This was my part in the sing-it-together zine!! Hope you enjoy!!
go see the full thing at @sing-it-togetherzine and download it!!
That’s all that he can hear.
He doesn’t seem to be in control of his moving legs, but they’re moving.
Sweat. That’s what he feels running down his cheek.
Exhaustion. Regret. Realization…
John Dory sits up in bed suddenly, gasping for breath and air. He rubbed his hand through his hand, looking around, his hands moist from perspiration.
His heart slowed down a bit, and he gripped his chest.
He had reminisced way too much last night, causing the nightmare. Sighing, he got up/
John Dory didn’t want to take off his pajamas, so he just stumbled out of his room in the bunker into the living room.
Ever since the bros had reunited, both John Dory and Floyd had decided to stay with Branch in his bunker, while Bruce continued to live at Vacaay Island, and Clay with Viva at Putt Putt Village.
John Dory wished that he had a girl to stay with at the moment. He needed some kind of calm down.
That’s what coffee and Rhondas are there for.
John Dory tricked over himself towards the kitchen and heated up some leftover coffee. He knew Branch was probably up somewhere, he always was, double checking the premises around Pop Village. Thank goodness he always left coffee.
John Dory drowsily looked up at the clock. Before 5.
Yup. Branch was definitely up by now.
He poured the coffee into his cup and went straight back to his room.
He passed his calendar and stopped to look at it. John knew this day all too well.
It haunted him. Just like this day had 20 years ago.
“Everyone! Take shelter! Under rocks, hide in between leaves! Anything!”
All the trolls, despite their screams, heard his strong firm voice clearly. They took his advice, sliding beneath rocks and using their hair to blend in.
They could hear the great big feet stomping towards their tree. They could feel it.
The ground shook as the big purple monster stepped closer to the tree. The trolls lost their balance as they tried to rush to hide.
Trollstice had snuck up on them this year. No one had been ready.
“Blend in!” King Peppy continued to shout, and through their struggles most managed to do so.
John Dory ran along with the trolls, his brothers supposedly following behind. His parents were right beside him and he puffed along.
He kept glancing at his parents, waiting for them to tell him a place safe enough for him to hide.
His parents seemed to be a bit dazed and confused, unsure of where to put their children. Their heads swiveled frantically, both whispering and pointing.
John Dory had noticed lately how his mother had been unsteady, having to lean against their father much more and such.
He wondered what was making her so exhausted.
“John Dory!” his father called. “Look ahead, son! Don’t look behind!”
“Make sure your brothers are caught up as well!” the mom puffed next to him.
John Dory’s eyes crinkled in concern but nodded. He turned straight ahead and kept jogging on his path, his determination mode set on as he began looking both right and left for his brothers.
Spruce wasn’t far behind, on his right, gasping for air as he ran too, holding their brother Clay’s hand.
Now for Floyd, the youngest…
John Dory slipped his vest on, then his shorts, and placed his goggles over his forehead.
Another day not so like the others.
A day full of flashbacks just like every year.
Sighing, he began to march out of his room, slowly but carefully, his vision playing tricks on him in the dark as he slipped on a few pieces of paper that he knew Floyd had left from brainstorming song ideas.
He didn’t have time to get annoyed right now and tramp into his younger brother's room complaining like he might’ve any other day.
He needed to get to the elevator.
He needed to get outside.
Quickly, slurping the last of his coffee, and gripping the handle of the mug tightly, he rushed toward the elevator and pulled the lever.
The elevator jolted up and soon he was outside of the bunker.
John Dory set his goggles over his eyes and tucked the mug into his hair. He knew exactly who he could go to at a time like this.
Within minutes of fast-walking he was approaching a big field of nice long grass that he knew that his baby girl Rhonda was obsessed with rubbing and sleeping in.
And there she was, fast asleep in the blades of green, looking extremely satisfied with life.
The opposite of how JD was feeling right now.
“Rhonda!” He shook her and she woke, blinking slowly and looking at him, confused.
Without explaining, he entered his armadillo vehicle and opened the sunroof and climbed to the top.
Slowly he took big gulps of air as he removed his goggles and lay on his back, arms behind his head, looking up into the infinity of the sky above.
John Dory felt his heart quicken even faster– which moments before he hadn’t realized was even possible.
“Keep going! No one left behind!”
He could hear King Peppy’s voice way behind him, still shouting to the other trolls like him and his family who couldn’t find a hiding place that hadn’t been occupied yet.
It wasn’t until moments like these that you realize how many trolls there actually are.
He could feel the bergen getting closer, its footsteps shaking the tree more and more violently.
“Floyd!” his mother cried out behind him as she and his father caught up. “Where’s Floyd?!” Her voice strained with worry as the screams from the trolls got louder.
Suddenly, they felt a cold presence behind them.
Everyone turned to see a humongous purple pimply hand reach down and snatch a troll.
The troll shrieked and immediately, along with John Dory’s dad, rushed to grab the trolls’ hands and pull him away from the bergen’s strong grip.
They tugged and yanked, and suddenly the troll popped out of the bergen’s hand.
They all fell backwards in a heap as the hand pulled back quickly.
John Dory heard the bergen grunt in annoyance and his mom began to cry.
He needed to find Floyd! Where was that–
Immediately, the BroZone family turned to see Floyd, his leg stuck underneath a big tree branch that had fallen.
He was a while away, almost fifteen yards, and the bergen’s hand was beginning to dip down for more trolls as more trolls began to scream. His dark pink eyes were swimming in tears as he reached out towards them.
“Floyd! Someone has to–” their mom began to panic, attempting to run towards her son.
“No, you stay!” Her husband held her back. “The boys and I will go. Keep running to safety!”
John Dory began to race towards his brother, ignoring the arguing behind him, with Spruce right on his trail.
They dodged the terror-driven trolls and the thought of the hand dropping down and grabbing them at any moment encouraged their feet to go faster.
Finally, they were at Floyd’s side.
“I was trying to catch up with you, but I slipped, and this tree must not have been strong because it fell from all the running–”
They yanked as John Dory felt his arms almost grow numb from pain and the cold wind that whipped past them, making him shiver.
Cold wind? It was mid-summer…
John Dory sat on his back, watching the clouds part and make way for the sun. His mind raced, and with his mind his heart began to beat faster again.
His breaths became a bit rapid and he tried to slow it down, squeezing his eyes closed and counting backwards from thirty.
It wasn’t working, dangit.
He wished the memories wouldn’t rush into his head as fast as they were, the way they did every year on this day.
Every other day he could pretend like it never happened. Something his brothers sometimes loathed. But he couldn’t emotionally handle this.
He couldn’t physically handle it either.
JD felt the sweat slowly trickle down his forehead, and he took out a cloth and attempted to wipe it away, but he wasn’t entirely focused on the warm drops dripping down his face. His mind was searching for some kind of reason not to remember this day years ago.
Rhonda could feel the tense and stressful vibes in the air, and she scrunched her eyebrows nervously. She began to vibrate and purr, something that had helped John Dory the few times this had happened to him.
John Dory felt the vibrating of his armadillo’s purrs underneath him, and he felt his arm move to caress the top of his pet. His eyes closed and his breaths came out rushed as he continued to struggle with his thoughts.
Rhonda made a small noise, like a loving sort of growl, at first quietly, and then again. Louder this time.
John Dory didn’t notice. The world seemed to be slipping away from him.
Floyd was hoisted up by his arms around John Dory and Spruce’s shoulders, as they tried to rush forward where their parents had been attempting to stay while moving forward at the same time.
Floyd’s leg was limp, but not broken. Only a small sprain that should be completely well within a month or so. The pain wasn’t awful, he promised his brothers.
They were near their parents, and Clay rushed to meet them. “They want us to run with Grandma!” Clay gasped, bent over as he tried to quickly catch his breath. “Mom can’t keep running. She’s too tired.”
John Dory looked at his mother, his tough, strong and determined mother, confused. Why was she so exhausted so easily?
“Boys!!” Grandma Rosiepuff, as strong as ever, rushed right by them, grabbing Clay’s arm as she rushed by. “Keep up with me!”
“But Mom and Dad–” Spruce began.
“They’re alright!” Grandma promised. “Just keep running. We’re heading into the cover under that rock, right ahead!”
As she kept running, John Dory and Spruce nodded at each other. There was no point in arguing. They kept running with Floyd, urging Clay to keep close behind.
John Dory’s gaze kept onto his parents as long as he was close enough to see their facial features.
It looked like his mother was crying. She was on the ground, her dress completely dirty, her navy blue eyes filled with sorrow but determination as she looked up at her husband, who was kneeling down beside her, his eyes also incredibly watery. She was telling him something, and he was listening and nodding, eyebrows lowered in dedication.
Then he pulled her up. John Dory could mouth the words “I love you” tremble from his father’s lips as his dad turned his head to see him watching.
And then his parents began to run in the opposite direction of everyone else. Towards a big field of long wavy grass.
Clay’s voice brought John Dory’s eyes back to what was in front of him.
The big bergen hand lowering once again, the screams near him getting higher and more shrill, as it dipped and slammed against a big tree branch near them.
“Get ready to jump underneath the rock!” Grandma shouted, reaching for Clay as she began to run faster.
The branch snapped and began to drop down toward them, right in front of the rock they were going to shelter in.
John Dory felt his arms unwrap from around his baby brother and push Floyd and Spruce in front of him, underneath the rock.
And then he felt his legs lower and then spring up and land right beside his brothers, falling onto his shoulder, as the branch fell just afterwards, in front of the big rock, blocking the entrance for them and the other trolls who had taken shelter under there.
That’s what the next hour brought.
John Dory felt something crawl up next to him on top of Rhonda.
He didn’t care. As long as this thing didn’t bother him.
His eyes stayed closed and his gasps didn’t slow as the memory continued to run through his mind.
Then he felt a hand. On top of his.
John Dory felt his conscious being brought back a little, drifting away a bit from the past. He felt his right eye open to see who had interrupted.
His mother’s navy blue eyes looked down at him, filled with worry and concern.
Wait, no… not his mother…
Branch didn’t say anything, or do anything more than just rest his hand on top of his. He just sat up beside him, watching him carefully. Slowly his eyes moved from beside him to up at the sky, where it had quickly become bright and almost cheerful out.
John Dory wondered what he was thinking, and if he knew. But he didn’t want to find out. Not now. If Branch knew, he had to be the one to bring it up.
He was not in the state to talk first.
“I heard Rhonda. She seemed really stressed out, and I could tell from all the way from my bunker.” That was the first thing he said.
Nothing about why John Dory was laying down on top of his armadillo in a blanket of sweat at seven in the morning.
John Dory wanted to say something smart alec– but he didn’t. He was too tired.
“I was out collecting berries earlier with Floyd. Poppy asked if I could for some kind of recipe she wanted to make for us. Some kind of improvement, she claims, of Fluffleberry cake.” He gave a light scoff, signaling that he felt that an improvement of that recipe was impossible, but at the moment that he didn’t really care.
John Dory considered ignoring him, slipping back into his half unconscious world.
“We got to talking and… Floyd told me.” Branch looked back at his oldest brother. “It’s alright. I know.”
He wasn’t crying. But his voice had that certain edge to it.
John Dory’s eyes filled. His hand gripped Branch’s tighter. “You know…” His voice was hoarse with exhaustion and tears, but he felt relief run through him.
“I’m sorry, John Dory. I– I’m sorry…” Branch’s voice grew squeakier. “I know what this may feel like for you…. I definitely do.”
John Dory thought of how he must’ve dealt with Grandma’s death. How he did deal with her death.
“Do you struggle with this every year?”
John Dory evaded the question. He looked at Branch devotedly. “That day wasn’t all
sorrow and loss, Branch. I did gain something.”
Now Branch’s eyes slowly filled a bit too, but he stubbornly wiped at them quickly, as if ashamed.
John Dory sat up next to him and gave a sigh as his heart went back to beating a slower pace once again.
It had been quiet for an hour or so.
The branch outside of the rock turned out to not be as heavy as expected, and the trolls inside were able to easily move it away from the entrance.
Everyone walked out, in a daze, wondering where their family was, if they were alright, how many trolls the dreadful bergen had taken this time.
Grandma Rosiepuff took Floyd in her arms as she and her grandsons walked out into the bright sunlight also.
No one wanted to say anything, to guess that it was their family that got caught and taken away to be eaten.
John Dory couldn’t stand around not knowing however. He immediately rushed towards where his parents had hurried to an hour before, tears being whipped away from his eyelashes from the speed of his run.
The first voice of the hour called out to him, “John Dory! Sweetheart!”
But he wasn’t about to wait. He needed to know.
Into the field, he pushed back the long wavy grass, he called over and over for them. No response. The tears continued to fall as he searched the field.
The field was that big, however. He almost completely searched all of it within ten minutes. By then, his brothers and grandmother had met up with him, watching him search frantically.
Grandma’s face was already smeared with tears, and the boys watched, almost confused.
“Where’s Mom?” Floyd whispered.
Spruce hugged him closer, beginning to understand.
John Dory finally reached the end of the field. He was sobbing now.
Why them? Why did that awful thing have to take them?!
He pushed aside the last two blades of grass, and through his tears he saw something shimmer against the sun.
John swiped at his eyes and looked again.
John Dory rushed towards it. He knelt down on the dirt and carefully rested a hand on the egg.
It was warm. It had just recently been set there, a couple hours ago at most.
But who would leave an egg–?
Then he saw it. Right beside the egg, was a pair of goggles. His dad’s.
He had left them there, knowing that John Dory would go looking for them, knowing that John Dory would find the egg, and knowing that if he saw the goggles then John Dory would know also.
The egg belonged to his parents.
John Dory grabbed the goggles and looked it over for a sign. Anything.
We knew you’d find this egg. We were going to tell you as a surprise at dinner but… well, surprise! Grandma already knows.
We want you to take care of it in the ways we won’t be able to while we’re away. Keep your new baby brother safe. Love him with everything within you, just like we would and will always. We know you will. It’s your way. We love you and your brothers so much. No matter what happens, through thick and thin, always have each other’s backs. Make us proud. We know you will.
John Dory looked at the egg again. The tears fell freely as he reached out, took it carefully in his arms, and gave it a small and gentle hug.
John Dory was surprised to find Branch hugging him back. He was surprised he was hugging Branch at all.
But they sat there, together, bonding through a loss and a gain.
It was nice to know that Branch understood his pain. It was nice to know he had his brother back again.
John Dory pulled away and sniffled. “You remind me of Mom so much,” he chuckled, embarrassed.
Branch swiped at his face again. “How so?”
“You pretend to be a tough bean,” John Dory said, smirking slightly, “but you’re a softie.”
Branch rolled his eyes but gave him a watery smile. “I guess that’s what the ladies want, huh?”
“You bet!” John Dory laughed, nudging him. “But every now and then you show a bit of Dad.”
“Floyd was telling me you are basically Dad’s twin.” Branch raised an eyebrow at him.
“Exactly.” John Dory grinned.
Branch chuckled. They sat there for a while afterward, pondering, thinking in silence.
Branch had never met his parents. John Dory and his bros had no idea what happened to them- if they were alive, if they were eaten.
But it was still a major loss.
Yet, it had come with an amazing addition.
John Dory turned and grinned at his baby brother.
Love him with everything within you.
He would never admit this but… that was pretty easy to do when it came to Branch.
