Chapter 5. Slimegobbler Finds a Stash
The trolls were stung by the new above-ground reality. But their short look at the world had left them shaken, not stirred. No matter what had happened on the surface during the past few hundred years, they remained trolls. This meant that the primary thing on their mind was eating. Brumvack had ordered them back to the cave, but food was on their mind. They hadn’t eaten, after all, in centuries. Also, of course, Brumvack had originally urged them out of the cave with tales of food, and even a foodwhoop or two.
After they left the surface of the lake, they swam downwards toward the cave entrance. Inevitably, however, their stomachs had other ideas. If they weren’t able to hunt on land, maybe they could find something to eat in the lake. The bone-headed dinosaur fish were long gone, but perhaps they could come up with a few mudfish for supper.
Slimegobbler was the first to break ranks. He was dimwitted even for a troll, and so probably couldn’t be blamed. It’s doubtful, given his empty stomach, that he even remembered Brumvack’s orders. Oreo and Oleo, the two youngest trolls (and twins) followed him. Oreo and Oleo were both smart, and surely remembered their instructions. But when they swam off after Slimegobbler, no one was too surprised. Younger trolls often looked for trouble, and these two were worse than some.
Brumvack was livid, of course, at this blatant disregard of his authority. His mind turned to punishments for the three trolls. He thought of schemes to force them to return, or, barring that, locking them out of the cave. Leave them at the mercy of the Dark Water Horror! That would teach them.
It was when Obeast followed those three that Brumvack gave up any ideas of keeping the rest of the Rabid Band in line. Trolls, Brumvack reflected, don’t think too well at the best of times, and when they are hungry is far from the best of times. There is no trying to convince them that Brumvack knows best when their stomachs are telling them differently. With a burst of motion from his powerful legs, he swam ahead of the group. There, he stopped in the water and turned around. He pantomimed finding something to eat, and motioned the others to follow Slimegobbler. If they were going off in their own direction, it was better that they thought it was Brumvack’s idea.
Together, the trolls searched for food.Something, Brumvack noted, really had gone badly wrong with the lake. Not only was the water clean, something had gone wrong with the fish as well. Mudfish, though not nearly so filling and tasty as the bone-headed dinosaur fish, were at least edible. The new and improved mudfish, though, were bright and silvery, difficult to catch, and tasted bad besides. They didn’t have enough bones to give a satisfying crunch, nor did they taste of the black sediment at the bottom of the lake. Still, in their hunger, each of the trolls wolfed down a few of them. They swallowed them whole, so as to minimize their taste.
While most of the trolls were chasing after the silvery bright fish, though, Slimegobbler dove deep into the lake. There, he made a discovery. It was the shell of a large creature, apparently dead. Inside this shell, he found a big red and white box filled to the top with food. As soon as he opened the box, an oily exudation entered the water. It excited Slimegobbler’s taste buds, promising as it did a delicious taste of slightly decomposing food. Within seconds, each of the trolls nosed their way into the area, much as sharks would as they caught the scent of blood.
The first to arrive was Droolmeister. He, of course, didn’t stop to eat; he was smarter than that. Instead, he grabbed the box and began swimming away with it. Before he got far, however, Slimegobbler took hold of it. The two engaged in a tug of war. The box, however, couldn’t withstand such treatment. Soon, it broke between the two trolls, sending food in all directions. This left Slimegobbler and Droolmeister holding, respectively, a red box and a white lid, while the rest of the trolls surrounded them and inhaled the food that was floating off in every direction. They were so hungry, and the new fish had been so unsatisfying, and this new food was so indescribably wonderful.
There was something else about this new food as well: it didn’t try to swim away from the grasping hands of the trolls. That was a new experience. Even the bone-headed dinosaur fish, though somewhat sluggish, tried to escape from the trolls. This food, though, just floated there in front of them. They could grab it and eat it as they wished. Nor was it so tasteless and disgusting as the new breed of fish. In fact, it was delectable. Though trolls, especially hungry trolls, don’t tend to chew their food well, they enjoyed every bite of it. It was too soon gone, leaving only the dismembered red and white box.
The trolls had too little experience in this new world to know what they were eating. Their stash might have interested a few people in town, however. Slimegobbler had discovered, without knowing what it was, the mayor’s boat deep in the bottom of the lake. Within it was his hoard of Labor Day hot dogs in a large plastic cooler. They were a few weeks old now, those hot dogs, but the cold water of the deep lake had kept them fresh, mostly. They had only a slight taint of botulism to give them that extra flavorful zest that the trolls so enjoyed.