Baggledorf grunted and wiped the sweat from his wide brow, running a chubby hairy hand beneath his mop of shaggy brown hair. He clambered over a mossy bolder and lumbered through the forest clearing. Once in the cooler shade of the pine trees, he could at last see the lake. The inky water sparkled in the midsummer sun.
His bulbous nose twitched and a wide grin revealed a few missing teeth. As child trolls go, he was rather short and slightly chubby. Probably about the same size as your teacher.

On land, trolls can seem rather clumsy, lumbering about, grunting and straining, but in the water they are speedy as otters. It is a little known fact that trolls are gifted swimmers.
With a splash, Baggledorf (dungarees and all) jumped head long into the water. Only his clogs remained on the bank. He whooped and swam out on his back, kicking his feet with delight. He rolled in the water and dived below the surface. The coolness pounded in his ears.

The lake was in the middle of the pine forest and in the middle of the lake was a large flat-topped rock. To him, the rock was his island, and he headed for it straight away at a fairly fast moondip. The moondip is a bit like a doggy paddle but with more movement of the bottom.

Suddenly Baggledorf’s powerful troll ears heard a slapping noise. He slowed and trod water, looking around. There on his island sat a human, and with the human sat one of those four-legged creatures they call dogs. He had been planning to stretch out on the rock in the sun. Now he frowned and scratched his head.

Trolls normally avoid humans and humans rarely see them. Sometimes you can spot a troll out of the corner of your eye, but under closer inspection they have a clever way of looking like a large bolder.

Baggledorf thought for a moment, and eyed the small human carefully. The sun twinkled, reflected in the lake. He was very hot and felt like having some fun today. He smiled to himself. Maybe the human and her dog would like to play.

Fred was lapping up water. Despite the swim out to the rock, he was hot under his shaggy fur. Poppy patted Fred’s back absent-mindedly as she trailed her feet in the water. Poppy was 8 years old and lived with her mum and dad near Birmingham. Every summer she came over to Sweden on a great big ship that her dad called an Ocean Liner. She loved staying with her Grandpa in Sweden, for a start, the meatballs were delicious!

Grandpa lived in a little cottage not far from the lake, just up a winding path through the forest and past the old well. He always talked about trolls, but she had never met one before. On the whole, she got the impression that they were friendly creatures who preferred to be left alone. When she spotted Baggledorf’s head just under the water’s surface, she stood up with a start.

“What’s that Fred?” she squealed. Fred put his head on one side and whined. She picked up a loose pebble and chucked it towards the moving underwater object.

Baggeldorf surfaced, spluttering water and snot running from his nose.

“Oi, that could have hurt!” he shouted, rubbing his head. He wiped his eyes and nose roughly, to see a rather frightened human and an over-excited dog occupying his rock.
“Don’t look so worried,” he chuckled from the water. Suddenly, he dived into a deep-water handstand. Poppy could now see two enormous hairy troll feet, exactly where Baggledorf’s chubby face had been a second ago. Her face broke into a puzzled but nervous smile.

The troll resurfaced.
“Who are you?” Poppy whispered.

“I,” he said with a grunt, as he clambered out of the water onto the rock, “am Baggledorf Ventulagrogen the Second. Son of the Great Nordeldorf Ventulagrogen, leader of the troll tribes of Skåne and Southern Sweden!”
He loved saying that. It sounded very impressive and had taken many months to learn.

His family were very important in the troll world. His father was a supreme troll tribe King. Once Baggledorf was grown-up, he would begin training to become his father’s successor. But all that seemed a long way off. Trolls live for many hundreds of years and he was only 147, barely half way through his childhood.

So, for now, he was allowed to play in the forest, explore, bark
munch and swim.

He stood up, his hands on his ample hips, his hairy chest puffed out beneath his blue dungarees. Water dripped from his drenched clothes. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and gave Poppy and Fred a grin.
“So, who are you two then?” he enquired.

Fred barked and came over to sniff Baggledorf’s dungarees. Poppy looked up at his funny little face and cheeky smile. He was a like a huge hairy kid!

She giggled slightly, then frowned and said seriously, “I’m Poppy and this is Fred.”
Baggledorf reached out a great big, hairy hand. Poppy had never shaken hands with a troll before. She gulped and carefully stretched out her tiny white hand. His great paw grabbed most of her lower arm and practically rattled her whole body as he shook.

“Aren’t trolls supposed to avoid humans?” she asked, releasing his hand and standing up. She was about as tall as the top of his round tummy.

He chuckled.

“We are not too keen on grown-up humans, but children is children!” he exclaimed. “Troll children and human children… well, we don’t need to follow the grown-ups rules do we?”

He patted Fred.
“So what brings you to my island?” asked the friendly troll.

“Your island?” said Poppy indignantly, forgetting her nerves. “Firstly, it’s a rock and secondly I don’t believe it’s yours!”

She came here every summer and always thought of the rock as her own place. He looked at her now grumpy face, and drying brown curls. “Are you hot?” he asked and without waiting for an answer he performed a giant double back-flip into the water, splashing everyone. Poppy laughed. “Follow me!” he called from the water. He had other much more fun places to show his new friends than this.

Poppy rarely met other children in the forest, so it was very exciting to have found a new friend. Best of all Baggledorf was not just another child, but a troll too!

She slid back into the water and swam after the splashing coming from his wild moondip. Fred zoomed past the others with his doggy paddle. He shook furiously once on the shore, spraying mud and water everywhere. Then he turned back towards the lake, wagging his tail and barking.

Baggledorf and Poppy waded out of the shallows. Slipping on muddy clogs and yanking at trainers, they were soon ready.

“Want to come and meet a friend of mine?” he asked.

Poppy and Fred were always ready for an adventure.

“Alright then,” she said bravely, wiping at her dripping shorts and t-shirt, and bedraggled curls. Fred darted off ahead and she hurried along trying to match Baggledorf’s slow but enormous strides.

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