Laura and the Bridge Troll

I felt my face flush with embarrassment. He was talking about anal sex. "How did you know?" I asked.

He tapped the side of his head, where there was a vaguely ear-shaped stone. "Trolls have very good hearing," he said. "2.5 kilometers is not too far for a troll to eavesdrop on a conversation. My apologies for the intrusion. The important thing is: I'm letting you decide whether Brian remembers his experiences today, or not. How do you choose?"

I considered it. Brian had seen his wife fucked by a half-dozen other people, and he'd been powerless to prevent it. He had been taken anally against his will, and his body had responded with arousal. That was enough to emotionally cripple some men. Was Brian such a man? Would he respond to the experience by becoming a stronger, more open-minded person, or would it make him bitter, suspicious...uncertain of his masculinity? I thought about it carefully, but, in the end, decided I couldn't take the chance of my beloved changing into a different person...he was perfect just as he was.

"Let him forget," I whispered, hoping I wasn't making a terrible mistake.

"Very well," said Crux. "In that case, I have a gift for you. Kneel."

I knelt before the troll. "Laura?" called Brian, but I held up a hand to stop him coming over. I looked up at Crux, who produced from somewhere an enormous cock made of rough, mossy stones. "Laura!" cried Brian in alarm, but I waved him back.

Crux stepped forward and pointed the rocky cock at my face. "Open," he said, and I obeyed, looking up at him.

He pissed into my mouth.

Startled, I almost jerked away. It wasn't urine, though, but a stream of cold, clear water better than any I'd ever tasted. I swallowed it eagerly until the flow stopped, and he flicked the last few drops onto my face.

"You now have the trolltongue," Crux told me. "You can make yourself understood in any language, you cannot be poisoned, and you will always know what plants are good to eat, simply by tasting."

I didn't know what to say. If what Crux said was true, I now possessed what amounted to some pretty impressive superpowers. "Wow," I said, "thank you."

"It is nothing," he said. "Live well, Laura, and, perhaps, someday, we may meet again."

I got to my feet and gave the troll an awkward hug, then returned to the group of humans, who were all dressed and ready to leave. Brian handed me my clothes, and I dressed as they all watched. As I buttoned my blouse, I looked around at them, and I saw in all their gazes something...possessive...toward me, and I shivered.

The moment we stepped from the bridge, everyone but me forgot what had happened. We broke into three groups--the college boys, the paramilitary siblings, and my husband and I--and went our separate ways, just a half-dozen strangers who happened to encounter one another on the path.

As we proceeded with the last leg of our hike, Brian said, "Have you had a good day, darling?"

I hugged his arm, loving the heft of it, the lean muscles rolling beneath his sleeve.

"Oh, yes, my love," I said. "It's been a wonderful day." I tiptoed up to brush a kiss across his cheek. "We're going to have a wonderful life together."