A very long time ago, a greedy troll from the far North decided to claim all the water in the world for himself. Water made ice and the troll loved ice more than anything.
He loved crunching ice with his sharp troll teeth.
He liked how ice glittered in sunshine. He imagined building an ice castle, a farm with ice horses and cows, towns with ice trolls. He’d have a park with ice trees and fields filled with ice daisies. All of them would sparkle in the sun.
He’d build roads from ice. When he needed to go somewhere, he’d skate across the ice on his big troll feet. He’d slide down icy hills on his belly just for fun.
Life would be easy. When he wanted a cold drink, he’d chop ice off a wall right into his goblet.
With his plans made, all he needed to do was steal water from the oceans and rivers, from small streams and huge lakes with his troll magic.
“That would be wrong,” the troll elders advised, but the troll didn’t listen. With his magic, he sucked water from the sea, froze it and began building all he planned. Slowly, so slowly it was hardly noticeable, the sea waters began receding. Rivers that filled the sea grew lower. Streams that filled the rivers began to dry up.
The troll built a castle and then a larger castle miles away. Forts, fences, towns, walls, villages, ice mountains— the troll kept building.
“Your work is lovely.” The elders admired all the troll created, noting the way the ice shimmered in the Northern lights. “Don’t you think you’ve done enough? Leave some water for the rest of the world.”
The greedy troll shook his head. If there was more water, it was his for the taking. He didn’t care that fields of wheat withered without water. He was not concerned that someone might be thirsty. He continued to take all he wanted and build.
Soon everything was out of balance. Most of the water was north, with the troll. The rest of the earth was parched and dry.
The water, held prisoner as ice, sparkled messages to the fiery sun. “Help!”
Brighter and hotter the sun grew, directing its rays on the ice. Slowly the ice began to melt, flowing into what was left of the ocean. The sun evaporated water and great clouds formed. The wind pushed the clouds across the sky, carrying rain south, west and east.
The troll saw what was happening and tried to stop it. He built dams to keep the water in, but the sun melted the dams. He tried to freeze the water but his magic no longer worked. Faster and faster the ice melted. The water, no longer immobilized as ice, flowed mightily into all the places thirsty for its presence.
The troll watched his castles and fort crumble, his villages melt into the sea. He climbed to the top of his ice mountain declaring, “I built this! I built this!” as it bobbed up and down on the open sea, floating away to parts unknown.
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