know your mom used to be the same way when we first met your father. She talked about him a lot. Turned notes into paper planes and threw them at him. And oh boy did she gosh as much as you do whenever he sent a plane back to her. Sometimes your mother would put a rose or a gift in the planes. You're your mother's son. Instead of paper planes you and Brandy have letters." Rosiepuff mentioned causally.

Hearing the comparison between his current relationship with Brandy and his parents' love story caused the male troll's ears to perk. The lore drop on his mother and father was not where he thought this conversation would go. However it wasn't unwelcomed. Rather it got the young troll thinking.

" Mom was a chaser,huh?" Spruce commented.

Rosiepuff chuckled. " Yes, she was. Chased your father and he chased back by visiting her every second he could. Made up excuses to see her. Would buy a flower from her work every week. When they finally got together they both melted growing more in love by the day. Sometimes I see Olivia in you when you talk about Brandy."

" I'm not that obvious and John teases too much. Branch and Floyd are just lucky right now John hasn't made girlfriend jokes about them yet. "

" Oh don't be silly. You're a romantic. A lover. You can't hide it when you love someone." Rosiepuff chimed. " So is Brandy a friend or a girlfriend?"

Spruce laughed nervously. " You're worse than JD today. Okay. It's complicated... We're not official but, we have also been talking about meeting up and going on a date... possibly... one day..."

Scratching his neck the male troll hesitantly looked down at his hands. His grandmother was still holding one of his blue hands with her light shade of purple one. Brandy and Spruce were more complicated than they would like to be. They had agreed to wait until they meet in person and go on a real date before they jump into being official. With the situation of being trapped treated like livestock and her living far,far away it was difficult. They wanted to meet in real life first.

Rosiepuff paused. " That's great, sweetheart, but I am a little confused here. Why can't you just meet up with Brandy?"

" Cause... She's not a troll..."

" What?"

" I can explain!" Spruce insisted pulling out Brandy's picture from his hair. " She's not from the tree. She's not from Bergen Town or any Troll Nation. She's from this beautiful island. Sure she's probably Bergen sized but, Brandy lives somewhere where trolls are treated like equals to her people."

Gazing upon the image of lovely, puppet-like appearance, woman Rosiepuff bit the inside of her cheek. While on one hand her grandson seemed to have a good relationship with this person but, on the other they were completely different species, lived far away and Rosie had no idea if Spruce would be endangered by these larger in size folks. Experiencing her whole life with massive Bergens doing nothing but, hurting and eating trolls it was hard to not associate their size from their ability to be monstrous. The older troll had never met beings but, trolls and Bergens before so her knowledge on what counted as signs of a threat was limited. Looking up at Spruce Rosie tried to string some thoughts to say together hoping to not be narrowed minded.

Rosiepuff sighed. " Not trying to be rude or mean, Peachfuzz,but how do you know she's not like the Bergens? I don't want something bad to happen to you. Brandy sounds like a lovely young lady but, how do you know she's not lying to you?"

" Cause before we met she knew almost nothing about Bergens or Bergen Town. She thought that us trolls just happened to live here with the Bergens. When I did tell her about... " Spruce paused. "How we live... Brandy's letter in response to it sounded like she wanted to help but, didn't know how. She asked me how I felt about it. If I and the other trolls were okay. She even offered a place to stay if we escaped and ran away to her island."

Noticing how his grandparent kept looking at him not yet convinced but, still trying to be open minded while listening,Spruce let out a sigh. He let go of Rosiepuff's hand and climbed down the ladder of his bed.  Rosiepuff stayed up there until she caught sight of hints of determination in her grandson's face. Spruce offered her a hand and helped her get down from the ladder.

" Just follow me. You can go through some of the letters. I promise I am telling the truth." Spruce begged.

Rosie nodded. " Okay, Sprucie."

Not wasting a single second available to them, the pair left the pod and the three to an old hollow tree stump. There used to be shorter trees surrounding the Troll Tree but they got cut down and most of their stumps were removed. This was one of the forgotten ones since it was hidden in the Troll Tree. Rosiepuff and Spruce's hair glowed as they entered the inside of the stump. Some glowing bugs woke up from their naps instantly shining their lights and flew over to nuzzle Spruce. They were quite familiar with him now.

" Hi guys. I don't have any snacks on me. Sorry." Spruce whispered.

The little critters chirped and squeaked as if trying to communicate that they understood. Most days Spruce would bring crushed flower seeds for them to eat but, now was not the time to give cute bugs some snacks. Gently taking his elder's hand he led Rosiepuff to an abandoned wooden box that a Bergen accident threw into the cage out of anger and never came back to collect it. It was a jewelry box. Inside it was envelopes,postcards and letters.

" Go ahead. I have nothing to hide." Spruce claimed.

Rosiepuff glanced at the mail then at her grandson. She was never the type to read or go through someone else's mail. The only time she ever read such items was when she was asked to read them out loud to someone. Now Spruce was suggesting she do so to prove to her that there was no real reason to worry about Brandy. Hesitantly Rosie picked up one random letter scanning through it. She looked at another speed reading it too. Uncomfortable with going through a third the older woman paused.

" How about I write to her instead? I want to hear from her that she won't hurt you so can I write to her? " Rosiepuff proposed.

" Oh of course! Why didn't I think of that? Here. I might have an extra envelope. The Bergens throw a lot of unused stuff around and leave. That's how I got all this." Spruce responded.

" That tracks. They were never very considerate of where their things went. Also if Brandy is truly with good intentions then you two will have my full unconditional support. She sounds lovely. I love you and only want to make sure you will be okay when I'm gone." Rosie made herself clear.

Spruce nodded his head with a faint smile. Stepping forward he wrapped his arms around his grandma embracing her. Hugging back Rosie felt her grandson's face bury itself into her shoulder. The glowing bugs smiled deciding to join by nuzzling both trolls with affection too.

" I know. I love you too. I will be okay. Brandy would never hurt me."

" I hope so..." Rosie whispered. " Did Brandy give you that necklace?"

" Yeah. Why do you ask?" Spruce pulled away from the hug.

" Oh it's nothing. It just suits you very well." Rosiepuff reassured.