(Written by D00dlesKat)
Mrs. Torres kept walking around the living room. It's been three days since her daughter, Maya, disappeared. She kept praying, hoping her sweet child is safe and will return home very soon. She then remembered the letter, the letter Maya had written before she went missing. Those words of fear that she wrote on a sheet of paper found on her nightstand, narrating the trauma a DVD of her "favorite movie" gave her.
~Flashback of the letter begins (Maya's story)~
Dear Mom,
You and Dad have raised me for 13 years, 2 months, and 16 days. You both know who I am, what hobbies I love doing, and what my favorite movies are. You both know I love the Trolls franchise, even though I get teased at school because the kids there always say it's a "movie for babies". I never took their comments seriously, I just focused on what I loved and nothing else other than that. Ever since the first Trolls movie came out, the franchise had a special place in my heart.
But a DVD ruined it. A DVD took away all the love I had for Trolls. I don't even know if the movie was supposed to be for children at all.
Remember when I babysat Katie Davidson last week? Her parents were going to a meeting and needed me to take care of their daughter. After an hour there, I started looking for a movie to watch with Katie on the TV. Suddenly, the doorbell rang. I went to open it, thinking the Davidsons finally came back.
When I opened the front door, I saw nothing but a box.
The box Maya found at the Davidson's door.
"Huh, that's weird" I thought, "Why didn't the Davidsons never tell me they were expecting a package?"
I then noticed the Dreamworks logo printed on the box, along with the Trolls logo.
"Katie is a Trolls fan? That's awesome!" I told myself.
I brought the box inside the house. While I looked for a box cutter, Katie ran to the box, eager to see what was inside.
"Maya, can I see what's inside? Please please please?" Katie excitedly asked me.
"Of course! Your parents ordered it for you, anyways!" I said.
I wasn't sure if the Davidsons actually ordered this for Katie, I just thought they did. I found the box cutter and cut-opened the box. Inside, there was a DVD of the first Trolls movie, along with an envelope, a Poppy plush, and a pile of confetti.
"Yay, Trolls!" Katie exclaimed, jumping around the living room. "I wanna see, I wanna see!"
I was so happy to see Katie getting excited about the movie. It reminded me about my 5-year-old self, the little munchkin who loved Trolls as much as Katie does now. I took out the envelope to open it. The note was glittery and pink, and had a cute Poppy and Branch doodle on the bottom-left. I read the message:
"We hope you enjoy this fun gift!"
- Dreamworks Animation Studios
I smiled and put the note back in the envelope. I dropped it back in the box and took out the DVD.
"Guess what we'll be watching, Katie!" I tell her as I open the DVD case and put the disc inside the DVD player.
"Yay! I love Trolls! Thank you thank you thank you!" Katie happily jumped.
"I know, I love Trolls, too!" I exclaimed as I prepared popcorn for Katie and me.
We both sat on the couch, ready to watch our favorite movie. The worst decision we both made.
The movie started just like how I remembered it, Princess Poppy telling the audience about the Bergen Town escape through scrapbook style, the trolls rebuilding their habitat, everyone dancing to "Move Your Feet/D.A.N.C.E./It's A Sunshine Day", the hilarious Branch introduction to the movie, the 20 Year Celebration. Everything was going perfectly fine, everything was just how the movie should go.
But the nostalgic feeling ended when Chef crashed the 20 Year party. She still captured Poppy's friends, just like how the movie goes, but when she was about to capture King Peppy, Poppy grabbed her father by the arm and threw him to a mushroom hiding place, allowing Chef to capture her.
I was confused. That's not how I remembered the movie! Poppy was supposed to hide alongside King Peppy! I tried to rewind the film, but the rewind button didn't work.
Poppy crying in the cage Chef kept her and her friends in.
Ever since that scene, everything has changed. The tone, the scenery, the characters' personalities, everything!
Poppy was crying the whole time. She wasn't the happy and bubbly pink troll that I remember. She was broken. Her eyes were full of fear, her lovable smile was gone, and there were countless tears streaming down her face.
All this time I was pressing the rewind and pause button on the remote, and all this time those stupid buttons didn't work. I threw the remote out of anger and went to the DVD player to press the eject button, but it also didn't work, no matter how hard I tried. I finally gave up, I felt so upset about myself.
"Maya, look!" Katie yelled to me. She pointed to the TV screen. When I stood up to continue watching the movie, all of my worries became true.
Chef and her assistants dumping the captured trolls in a pot.
Chef had now captured all the trolls and dumped them into the pot for Trollstice. The pot was then taken to the Dining Room, where the bergens were waiting for their meal. It wasn't Bridget who was carrying the pot, it was another female bergen.
"No, Bridget is supposed to be the maid. Why is Bridget not here!" I shouted, "Bridget is supposed to save the trolls!"
This was all wrong. The trolls were actually going to get eaten! The only absent ones were Creek since he betrayed his friends in order to not get eaten, and Branch who disappeared from the entire movie suddenly.
The Dining Room door flung open and in came the unknown maid carrying the pot to King Gristle Jr. Chef opened the pot and took out Poppy from it. She handed the helpless princess to King Gristle's hands.
"Eat up, your majesty. You want to be happy or what?" Chef told King Gristle as they both looked at Poppy. She was gasping in fear, she tried to speak but she was too scared to do so.
"Please make me happy Princess Poppy" Gristle whispered his desires and quickly put Poppy in his mouth. Poppy finally let out a blood curling scream as she was being eaten by the bergen king.
The scene was horrible. Katie and I both covered our ears to prevent Poppy's screams from damaging our ears. I saw blood spilling from King Gristle's mouth as he was chewing the innocent troll. Katie started to cry at the sight of Poppy's gruesome death. I wanted to cry too, I wanted to cry my fear and guilt away.
After what felt like minutes, Gristle finally swallowed the now murdered Poppy and coughed up a small puddle of her blood, along with a few strands of her hair. He cleaned his mouth with a napkin and raised his glass up in the air.
"Totally worth it!" he toasted to the other bergens as though he had no remorse. The bergens all cheered and raised their glasses up in the air too. I was shocked to see them celebrating Poppy's death. I was also shocked at the fact that nobody rescued her. Not any other troll, not Bridget, not even Branch saved her from getting eaten.
The bergens started feasting on the trolls for the first time in 20 years. Every bite was a bloody one. All the trolls were screaming in pain as they were chewed by the bergens. Katie and I had to cover our ears even tighter than before because the screams all combined into one big sound that seemed to have an intention to cause ear bleeds. I never knew Trollstice can be this violent.
Poppy, now as a ghost, walking in the forest.
After the traumatic feast finally ended, we saw a troll walking in the dark forest. It was Poppy, although it didn't look like Poppy. She looked grey and bloody, she had a missing eye, and she looked a bit transparent. Suddenly I realized what Poppy had turned into. A ghost.
I couldn't believe it. A ghost shouldn't always be featured in a kids movie! Especially if the ghost has intentions to hurt someone!
Poppy continued to walk until she arrived at Troll Village, which was now in ruins. She headed to her now destroyed house and looked behind to see the village she grew up in and the life it had completely wiped out. She fell to her knees and quietly sobbed. After a minute, her cry became louder, and louder, and louder. She immediately started laughing and got even louder.
She was losing her sanity. She was becoming unstable. She felt guilty for the downfall of her species, so she laughed it away.
"I saved you all!" she stood up and yelled at the ruins. "I saved all of you from the bergens! LET'S HAVE A HAPPY ENDING!!!"
The TV screen cuts to black. The twisted movie is finally over. Katie and I looked at each other in relief. Thank God we're okay.
Poppy's jumpscare screen.
All of the sudden the TV screen flashed a jumpscare. It was Poppy again, this time she had a big terrifying smile, with red glowing pupils and crying blood. Katie screamed and I jumped out of fear. The TV screen cuts to black again with Poppy faintly giggling in the background.
The DVD disc ejected itself out of the DVD player. I quickly ran to take it out and dropped it in the box. I went outside to dump it in the nearest dumpster. I didn't care about the kind note or the cute looking plush or the little Poppy and Branch doodle. None of that mattered because I was done.
I made Katie promise to never tell her parents about what we saw. The Davidsons came back minutes later and thanked me for taking care of her. Katie and I said our goodbyes and I left the house.
That's when I started having nightmares about Poppy wandering around the ruins of Troll Village making up stories about her saving the trolls. I wanted to feel bad for her, but a part of me couldn't do so. That part of me was afraid of her. This isn't the Poppy I grew up with.
On my way to school the next day, I saw the box in front of me on its side. I swear I saw it spilling blood. The disc was there too, as a reminder of the horrific film. What I didn't know was that on that same day, Katie got run over by a car. She didn't survive.
She woke up in the middle of the night and got out of her house using the backyard door. The fence surrounding the yard was unlocked and Katie was able to get out. She walked to the nearest road and her life ended there. The Davidsons found her body moments later with a pink flower in her hair. Maybe that box also foreshadowed Katie's death.
The nightmares have grown stronger ever since that day. Poppy became more unstable and made up more stories about the events of the Trolls franchise. She swore she'll find Branch so she can "give him happiness". She haunted me. She affected me.
The entire Trolls franchise was a lie. It was all created by Poppy's twisted ghost.
And Katie and I had to learn the hard way.
I can't take it anymore. I don't want anything to do with Trolls anymore. This film showed me the real story of what I thought was one of the best kids movies out there. Poppy had something to do with Katie's death. I know because of that small pink flower in her hair.
Please, don't look for me. I didn't disappear, I escaped. I escaped from her.
All my love,
Maya
~End of flashback/story~
That letter was the only clue of Maya's disappearance. Mrs. Torres kept praying for her daughter's safety. Her phone rang all of a sudden and she immediately answered. It's her husband, his voice shaky on the other side. He told her the police found a young girl hanging from a tree branch in the forest, with a small pink flower in her hair.