by David Lewman
“Okay, okay, enough!” Poppy protested. “Branch, I keep telling you to stop, but you keep singing! It’s like you’re not even listening to—”
She stopped, realizing what she was saying. “Oh, man, that’s what I did with Bridget, isn’t it? Just kept going without listening to what she was saying?”
“Whew!” Branch sighed, exhausted. “There it is. I was running out of songs….”
Poppy shook her head, embarrassed. “I got so excited trying to take care of Bridget that I wasn’t even listening to her.”
She hung her head, bummed out.
Then she heard singing.
“Hey,” Poppy said. “That actually sounds pretty nice.” She turned to face Branch, but found it wasn’t him. The song was coming from Bergen Town.
“Um, that’s not me,” Branch said.
They saw foam bubbles float up over the hill.
Poppy ran back toward the town, passing right through the group of friends in the clearing. Branch ran close behind her.
“Hey!” Smidge called. “WAIT FOR US!”
The other Trolls jumped to their feet and ran after Poppy and Branch, heading toward the happy singing in the distance. They soon caught up, and all the Trolls ran together in a little pack.
They wound through the streets of Bergen Town, past darkened shops and shuttered houses. Breathing hard, they reached the top of a steep hill and looked down.
They saw something beautiful!
The Bergens had decorated the Troll Tree. They’d hung colorful bibs on it like ornaments. Around the base of the tree, Bergens ice-skated on a brand-new rink. Nearby, tables had been set up with hot pizza and warm cookies. Chad and Todd were blowing foamy snow over the whole town.
“Hey, everybody! Check this out!” Gristle called, popping into view at the top of the Troll Tree. He plugged in a strand of colored lights, and the tree lit up. “The tree looks like Troll hair!”
Bridget gazed at the lights. “Grissy! It’s so beautiful!”
Gristle looked around and realized how high up he was. “Can someone help me down from here? Chad? Todd?”
Chad helped the king get down.
“Thanks, Chad,” Gristle said.
The guard beamed. “You’re welcome, Your Majesty! And thank you!”
“What for?” Gristle asked, puzzled.
“You got my name right!” Chad answered.
As the king approached the ground, Todd was there to help, too.
“I knew it all along,” Gristle said. “I was just messing with you, Chad.”
“Todd, sir,” said Todd patiently.
The music the Trolls had heard was coming from a small choir of Bergens singing a song about holidays. Bridget was listening and smiling.
Poppy ran up to her. “Bridget!”
“Poppy!”
“This is amazing!” Poppy exclaimed.
“I’m so glad to see you,” Bridget said.
Poppy gave her a big hug. “I’m sorry, Bridget. I wasn’t being a good friend. I got so caught up in telling you what to celebrate that I didn’t even think about why you’d want to celebrate.”
“Oh, it’s okay, Poppy,” Bridget said. “You actually helped us. We realized that the holidays aren’t about all that stuff.”
“Right?” Poppy said, excited. “It’s not about the glitter or the presents or the decorations—although I do love the decorations—but you’re right, it’s not about that, either. I’m learning as I go.”
“Me too,” Bridget agreed. “I think the holidays are about celebrating the awesome things in life. And the super-awesome thing in our lives is our friendship with you guys, the Trolls!”
“A friendship like ours is definitely worth celebrating!” Poppy said, hugging Bridget again.
Poppy looked over at Branch and saw that he was smiling—a real, genuine smile!
“Branch, you’re smiling!” she called to him.
“I am?” he said, feeling his face. “I am! Wow! So this is what it feels like!”
“You have a very nice smile,” Bridget said.
“Thanks!” Branch said, smiling big. “Yeah, this is kind of starting to hurt.” He rubbed his chin.
Poppy looked back at the celebration around the Troll Tree. “This is really nice, Bridget.”
Just then, King Gristle finished adding “Troll” to a banner, so now the whole sign read:
HAPPY TROLL-A-BRATION!
“Happy Troll-a-bration, everybody!” he called.
“I love it,” Poppy said.
“Thanks,” Bridget said. “But since we’re celebrating our friendship with the Trolls, I think our choir could use some Troll voices. Come on!”
The Trolls joined the choir, and they all sang a bouncy, happy song about celebrating the new holiday together. “HOLIDAY! CELEBRATE!”
At the end of the song, the Trolls’ watches started to glow. It was Hug Time! As the Trolls and the Bergens hugged each other, the light from the watches shone on the decorated tree. A gentle snow began to fall, and it was beautiful.
Long into the night, under the twinkling stars, everyone happily celebrated the new Bergen holiday: TROLL-A-BRATION!
And it was the best holiday celebration EVER!
What’s next on
your reading list?
Discover your next
great read!
* * *
Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author.
Sign up now.