Swimming had never felt so.. free before. The closer to the surface she got, the more her heart swelled in her chest. She was finally going to get to see land. She was going to feel grass beneath her feet and see the stars and the moons with her own eyes, and not just in some picture book. She would get to meet other trolls! Shake hands and exchange pleasantries and.. Oh there was so much to look forward to!
Finally breaking the surface, Kleona swam to shallow waters, wringing the water from her hair as she walked onto dry sand. She paused, looking down at it, and then kicked her shoes off, placing her feet in the sand and wiggling her toes with a giggle. It was so different here. So different from what she’d grown accustom to all her life. She reached into her bag and pulled out the scarf she’d brought along, positioning it over her fins to cover them, and then started marching with purpose toward town.
She paused once she reached the tree line, grazing the bottoms of her feet over the ends of the grass one at a time, watching it sway and bend beneath her. Then something clicked in her mind. She was free. She was totally on her own and away from the constant watchfulness of Thalas. She was completely independent to do whatever she wanted to.
With a squeal, she pulled her shoes back on and then skipped further into the forest, bouncing and laughing, spinning here and there before flopping onto her back to gaze up at the stars. It all looked so.. vast. So open and limitless. She couldn’t believe it had taken her so long to run away.
Rolling over a few times, she finally pulled herself to her feet and started toward town again. She was on her own. Free. Independent. She could do whatever she wanted and go wherever she liked! She could meet people and make friends!! Oh, there was so much to learn about surface life, so much to process with what Thalas had told her. But she was finally away from him. And she had never felt better.