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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.
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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"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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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"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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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