ParlowB

= Bryna Parlow = = =  Krunk’s Expedition Krunk grew up just like any regular giant. He spent the carefree days of his youth exploring his neighborhood, swinging from mountaintop to mountaintop. It just so happened that one day, Krunk was a little //too// carefree. He failed to notice a particularly large boulder that was rolling straight towards him. The folks around the village say he flew two hundred feet in the air. Consequently, Krunk’s face was now shrouded with unsightly scars and bruises that never healed quite right. And he never stopped moping since. For the past ten years, Krunk stayed in his homely two-room cottage, immobilized out of embarrassment. “What reason is there for me to live?” Krunk sulked for the hundredth time that day. “I have no friends, and no one will talk to me because of my hideous face!” At that precise moment, the infamously intemperate giantess god Agatha beamed down into the room. “I have seen and heard your cries for the last time Krunk!” she boomed. “Listen and listen well. Beyond this village, well past these mountains, is where your hopes and dreams lie. ‘Gillyweed’ it’s called and it will heal that thing you call a face. Your scars….cured! Your bruises…healed!” “Just like that,” Krunk whimpered. “Just like that,” replied Agatha sternly. “But beware the scarlet ostrich at the gates of the village. I can’t and won’t help you, good luck.” And with a cloud of smoke, Agatha was gone as soon as she came. “Well, what have I, the lowliest, ugliest giant, have to lose?” Krunk questioned ambled out of his cottage, grabbing his club and cloak and heading outside. He’d forgotten how good the sunshine felt on his skin, or how lovely all the trees and flowers looked. In fact, Krunk was enjoying himself so much, he even started whistling a tune on the way out through the village. Little did he know, the ostrich was watching him, his blazing red wings stooped low behind some bushes. Finally he couldn’t take it anymore. “TRESPASSING ARE WE?” screeched the ostrich as he leapt from the bushes, beak clenched. The scream had startled Krunk so badly, he dropped his club, and turned around in daze. There, standing before him was an ostrich of such magnitude, it was taller than five Krunks stacked on top of each other. “Not a follower of rules, are we?” squawked the bird. Krunk stuttered as he tried to explain himself, but the ostrich wouldn’t even let him a get a word in. That is, until, the bird got a good look at Krunk’s face. Krunk took this opportunity, “Imjusttryingtogetsomegillyweediwonthurtyou!!!!” he practically shouted. The bird bent its neck and looked quizzically at Krunk. “Repeat yourself, Krunk the giant,” it said calmly. Krunk thought this wasn’t the best time to ask questions, like how the heck did the bird know his name? “I’m on journey to get some Gillyweed. It’s to cure this disfigured face of mine,” Krunk said defiantly as he walked past the ostrich. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of bright crimson and once again the bird was beside him. “Wait!” the bird called, “I can help you and show you the way! These mountains are very dangerous you know,” the ostrich said matter-of-factly. And without another word, the two unusually-sized creatures trekked their way up into the mountains. It was a very long and difficult journey. The duo voyaged through giant mud pits and crossed fields with grass that was ten feet high. After a few more exhausting days traveling, Krunk spotted something at the end the most recent forest they were crossing, a shimmering lake. “The Gillyweed must be here!” he shouted as he sprinted toward the lake (For the ostrich had informed Krunk that Gillyweed only grows in water). “At last!!” Krunk rejoiced, “At last my face will be back to normal! No more scars or bruises! Just a perfect, smooth giant face!” Krunk dove into the water and brought back a moist, clenched fist from the surface. Without any hesitation whatsoever, he smeared the Gillyweed all over his face, making sure every plane was saturated. The ostrich watched from a distance as Krunk’s face began to transform. No more were the yellow blotches settled around Krunk’s cheeks, they had vanished into smooth green surfaces. The scars that once seemed to be imprinted on his face had disappeared like they’d been erased off. But what the Gillyweed took away, Krunk gained even more of something else, confidence. And it was with that look of defiance the Krunk marched right back to his village with his right-hand man, the scarlet ostrich. At last Krunk was approachable, and he grew quite popular within his neighborhood. He later became king of his village and ruled peacefully for many years.