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Everyone knows of trolls, scary, ugly monsters that live under bridges that are just waiting for any opportunity to snatch and gobble up any helpless child that wanders too far from their parents. Legends say these horrible beasts can be defeated by the light of day, which turns them to stone! Truly strange and frightening creatures, at least, most of them are... As the sun rose slowly in the sky, painting the December sky a rosey pink, one such creature was making her way toward a well, bucket in hand, long ears twitching as she listened to the bird song and crunch of snow und Noer her boots, the fog of her breath puffing out gently. The well near her home was frozen over and so she had gotten up before daylight to get ready for the small adventure that bringing home water to her home would be. While it's true that humans still consider all trolls ugly, and she was no exception, Liva was not the child eating monster of our childhood fairytales, proof of that was shown by her little outing into the daylight all on its own! Instead of a giant hulking creature with beady eyes full of clever malice, Liva, at a distance perhaps, could pass for human, certainly no bigger than the tallest man in the nearby human village, with a long nose, dangling ears, and a tail that swished behind her casually though, one could tell she was not, cheeks rosey with blush from the light nipping wind, her eyes held a gentle maternal softness to them, that every troll of her ilk carried, she was a Slattenpatten! Besides the signature features her kind are known for, Liva carried their other well known trait, the need to feed everyone she came across! To Slattenpatten, the world at large simply never looks like they have enough to eat, and dutiful to these maternal instincts, they would offer milk to help fill their bellies. From humans, to the creatures of the forest, no one would go hungry so long as Liva was there to offer them a warm drink, and she was busy. Winter is harsh and often barren of food, but those creatures in the forest knew even when snow fell they could retreat to a cozy little cabin and rely on her to give them a warm place to rest while they ate. The well she sought today really wasn't for water, not normally, tucked deep into the forest, this was a wishing well, full of magic that granted the wishes of those who searched for their hearts true desire. Even though she knew of the wells power, this was not a quest for her hearts desire, not really, Liva was certain that she had everything she could ever want in life, a large extended family, kind villagers nearby, and a warm, but often empty home to return to every evening where she could invite guests to sit a while and talk with her by the fire. No, today she needed the well for it's mundane purpose, she hoped, because it was magical that it wasn't frozen like her own well. The sun had fully risen by the time she arrived, the wishing well looking the same as she had been told it would look, just a circle of simple grey stones with rope tied to a spike in the ground nearby so water could be collected. With no hesitation she set to work, dusting snow off the ring of the well and pulling the stiff rope from the ground, doing her best to tie a knot on her buckets handle before tossing it in and listening to it bang into the sides on its way down. A resounding splash set her tail to wagging with delight, she'd been right! The wishing well wasn't frozen! Grabbing the rope and begining to haul it up, she realized something strange though, the bucket felt heavy, perhaps there was a chunk of ice in the well and she'd managed to scoop it in accidentally? Pulling it along was a slow process hopeful to have a full bucket she could sip from once it returned to the top, but once she saw what was actually inside the bucket she nearly dropped it back down from shock! A tiny, curled up, must have been freshly hatched dragon! The shock had the trolls ears fully perked forward and tail sticking straight out behind her, who could ever have anticipated that's what she would pull up? She hadn't come here to make a wish after all, though, deep, deep in her heart where she had tried to hide it, Liva longed for a family. Given the disposition of her kind, she of course took up the baby without a second thought, seeing they even still had an egg tooth on the end of their nose. A brand new baby, just got her! Not one she had made, not herself anyway, but a baby for her never the less, a small vulnerable life that was already shivering in the cold, prompting a quiet coo of concern from Liva. "Oh sweetheart, my poor thing." She was quick to move, undoing the buttons of her coat and quickly slipping them inside not only that, but also her clothes and long underwear too, so that the poor baby could feel her heartbeat and use her body heat, which thankfully did the trick, shivers receding once they were in the safety of her bosom. A sigh of relief puffed out yet another breath of fog, there was no question in her mind what she had been gifted, this was her first child, and though they came through strange means, as the troll untied her bucket and sipped what little water had been in the bottom, she knew this was what has always been meant to happen. So, the two would head home, the dragon being given a name by his new troll mother "Sparkie" for having sparked the flame to begin building her own family, and so, they lived happily ever after, forever and always.