Life of Zarf: The Trouble with Weasels - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Rob Harrell writes and draws the long-running daily comic strip Adam@Home, which appears in more than 140 papers worldwide. He also created and drew the internationally syndicated comic strip Big Top until 2007. Rob recently published his first middle grade graphic novel, Monster on the Hill, which Kirkus called a "deliciously cinematic...indie charmer" in a starred review. He lives with his wife in Austin, Texas.

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• 1 •

INTRODUCTIONS ARE IN ORDER

Zarf.

That’s the name they gave me.

Not a majestic name, by any means. You don’t hear about many kings or leaders named “Zarf the All-Powerful” or “Zarf the Merciless.” Not a melodic name, either. Sort of falls out of your mouth in one big lump and just lays there.

It’s also a really easy name to mock, seeing as how it rhymes with “barf.” But I’m doing with it what I can. It’s a family name, after all.

I am a troll. I know the term “troll” has become a popular insult these days, but I mean it literally. I come from a long line of Eastern Prairie Trolls. My grandfather (also named Zarf) is the one you’ve probably heard the most about, what with the “billy goats gruff” business. That story got a lot of traction in the papers and the anti-troll literature. He’s still living that whole thing down.

And before you ask, yes, my family does live under a bridge. My folks claim they rent the place because it’s in a good school district and the price is right, but I’m not a complete idiot—my dad and Gramps still get their kicks scaring the stuffing out of unsuspecting bridge-goers from time to time.

• 2 •

KINGDOM COME

We live in the village of Cotswin in the kingdom of Notswin, and I can assure you that nothing exciting has happened around here since Goldie Locks was in short pants. And that was a LOOONG time ago. Old Lady Locks has been the lunch lady at my school since time began, slopping out porridge to generation after generation of Cotswinians. And her hair is a lot more blue than it is gold these days. Anyways, Cotswin is a fairly quiet place where kids my age are free to perish from acute boredom, and often do.

Sure, there’s your occasional small dragon attack or croquet match, but mostly the days just drag out like the last few minutes of algebra class. That is, until the last couple of weeks, I should say.

I attend Cotswin Middle School for the Criminally Insane. Okay, I added that last part, but it’s not far from the truth. Good old Cotswin—Home of the Prancing Knights. (Trust me, no one is happy about that mascot name. Petitions have been filed.)

School is tough. In a lot of ways. Trolls aren’t exactly known for their book smarts. I’m doing my best to overcome my heritage, but it ain’t easy. I was doing a word problem the other day in class and actually caught myself grunting. Grunting! So embarrassing. Fortunately it was kind of a quiet grunt. More like a gruntlet.

This is one of the reasons it’s important to surround yourself with a quality crew . . .

• 3 •

SIX DEGREES OF KEVIN

Two weeks ago on a rainy Tuesday morning, my friend Kevin stopped by my house like he does every day on the way to school. His full name is Kevin Littlepig, of the world-famous Littlepigs. You’ve probably heard of them. His family lives a few streets over in an epic mansion called Littlepig Manor.

After their well-known encounters with a certain huffing and puffing wolf, Kevin’s dad and his uncles got into the construction business and made a small fortune. They’re constantly pushing Kevin to become a structural engineer. Given their family history, I guess I can’t blame them.

Kevin and I have been best friends since second grade, when I traded him a leg of my mom’s mutton for an extra milk at lunch. My mom makes the best mutton this side of Notswin Castle. Ask anyone. Kevin couldn’t stop going on about that mutton. He still talks about it—like a broken record. This particular day I’m gonna tell you about, he arrived looking pretty shaken up, but I still noticed him sniffing around the kitchen just in case. Seriously, he’s like an un-dead mutton zombie or something.

Kevin has issues. Lots of ’em. For starters, there’s his height. His last name, Littlepig, really couldn’t be more appropriate. He stands about knee-high to a hill ferret, and boy is he ever sensitive about it. I once saw him burst into tears when he ordered pancakes and the waitress asked if he wanted a “short stack.”

He also might be the most nervous individual in the world. It can be kind of annoying, the way he’s always worrying and wringing his hooves. If there were a Stress Olympics, he’d take the gold all day long—but then he’d probably drop dead from a panic attack on the winners’ podium.

I swear to you, the other day on the way to school he admitted to me that he’d been worrying that he wasn’t worrying enough. That makes my head hurt to even think about. He’s kind of a freak-show that way.

So Kevin showed up at my place and as we were walking through a steady drizzle to school, I could tell something was bothering him. When he’s really worked up, he lets out these little whimpers and twitches a lot.

“What’s up with you? You’re like a fart in a skillet.”

He looked up with wide eyes. “I don’t know what that means. Is that bad? That’s bad, isn’t it?”

“No, it just means you’re hopping around a lot. What’s on your mind?”

So as we cut across the Enchanted Field, Kevin nervously filled me in on the latest village news. A group of woodsmen from Wallen, the next village over from ours, had been attacked by a herd of Snuffweasels. Details were foggy about the woodsmen’s injuries, but the town was understandably flipping out. There hadn’t been a Snuffweasel sighting in ten years or more, and everyone was pretty happy about that. If you aren’t familiar with them, Snuffweasels are nothing to sneeze at. They stand about seven feet tall with mouths full of teeth like broken glass. They’re sort of like Swampweasels, but quite a bit snuffier.

“I heard they ate one guy’s face and toes.” Kevin shuddered.

“This is fantastic,” I said in a hushed tone.

“WHAT?? How can you say that??”

“No!” I quickly backpedaled. “Not that people were hurt! That’s horrible. Just the fact that there are Snufffweasels out there. I thought they were pretty much extinct.”

“Well, that’s easy for you to say! You’re not made of delicious bacon! I hear they have a real taste for pork products!”

Kevin was really worked up now, so I just patted him on the back and kept my thoughts to myself as we arrived at school.

• 4 •

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

Cotswin Middle School is a damp old dungeon of a building, and on rainy days like today it reeks of dark mold and soggy Tater Tots. It probably bothers me more than most, as trolls can smell a mincemeat pie from three villages away. No joke.

The entryway was full of kids stamping around and shaking off the rain. I was bent over drying off my soggy feet when one of the football giants casually pushed my backpack up over my head, pitching me forward onto my nose with my shirt shoved up around my ears.

Of course, everyone got a huge kick out of me with a face full of muddy mat water, and laughter rang out in the wet foyer. Savages! Neanderthals! Anyway . . . Welcome to Cotswin.

Let me say a word about the social ladder at Cotswin. I’ve taken the time to draw up a visual aid for you.

At the top, you’ve got your princes and princesses. They’re the true “populars.” Then come your knights and fair maidens. Just below that are...