Kerman's House

     Walking slowly through the forest, neither Poppy nor I saying a single word to each other, we both reluctantly followed Kerman who was skipping merrily forwards, the little troll humming happily to himself...

     Stealing a quick glance at my best friend, I was clearly able to see that she was just as nervous as I was, both of us trying to work out a plan as to how to get our costumes without Kerman realizing who we actually were...

     With a quick gulp, I looked back ahead, my mouth literally dropping open in surprise when I noticed we were heading straight towards a massive mansion...

     Poppy and I both froze once we saw the enormous house, the two of us staring up at it in amazement...

     "Well... this is it," Kerman said with a smile as he turned back to look at us. "Mi casa."
"This... is your house?" Poppy asked in surprise, not believing her ears.
"Yep. My dad has a really good job. He's the boss too!" he gushed excitedly. "Come on in. I'm sure he'd love to meet you."

     Turning back to his home, Kerman walked towards the front door, Poppy and I still frozen in shock...

     "Come on," he urged, gesturing us forwards...

     Taking a quick glance at each other, Poppy and I finally followed, instantly freezing in place yet again as we entered the house, both of us completely stunned by the decor...

Just in the living room there was a red carpet with a blue diamond pattern which was covering most of the floor, and what it didn't cover was a dark wood which was glossed to perfection so that the fire which was sizzling warmly inside the fireplace reflected clearly onto it...

     In front of the fireplace was a large red chair, a beautiful crystal chandelier hanging over it from the center of the ceiling...

Poppy and I stared at the room in amazement, having never seen anything like it, as Kerman smiled, the little glitter troll finally turning to face the gold plated winding staircase that lead up to an indoor balcony.

     "DAD!" he screamed out at the top of his lungs, the young boy cupping his hands around his mouth to try and amplify his voice. "Come down! I have friends over!"

His voice echoed in the enormous room as he turned back to us once more, still smiling with his hands folded behind his back, the red glitter troll swaying back and forth from his heels to his toes in pure enthusiasm.

Honestly... I had never seen him this happy before. Then again... who would be happy while they're getting a swirly?

     "You can look around the living room if you'd like," he finally offered after a few long moments of silence. "Dad's probably in the middle of something very important. There's somewhat of an emergency where he works. He'll be down soon, though."

     Reluctantly, Poppy and I split up to look around, Poppy heading over to a wall with framed photographs on it, while I went to a trophy case, looking in at the overfilled space.

     Most of the trophies were Kerman's... obviously... he was definitely the most... competitive... troll I had ever met. And definitely the most capable of winning the challenges he signed himself up for...

1st place in the 1st grade spelling bee... 1st place in the 2nd grade spelling bee... 1st place in the 10th annual cooking competition... 1st place ribbon for the science fair... 1st place this... first place that... it wasn't surprising in the slightest...

The last trophy however... wasn't Kerman's...

Curiosity quickly taking over my brain, I looked closely at the golden statue, trying my best to make out what it said on the dust covered name plate.

Squinting my eyes to try and see better, I struggled to read the engraving through all the rust coating it...

     'Jeb Sparkleton. Best in Robotics class.'

     In front of the trophy, there was a picture covered entirely in dust, the polaroid completely scratched up just like the trophy it leaned against...

     I could tell by looking at it that it was a picture of a teenage boy who was holding the trophy in his arms, but I couldn't quite make out the face through all the dust...

     Leaning a bit closer to the glass separating me from the picture, I was suddenly startled out of my concentration as Poppy came rushing up to me, the pink troll grabbing hold of my arm before trying to yank me away...

    "We have to get out of here!" she exclaimed in a panicked tone, yanking me quickly towards the front door against my will. "Wait... Poppy? What happened? What's going on?" I asked in pure confusion, following along behind her. Not that I had much of a choice in the matter...

     "Now!" she yelled firmly, letting go of my wrist to instead place both hands on the back of my shoulders, my best friend proceeding to push me forewords from behind, the poor girl seeming completely horrified. "We have to go now!"

     She forced me towards the door at top speed, my feet literally sliding across the floor as she did so...

     But... she soon stopped, coming to a complete halt when we both suddenly heard footsteps beginning to ring out from above us...

     Looking to our left, we saw Kerman's dad trotting down the winding staircase, and you'll never guess who he was...

     Poppy and I both froze at the sight of him, our hearts racing inside our chests as we stared in terror at the man coming towards us...

     It was... the chief...