Entry 14: 

Five feet from the entrance were two walking Boulders. Standing around nine feet tall, with stone plates running along the backs to the front of their heads. They had a rough underbelly, with thick body hair that trailed up from their legs to their ugly frog faces. Trolls, a race of nocturnal rockmen that come alive at sundown seeking a meal worthy of their gravelly palette. They were number five on my list. 

            "Fellas, nice to see you. Sorry, I forgot the date," I said, waving at the two big lugs in front of me. I know it's weird, but I totally recognized ‘em from the last time they were here. I named them Dig and Doug. Dig was on the right. It had a narrow face with sunken eyes, while Doug had a much wider face and drooled constantly. "So you guys, need help or…-" Dig pointed one of his very thick fingers in my face.

"Warmbirth, we come for honor back," it said, I say it by the way cuz despite being naked they had nothing down there. No one ever lived to tell about how trolls are made but I guessed it must be pretty cold since they always used to call me that. 

            "WE WILL NOT LOSE! YOU WILL BE BITTEN!" Doug shouted. Trolls, like Justine, can communicate with humans and non-humans on a basic level. Some lunatics even use them to guard their crap since they CAN be bargained with. Not recommended though. Only a dumb dumb would try that. Did I mention I used to get punched in the head for a living? 

             "Oh, I see. So you want another round? Huh?" I said slowly, pulling out a small pink handball from my pocket. Both their eyes lit up. 

“So, the orb of shame is present!” Dig called out in excitement.

“PRESENT! Doug shouted. 

“Now, you remember the rules from last time, right?” I said, walking slowly past ‘em around the corner to the side of the building.  

“I HAVE NO IDEA,” Doug said, honestly. 

“It has also left me warmbirth,” Dig said as they followed me. I get why they’d forget. When the sun hits em, trolls turn into stone( along with their brain cells apparently). Still, you’d think after fifteen times, some of this stuff would have stuck.

“Handball. OK? You win by bouncing the ball back and forth on the wall. When I hit it, it bounces once, then you hit it. Understand?” We stopped around the corner, facing the side of my building. There, I demonstrated how to hit it against the wall. With one hand, I threw the ball up into the air and gave it a good smack. The ball bounced off the old brick of the building and bounced once off the floor before I caught it with the same hand I hit it with. They looked at me like I invented fire. “Ok, now remember, if you break the ball, you lose automatically, and you gotta stay still for the rest of the night, both of you. Understand?” 

“THAT MAKES ME SO ANGRY!” Doug shouted. I flinched, but the troll only stared at me in a quiet rage. After a few seconds of silence, Doug just went “fine.” Dig nodded in agreement, and boom, I was safe.  Quick tip: if you ever encounter a Troll, survival isn’t that hard if you play it right. Trolls might be dumb, but they're creative. Think of ‘em like giant kids. And like most kids, they love games. Riddles, tongue twisters, and checkers. If you ever meet a hungry Troll, play a game you know you can win, then walk out. It never fails. The one thing they crave more than food is victory. Nine times outta ten, they're saying yes. 

“Great, so let's get to work,” I said, stepping back so my troll friends could get into position. They stood at the ready, spreading their legs and digging their feet into the sidewalk. They extended their arms and opened their palms in an exaggerated version of what I’d shown em. It was then I got into position too but I knew this wouldn’t last long. I’m pretty good at the game, don’t get me wrong, sure, but if I had to go by the remains of popped rubber handballs that decorated the side of my building. I’d say my fifteenth DQ victory was pretty assured. All I had to do was wait. 

“Ready, everyone?” They grunted a yes .“Good, then let’s play.”