We have been creating and making Trolls since 1952 - and it's still all in the Family!

THE COOKIE STORY
by Helena, Minna and Johannes Kuuskoski
Artwork by Helena Kuuskoski

Did you and your friends ever have one of those days when you had all the time in the world to do whatever you wanted, but couldn�t think of anything to do? Bugbear and his friends were having a day just like that, and they were bored. They had no ideas of what to do, or where to go, or anything at all.

Bugbear finally let out a big sigh. �I�m so bored and this is silly,� he said. �Surely we can come up with something fun to do!�
�You know, I love parties,� said Boxtroll. �We haven�t had one in a long time�.
�Yes, a party with lots of cookies � what a great idea! We just better make sure we have tons of cookies there,� said Buster, already thinking about eating most of the chocolate chip ones.
Lilli knows how many cookies Buster can eat, so she said, �And who would bake enough cookies?�

Honeylips had been very quiet, deep in thought, until just now. �Wow, this is GREAT! What a great idea, this party! And even better � I am going to invent a COOKIE MACHINE to do all the baking. Oh boy, I�m excited now!� he almost shouted.

Bugbear and Boxtroll went to find a calendar, so they could see what would be a good day for the party. Since Honeylips� new invention would take care of all the baking, the friends had decided to invite everyone in Trolldom to this special event. Oh, what a fun party it would be!

While Lilli and Buster went to dig up as many cookie recipes as they could find, Honeylips hurried to his workshop to design the blueprints to this marvelous machine.

Designing blueprints for inventions requires a lot of thinking, many good pencils and lots of paper, as you can see. But Honeylips was having a great time.
�This will be my most delicious invention yet,� he chuckled as he crumpled up one more piece of paper.

While Honeylips worked on the Cookie Machine, the others went to Lilli�s place to help look for good Cookie Recipes.
�These all look so GOOD,� said Bugbear.
�I know � can we try these, please?� said Buster, looking at the chocolate chip cookie recipe.
�These Raisin-Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip ones sound delicious!� hollered Bugbear.
�How about Peanut Butter Cookies?� said someone.
�Sprinkles on top would be nice,� said another.

�There�s going to have to be CHOCOLATE CHIPS in them!�
�Lemon cookies � I love lemon cookies!�
�Oh, I think Boxtroll might like Vanilla Squares� to remind him of home on Boxplanet you know,� said Lilli.

�I think I�ll have a little nap,� said Boxtroll and yawned mightily
�There must be a million different recipes here! How can we possibly know what would be the best?�

They decided to test some of the cookie recipes in Lilli�s kitchen, so Lilli and Buster went to get supplies. Bugbear and Boxtroll helped Honeylips build the basic structure of the Cookie Machine.

�Have you decided what you will call this invention?� inquired Boxtroll.
�Well, yes. I think I�ll call it the Super Duper Cookie Maker Baker, or something like that,� said Honeylips. �Or we can just call it the Cookie Machine.�
�I wouldn�t call it anything until we know it works,� muttered Bugbear.

�Lilli, is this enough? Actually, it looks like enough stuff to make a million cookies. But that�s okay � I think I could eat just about that many,� said Buster.

Lilli, Buster, Boxtroll and Bugbear spent the entire next day in Lilli�s kitchen, measuring and mixing, baking and tasting, of course.
�I love these,� said Bugbear as he sampled a Peanut Butter cookie.

�Cookie tasting must be a very important and serious job, isn�t it?� wondered Boxtroll. �We don�t have cookies like these on Boxplanet, you know. There, all the cookies are square, too,� he added. �These are mine, ALL MINE,� said Buster when he spotted the bowl of chocolate chip cookies. �I had forgotten how great sugar cookies are,� said Bugbear.
�Those cinnamon cookies look interesting, may I have one?� asked Boxtroll politely.

�Please, Boxtroll, help yourself. And all of you, do make sure you taste everything and make notes,� Lilli reminded them of the task at hand.

�No problem!� said Buster with a grin on his face. �I love it when I HAVE to eat cookies.�

In the meantime, Honeylips had finished his work � the marvelous Super-Duper-Cookie-Maker-Baker was ready. And Honeylips was tired. He had worked non-stop almost all night.

�I�ll just close my eyes for a couple of minutes,� he mumbled. �I won�t sleep, just need to sit down� rest my eyes�� and within seconds he was fast asleep.
So, he didn�t see what you see, the intruder peeking in through the window.

�Hey, look at that,� said Mudhat Icky under his breath. �Looks like the fuzzbrain here has made a� whatever� a thing. I better find out what�s going on in here.� And so Icky climbed in and snooped around and found out all kinds of things. This was a very bad thing to do, but Mudhats don�t care about that.

�Just wait �till I tell Sneaky about this�heh heh,� he chuckled as he left.
A while later, Honeylips woke up, took a shower and was feeling as good as new when his friends came over. It was time to put the Super-Duper-Cookie-Maker-Baker to the test.

�What kind of cookies did you all decide on?� Honeylips asked.

�It was a difficult decision, real tough,� said Bugbear.
�That�s right � so we kind of invented a recipe,� said Lilli. �It�s called VANILLA-FLAVORED-CHOCOLATE-CHIP-COOKIES-WITH-SPRINKLES-ON-TOP.�
�Yep, that�s VF-TRIPLEC-WSOP for short,� Buster explained.

Lilli measured the ingredients, because she knew the most about cookie making. Honeylips turned on the machine, and then they waited. There were all kinds of strange sounds of mixing and pounding, sloshing and plopping. They waited some more.
Did you ever wait for cookies to be ready? It seems like forever, doesn�t it? What�s the first clue that cookies are ready? Yes, you can smell them! And so could our friends. Oh, they smelled so good! Suddenly, the bell rang and the sign lit up, and the cookies were sliding out of the machine. Buster volunteered to taste the first one.

�AWESOME!� he declared. They all tasted the cookies and agreed that they were excellent. The party was going to be a success!

Meanwhile, in the Mudswamp, Icky was very excited, trying to get Sneaky�s attention.

�Sneaky, yo, wake up! You�re never gonna believe what the furheads are up to!� he shouted.
�Quit hollering and shut up! Can�t you see I�m busy!� growled Sneaky, the leader of the nasty Mudhats.
�Yeah, looks like you�re taking a nap, like a baby,� said Icky.
�You callin� me a baby?� yelled Sneaky. They almost had a fistfight right then and there. Once they calmed down, Icky could explain what he had seen.

  �Okay, so � they got this machine, huh? Lots of possibilities there, yeah, definitely, and a party you say?� Sneaky mumbled.

�Totally cool, yeah! Can we crash the party, can we?� asked Yucky. He liked that idea.

And what a disgusting, stinky plan it was!

During the night before the Cookie Party, Sneaky and his gang got into Honeylips� workshop. They had loaded their old Mud Truck full of � you guessed it! � stinky, nasty mud. And you can see what they are doing with it!

�You know, they shoulda invited us �cause we�re the neighbors, right?� yelled Sneaky.
�Be quiet, you moron!� hissed Yucky, who had more brains than the rest of them.
�I can yell if I want to!� said Sneaky. �Anyway, I sincerely hope they�re gonna like our special recipe, right guys?�

  �Help, I�m stuck!� called Stuck, who was stuck because Hoot was stepping on him.
�Cut it out, Stuck! We know who you are!� growled Icky.
�Okay, you slowpokes! Hurry up! We ain�t got all day, let�s get outta here!� Sneaky shouted again.
�Hey Sneaky! I wanna be there to see it when the fuzzheads start eating these cookies!� said Yucky. �Me, too!� said Icky.
�Alright, alright. We�ll all go. Get a move on now, you sorry excuses for Mudhats!�

It was a beautiful, sunny day for the Cookie Party, and there was great excitement in the air. Everyone in Trolldom had received an invitation, and most were planning to come. Lilli and Buster were decorating the trees around the Main Square.

�I think this is going to be a wonderful party,� said Buster.

�I think you are right, and it will be great fun,� said Lilli. �And I am so happy the Cookie Machine works, too. You know how it is with some of Honeylips� inventions.�

  �Here are a few more balloons,� said Bugbear. �You know, I am just going to go and check on Honeylips, to see if he needs anything. I�ll be back in a few minutes,� he added.
�Good idea,� Lilli and Buster both agreed. �Yeah, I can hardly wait for the party � I think I need a few cookies right now!� said Buster.

Well, it was almost time to crank up the Super-Duper-Cookie-Maker-Baker, although just about everyone called it �the Cookie Machine�.

As you see, guests had already started to arrive at the Main Square. There�s Trumpetnose, the Troll Poet and leader of Trolldom. Next to him, Murriboy, then Mr. Poppa and Mrs. Noppa. Mr. and Mrs. Sumppi were arriving, too, and the Troll children had run off to see if there were any cookies to be found yet.

After a short while, Bugbear came running, somewhat out of breath.
�Oh, hi everybody! Good to see you all. Have you seen Boxtroll, or Lilli and Buster?� he wanted to know.
�Is everything alright?� inquired Trumpetnose. He sensed that everything wasn�t all right.
�Yes, hm, yes, sure,� Bugbear mumbled. �I just need to find them,� he explained.
After some more polite conversation, Bugbear spotted his friends and ran after them.

  More guests were arriving; everyone was excited, and eager to taste the results of Honeylips� latest invention.

Things were not going well at all at Honeylips� place.
�Oh my, what is this dreadful smell?� Lilli wanted to know.
�I can�t believe this!� shouted Honeylips. �It was working fine yesterday, I don�t know what is wrong,� he moaned.
�Those don�t look right,� observed Boxtroll.

�I hope you don�t mind, but I really don�t want to taste one of those,� explained Buster.
Everyone was looking at the ugly clumps sliding out of the Cookie Machine. They didn�t look at all like the delicious cookies they had tasted earlier. And the smell was even worse

�Something�s gone wrong with my machine,� said Honeylips, and slumped into a chair, totally depressed. �My invention is NO GOOD!�
�I think something else is wrong here,� said Bugbear. �Come on, Boxtroll. Let�s look around.�

�Are you thinking what I�m thinking?� asked Boxtroll.
�I think so,� Bugbear answered.

�Well, well, well � look at that!� said Bugbear, pointing at a cluster of muddy footprints near Honeylips� backdoor. �Come and take a look at this,� he hollered.

�Mudhats!� Boxtroll announced.
�They are so messy,� said Lilli.
�And not very smart, either,� added Buster.
�I sure feel a lot better now, this is wonderful,� said Honeylips to everyone�s surprise.
�How can you feel better!� exclaimed Bugbear. �Mudhats ruined your machine, they�ve ruined our party � what�s better about that?�
�Well, for starters, it means that my invention is good, and it works, the machine is FINE, you see. Now of course, the problem is that the machine isn�t really fine, because it�s full of mud� I wonder how we could clean it�� Honeylips explained.

Boxtroll soon returned with Mr. Mushroom �he is the Fire Chief in Trolldom � and a whole brigade of little Mushrooms eager to help. It didn�t take them very long to hose down the Cookie Machine with water and soap and more water.

�Make sure you get the insides completely clean,� instructed Boxtroll.

Little Mushrooms thought the whole thing was funny. �Are we going to eat soggy cookies?� they giggled. �How do you eat soggy cookies anyway?� they giggled some more.
Finally all the mud was out of the Cookie Machine and it had been rinsed thoroughly. Honeylips looked puzzled.

�We really can�t have soggy cookies� wait a minute, I�ve got something here somewhere�� and so he went to find something. He came back with the biggest hair-dryer you have ever seen.

�Actually, it�s a tree-dryer. I haven�t had a chance to use it yet. Let�s see if it works.�

The tree-dryer worked very well. And so did the Super-Duper-Cookie-Maker-Baker! The party was a great success, and the cookies were so incredibly delicious that everybody ate almost too many.

Honeylips was delighted as everyone congratulated him on his fine invention.

Bugbear and Boxtroll were asked to explain the strange goings-on before the party, and the little Mushrooms felt very proud when Bugbear told the audience about their excellent job of cleaning the Cookie Machine.
Trumpetnose was so inspired by the cookies that he had to say this:

Mudhats surely would pout
If they knew their plan got found out!
And let me tell you this � I can�t think of anything better to do
Than to eat these cookies here with you!
And so everyone had a great time!

Oh! Wait a minute�

It appears that not quite everybody was having such a great time after all.  Can you guess who?

That�s right, the Mudhats were having a horrible time. It was so bad, they almost had a fistfight again. Sneaky, Icky and Yucky had snuck into Trolldom to see the Trolls� faces when they were biting into the �special recipe� mud cookies. They couldn�t believe their eyes when the Trolls actually enjoyed the cookies! Of course, the Mudhats had no idea that the Trolls had figured out what was going on, and were able to clean the Cookie Machine in time for the party.
�You stupid idiot! This was your plan!� shouted Yucky.
�How was I to know those blubberheads were gonna like our special recipe!� shouted Sneaky.
�That�s right, they are stupider than I thought,� said Icky. �I sure wouldn�t eat no mud cookies!�                                                                                                                                    

COOKIE MACHINE the book has been published by AuthorHouse. Order an autographed copy by clicking on the button: