The morning sun had hardly begun to leak through the curtain's of Hilda's bedroom as her morning alarm clock went off. Her eyes opened slowly as the annoying noise filled her room. It was six o'clock in the morning, and that meant she had an hour to get to work. She yawned and rubbed her eyes as she sat up in bed and got to her feet. She picked up her cell phone and switched it on. Her wallpaper of Twig flashed before her eyes as the readout notified her it was precisely 6:01 in the morning, on June 4th, 2012.
Fishing around for her work khakis and brown work sweater took all of five minutes. After sleepily changing out of her comfy pajamas and pulling on her work clothes, she went into her bathroom and splashed some water in her face to wake herself up. She went through her routine of brushing her teeth, putting on makeup, and making her hair presentable, and then went to grab herself some breakfast.
"Morning Twig.." said Hilda to her pet deerfox as she walked through the living room. She had become quite fond of the cozy condo she and her mother had moved into when she was 9. Of course it couldn't beat the memories she had attached to her childhood cabin, but of course, that house was no more. Most home insurance companies don't cover a giant completely squashing your home and everything in it.
Johanna was standing in the kitchen over the stove, preparing some oatmeal.
"Good morning dear," she said as Hilda poured herself a cup of coffee.
"Sleep well?" asked the middle aged woman as she placed a bowl for her daughter on the table.
"I did, just exhausted is all. Not particularly looking forward to work today, it's my turn to clean the deerfox habitat…" she began, rolling her eyes.
"But on the bright side, some fancy hard rock band playing Troll Fest is visiting the zoo today for a special tour. Apparently they're from Trolberg and they haven't been home from touring to see the zoo yet. Alfur told me that they supposedly want to see the place being benefited by all the Troll Fest Profit." said Hilda.
"My, how interesting! Do you know the band?" asked Johanna, sipping some tea.
"Oh no," chuckled HIlda. "I don't listen to music like that- it's a bit much for me. They're fun to watch perform, though. Remember Frida's 13th birthday when her parents let her cousin's metal band play at her party?" she asked.
"Pffft, yes I do! Frida's friends were not too fond of them at all. I remember Alfur trying to stuff your hair in his ears so he couldn't hear it." laughed Johanna. "Speaking of Alfur, how is he liking his new position?" she asked.
"Alfur loves leading the colony! Although if he were here, he'd want me to announce it as 'Mayor of the Trolberg Elven Colony, located at the Trolberg Wilderness Humane Center for Creatures of the Wilderness;' you know how punctual he likes to be." said Hilda with a giggle. She missed having Alfur living at home with her, but both their lives had been changed for the better since Frida's rehabilitation plan for the city zoo became a huge success the year prior. A quite impressive feat for the youngest mayor's aid in the history of the city!
The new zoo offered a much more humane and modern way for the citizens to interact with and observe the creatures of the wild. Some of the new features included a massive one-way mirror built into a section of the wall for people to observe trolls in a safe way, housing for both wayward nisse and woodmen who could come and go as they pleased, an artificial river system that connected to the aquarium so both water spirits and aquatic life could roam freely, a deerfox habitat, and a woff exhibit.
One of the most remarkable things, however, was the elf colony located in the center of the zoo. Led by Alfur himself, the colony allowed them to further study humans other than hilda and send them back to the prime minister, while at the same time allowing humans to become educated on elf life and culture. Of course, new visitors must fill out the proper paperwork before entering the elf colony, and they must stick to specific path so as not to step on any tiny houses. Of course, Frida knew just the person to lead the colony! And finding a position for Hilda was a no-brainer.
"Well dear, that all sounds well and good. Have a splendid day at work! I'll be home today working on character designs for my studio's latest project- our first feature length film!" said Johanna, giddily. Hilda looked at the time and realized she was going to be late for work if she didn't leave right now.
"Mum that's incredible! I want to hear all about it but I'm afraid I'm going to be late if I don't get a move on!" said Hilda, grabbing her keys and purse.
"I get it, you have deerfox droppings to pick up. Love you!" said Johanna as Hilda glided out the door and down the stairs. She got in her car and blasted her usual indie-pop radio on the drive to work.
Hilda pulled into the employee parking lot with just enough time to get inside and clock in. She then checked her phone and found a text from Frida.
"Meet me in my office after you clock in, I have a special assignment for you today! And yes, you do still have to clean the deerfox habitat after your lunch break today."
Hilda chuckled at Frida's endearing comment. It was fun having one of your childhood best friends as your supervisor at a job you both love to death. She walked down the hall and entered Frida's office.
"You wanted to see me?" she said, knocking as she creaked open the door.
"Hilda! Good morning! And yes, come in! This will only take a moment." said Frida as Hilda entered the room and closed the door. "As you know, one of the headlining groups performing at the Troll Fest Benefit Concert will be taking a tour of the facility today. I've never heard of them, but they're some rock band all the teens love nowadays, they're called Sola Manor. I want you to be the one who gives them the tour." said Frida.
"Me? Well, I've never talked to anyone famous before… let alone given a tour." said Hilda, surprised by the news.
"Oh come now! You are more passionate about this place than anyone I know. In my mind, there is simply no one else for a job!" beamed Frida, making Hilda blush.
"I mean, when you put it that way.. I suppose I could have a thing or two to say about this place!" chuckled Hilda.
"Splendid!" started Frida, "They should be arriving at the front gate at 11. Until then, go about your morning duties." she instructed.
Hilda exited the office and did as she was told. She spent the next few hours getting the appropriate feed to all the inhabitants of the zoo. After some time, it was nearly 11, and she was dropping off food to the elf colony. Luckily, elves don't require nearly as much food compared to larger animals, so today's food delivery would feed every elf in the colony for 2 weeks.
"Goooood morning Hilda! How are you today?" said Alfur, who was waiting for Hilda's delivery as he did every time she dropped off food.
"Hello Alfur, I'm excited! I'm giving some famous band a tour of the zoo in ten minutes." said Hilda, a smile spreading across her face.
"My my, famous musicians you say? Sounds like a riveting time! Say, are we still on for Dragon Panic with your Mum tonight?" asked Alfur.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world! I'll come by to pick you up at the end of my shift~!" said HIlda in a sing-song voice as she practically skipped off towards the front gate.
Hilda was greeted by talent-agent looking man, who was accompanied by 5 people dressed in casual- well, rock and roll casual- clothes. Tank tops, piercings, tattoos, skinny jeans, black shirts, you name it.
"Are you Helga?" he asked, hastily, in-between calls on his bluetooth earpiece.
"It's actually Hilda, but-" "Are you or are you not the person giving the tour?" he asked, interrupting them.
"Yes, yes I am." she responded.
"Good, I'll make this quick because there's an important conference call I have to take. My name is Tim, I'm their manager. This is the band, their names are-" "HILDA!?" exclaimed one of the band members, cutting his manager off.
"Well, it seems you two already know each other. You can figure out the rest from here. See you in two hours!" said Tim before promptly shoving off and taking his call.
Hilda stood there confused as she looked upon the band member that seemingly recognised her. Who the hell was this guy? He was wearing black skinny jeans and a brown tank top, with a very interesting illustration of a ladybug with its wings outstretched printed on the front. He had light skin, almost pale- similar to her own. Both his arms were covered in sleeves of colorful tattoos. His hair was short and brown, and he had a warm smile that gave Hilda an odd nostalgic feeling.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" asked Hilda, perplexed by the situation.
"Hilda, it's me, David! Sparrow Scouts, remember?" he said, a smile plastered on his face. Hilda went wide eyed. The handsome tattooed 20-something in front of her was David? Shy, reserved, mildly bug-infested David? She looked closer at his face and it suddenly clicked. This man was irrefutably David!
"Oh my god! David! It's been years!" said Hilda, running up to the man and giving him a hug.
"I haven't seen you since your family moved to Norway like, 9 years ago! And look at you now!" said Hilda, still in shock.
"It's great to see you too! You're a bit taller than I remember, though" he said, cheekily.
"Pfft, well, that'll happen when you haven't seen someone since you were 14. So anyway, I take it you….. Sing? In this band?" said Hilda, gesturing towards him.
"You'd be correct! It was the only thing I ever had a knack for. Well, that and attracting bugs. And collecting rocks, which I still do! I even have a rose quartz collection at home" he said proudly.
"My, you haven't changed much have you?" chuckled Hilda.
"And what about you? Helping run a humanitarian zoo? Sounds like same old Hilda to me!" he shot back with a smile.
"You got me!" she said, pushing the locks of blue hair out of her face.
"So, introduce me to your mates, yeah?" said Hilda, looking at the other band members.
"Right!" started David. "On drums, we have Nessa! She pounds the drums better than anyone I know. On lead guitar, we have Daoud, and his brother Ahmed on rhythm guitar. And last but certainly not least, my good pal Nathen plays bass guitar." said David, introducing his bandmates.
"Hello!"
"Hi!"
"Nice to meet you!"
"Love your hair!"
"Hello! Yeah! Thank you! I'm Hilda. David and I are childhood friends. Though, I'm sure you've gathered that..." said Hilda, giggling rather awkwardly. This was quite a lot of information to take in.
"Anywho, I'll be your guide as we take a tour of this wonderous facility. Now, who here has ever seen a deerfox before?"
"Oh my god! I was hoping you guys would have deerfox here! I know their indigenous to the area but I wasn't sure you'd have them! I've never seen one!" said Nessa, getting excited.
"Well you're in for quite a treat, they're very social animals. In fact I have one as a pet at home!" said Hilda, earning a gasp from Nessa. "That's so cool!" she chimed.
"Welp, let's get a move on shall we?"