The Magic of Harmony

Funk

Branch, a natural early bird, woke up long before anyone else. He rose out of the sleeping bag stretching as he went. He took a glance around the campsite. Moonbloom was in her own sleeping bag on the other side of the fire. Clay’s and Viva’s tent was still zipped up and he heard no sounds coming from inside the camper.

So, he figured coffee was on him.

He restarted the fire, using what was left of the wood pile to do so. As he was doing so he noticed a rather big pile of bugs and even small animals by Rhonda. She was still asleep, so she hadn’t noticed the prey pile left for her. John Dory, however, was nowhere in sight. Branch let out a humm and finished getting the coffee ready. While it was set to boil on the fire he decided to take a quick walk around the area to look for his eldest brother.

It surprisingly didn’t take long to find him. John was sitting down on some rocks by the lake. He was hunched over, probably from exhaustion. Branch walked over and sat down next to the older Troll, startling him. A chuckled escaped Branch when he saw the spooked look on John's face.

“What are you doing up so early?” John asked his youngest brother as he settled back down. He had been so lost in thought and tiredness that he hadn’t heard him walk up.

“I’m always up this early.” Branch shrugged nonchalantly.

“I guess some things never change.” John chuckled, which was quickly followed by a yawn. Branch frowned, worried about how tired the other was.

“Yeah, Grandma used to tell me how I would never sleep in no matter how late I would stay up the night before.” Branch recalled the memory. It was fuzzy, most were from back then. He was so young and it was so long ago.

“Ain't that the truth.” John reminisces. Branch looked at the eldest curiously. He always wanted to know more about his brothers and wanted John to speak of it. “You were always up first, so we would make breakfast. Well, more like I would and you would cling to my arm as I held you. Or you would sit in my hair with your head hanging out. You had some strong opinions about food as a baby, let me tell you. Clay would come in not too long after. He was always the most sensitive to noise and would hear us and wake up.

“I used to have to get him noise canceling headphones because loud noises would get too much for him. We found out right after Floyd was hatched because he would cry a lot as a baby. Heh! Floyd would join us for breakfast only after his make up was done. It made getting him to finish his food before school a challenge!

“Spruce was the worst before school. He always woke up last because he always snuck out to meet up with his girlfriend the night before. I would have to make him something easy to eat and run with. Not that he always ate!” John shook his head fondly at the memory. It was then that he seemed to realize what he was doing. He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry Bitty B. Didn’t mean to talk your ears off there.”

“Branch. And it’s fine.” Branch waved JD off with a small smile. “I like hearing about before. I didn’t know Bruce snuck off.”

“Yeah, it was an almost nightly thing.” John laughed, seeming more alert than before. He looked out across the lake, its rippling waters reflecting the colors of the dawn. “Don’t tell Grandma, okay? I haven’t ratted my brother out yet, I don’t want to hear you’ve done it yourself.”

Branch barely held back a wince. He realized his brother didn’t know that Grandma was dead yet. It made sense that he assumed she was alive, even if he thought the other way not too long ago. Branch had survived, so why wouldn’t she? John was probably expecting to see her after all of this and he had no idea how to break the news to him.

“We should get back to camp. I’m sure the others will be waking up soon.” John stated as he stood up, stretching his arms as he did so. Branch took the chance to talk about something other than Grandma.