|
| |
Troll Characters, Concept and Story by Helena,
Minna and Johannes Kuuskoski
Artwork by Helena Kuuskoski
©Helena, Minna &Johannes Kuuskoski 1952-2007
This is a story about Boxtroll and his
wonderful spaceship. You see, Boxtroll is from a far-away planet called
Boxplanet, somewhere in Outer Space. People haven't discovered it yet, and some
find it hard to believe that such a place exists. We don't have pictures from
Boxplanet yet, but this is what happened one day, when Boxtroll was cleaning his
unique vehicle.
 |
Boxtroll had been cleaning
his beautiful silver-blue spaceship all morning. It was a big job, and he
wasn't quite finished yet. But he was getting hungry and a little tired,
too, so he decided it was time for a break.
"I need a big glass of water and then some lunch... oh yes, macaroni
and cheese, and then blueberries for desert..." Boxtroll was saying
to himself. |
 |
You remember the Mudhats?
Well, then you know they are always up to something nasty. This particular
morning Sneaky, the leader of the Mudhats, had laid down the law, and told
the rest of the Mudhats to get busy and DO SOMETHING! Be creative, he had
told them.
"Alright guys, what are we gonna do, huh? We hafta think of
something, quick." "Let's kidnap somebody," Yucky
suggested. "I think we should steal something big", said No-Way.
"Like what?" barked Icky. "That spaceship-thingy is pretty
big", mumbled Yucky. They got excited about that idea, and off
they went. |
 |
While Boxtroll was gone for
lunch, a group of little Trolls came by to look at the spaceship. They had
planned to ask Boxtroll to take them for a ride in the gleaming vessel.
"I don't think he'll mind if we just look", said Poppa boy,
peeking inside the spaceship. "Yeah, I agree", said Sumppi boy
Timmy. "Come on, let's go in", he hollered.
One of the little Mushrooms, Missy, was not so sure. "I think we
should wait for Boxtroll to come back", she said.
"I agree", said Linn, Timmy's sister.
"I think it will be okay, just as long as we don't touch
anything", said Noppa girl. |
 |
Finally they all climbed in
anyway, the inside of the spaceship looked so much more interesting than
the outside.
"Hey, look at all these buttons here", said Timmy. "What's
this handle for?" wondered Joey, the Mushroom.
"Help me, I'm tied up with rope!" hollered Poppa.
"You shouldn't have played with that cord", scolded Missy,
"especially since it was plugged in, too!" she added.
"I think we better just sit here, don't you think?" said Linn to
Noppa. So they sat in the big chair, determined to not get in trouble. |
 |
Suddenly, the spaceship
shook! It rattled and rocked, it started humming and the lights and
screens were flashing on every wall.
"What's going on?" the girls in the big chair wanted to know.
"I didn't touch anything - at least I don't think I did", said
Timmy.
"I didn't, either!" said Joey.
"Help me get up, I think this thing is going to take off!"
shouted Poppa.
Missy was very upset and said she was going home if the noise didn't stop. |
 |
Well, it didn't stop!
Bugbear was coming over to say hello to Boxtroll, and to see if he could
help in the clean-up job.
"What on Earth...?" he muttered when he saw the spaceship
hovering above ground, looking like it was going to take off.
"HELP! HELP!" shouted Poppa. He sure was glad to see Bugbear.
"We don't know how to turn this thing off!" he added.
Bugbear ran as fast as he could, and was able to jump into the spaceship
just before it would have been too late. |
 |
"Alright",
Bugbear said sternly. "What is going on here?" The little Trolls
looked very guilty, but they were afraid to say anything.
"Would someone like to explain how this thing got turned on?"
Bugbear wanted to know. There wasn't a peep. "Hmmm, I see", said
Bugbear, looking at each of them with what he hoped was an intimidating
sort of look. "I want you all to sit quietly somewhere and please,
don't touch anything. In fact, you better sit on your hands" he told
the little Trolls. "I'll try to remember what Boxtroll has told me
about this spaceship..." he muttered to himself. |
 |
Mudhats had arrived where
they knew Boxtroll always parked his spaceship. "I tell you, it was
right there, I saw it myself even this morning!" explained No-Way.
"What's the fool troll doing, going for a ride in the middle of the
day?" Icky complained. "This is great, just great! How are we
going to explain this to Sneaky? He's gonna be so mad, especially since we
had such a great idea!" said Yucky. The Mudhats were really
frustrated and left to go and explain this situation to the boss. |
 |
When Boxtroll came back
from lunch, he was in for a surprise, too. "Where is my
spaceship?" he blurted out. His forest friends tried to explain what
had happened, but it didn't make any sense. "Who would do such a
rotten thing?" he wondered. He was sure the Mudhats were behind the
disappearance of his ship. |
 |
Boxtroll ran over to
Honeylips' place to get some help. Lilli and Buster were visiting there,
too. "Hi, Boxtroll" said Honeylips. "Did Bugbear find you,
he was going to...hey wait - what's the matter, Boxtroll?", he added,
noticing how upset Boxtroll looked. "No, I didn't see Bugbear - and
my spaceship has disappeared, I don't know who took it!" Boxtroll
explained. He was quite beside himself. One of the Moko Messenger Trolls
happened to be nearby and checked in to see if he could help. He promised
to go and find out something. |
 |
Bugbear was actually
enjoying himself, although he had never been so scared in his life.
Keeping his little friends from touching everything was much harder than
flying the spaceship.
"Please, would you all just sit down - and put down those
things!" he kept saying, with very little effect. "I think I've
got this figured out, and right about now would be a good idea to land
this thing somewhere. Okay, little fellas, can you see a big open spot
where we can land this spaceship?" he asked the little Trolls. They
were eager to help, and soon spotted a very large open area. |
 |
The Mudhats had been
miserable and definitely not looking forward to explaining their failed
mission to Sneaky. As they were figuring out what to say, they spotted
something big and silver-blue in the sky.
"Hey guys, there it is now - what's it doing here?" wondered
No-Way. "Looks like it's gonna land" said Yucky. "I don't
believe what I'm seeing - how did it know to come here?" said Icky.
"It doesn't know stuff, you idiot - somebody's drivin' it"
explained Yucky. |
| |
"Come on out, you
little twerps" shouted No-Way. "This worked out real good",
said Icky, "we got us a spaceship and a bunch of hostages, too",
he continued.
"Yeah, we sure know how to do our stuff, right guys?" hollered
Yucky.
"Let me go!" yelled Poppa. "Ouch, that hurts!"
screamed Missy. "Stop pulling my hair!" wailed Noppa. But the
Mudhats didn't care, they just proceeded to drag the Trolls to the stinky,
dirty Mudswamp. |
 |
The Moko Troll and his
buddies had been busy flying surveillance all over everywhere, and had
spotted the spaceship in the Mudswamp, along with a whole bunch of
kidnapped Trolls.
"How could that happen?" wondered Buster. "It doesn't
matter", said Boxtroll. "We just have to go and rescue them as
soon as possible" he added. "And don't worry, we'll rescue the
spaceship, too" said Honeylips. |
Mudhats were
having an awful time of it - apparently the plan wasn't working
quite like it should.
"Be quiet, you fuzzballs!" Icky told the little Trolls. In fact,
the Trolls had a plan of their own. |
 |
Bugbear had told the little
Trolls to make noise, to sing and holler any and all songs and rhymes that
they knew. If they ran out of stuff they knew, then just make up new songs
and keep singing. Bugbear figured this will drive the Mudhats crazy, and
they'll have to let the Trolls go.
"I can't stand this noise", complained Yucky. Sneaky was mad,
too. "Either you are gonna make them stop, or I will - and then
everybody will be sorry!" he threatened his buddies.
The little Trolls kept singing, even though they were scared. |
 |
The plan worked even better
than Bugbear had hoped. The Moko Trolls had been on patrol, and ready to
assist. They had even brought big baskets for transporting the little
Trolls when the time came to rescue them. That time came sooner than
expected. Mudhats were so distracted by the noise, they had been holding
their ears, running away from the noise-makers, that they didn't realize
what was going on.
The Mokos swooped down and the little Trolls quickly jumped into the
baskets, still singing. |
 |
At the same time, Boxtroll,
Honeylips and Buster were busy untying Bugbear. "Come on, let's
hurry!" said Boxtroll. "I see them coming!" he shouted.
They ran to the spaceship as fast as they could, and the big door closed
right in front of Mudhats' noses. Boxtroll sat at the controls and started
the ignition - but the spaceship wouldn't move! "We are stuck - in
the mud" he explained. "Oh no, what can we do?" worried
Bugbear. "No problem, we'll just push the TURBO button!"
Boxtroll explained cheerily. With mighty rumbling and shaking, the
spaceship slowly rose up from the muddy ground, as Boxtroll's friends
cheered. |
 |
Mudhats were shaking their
fists, jumping up and down, watching their big prize get away. Icky was
saying things that are not suitable for printing, Yucky was growling, and
the other Mudhats were complaining about everything. Just then, the
spaceship shook some more! All the mud that had been stuck to the bottom
of the ship came loose and landed right on top of the Mudhats. "We're
gonna get you for this!" shouted Icky.
Inside the spaceship, the Trolls couldn't help but laugh. "Remind me
next time to bring a video camera when we go on a rescue mission"
said Honeylips. |
The Trolls made it home
safely, and after Boxtroll had a serious talk with the little Trolls, they
promised never to go into his spaceship without permission. It was a good
lesson.
But they sure had fun telling everybody about their exciting adventure. |
| |
|
|
