Droog felt someone shake him awake. He didn't even need to look who it was. Aradia had been plagued by nightmares ever since she was a wiggler. Droog heard trolls usually slept in a kind of slime, sopor, he thought, that helped keep away nightmares. The Crew didn't have any of the slime, so it was a bit difficult. He let Aradia sleep with him whenever she woke up from a nightmare. Which was pretty much every other night. He lifted the covers and she climbed into the bed.
"Want to talk about it?" That helped sometimes.
She shook her head.
"You sure?" He wiped a tear from her face.
"they just ... they keep taunting me ..."
Droog sighed. The spirits. She wasn't that scared of them anymore, but, like she said, they enjoyed taunting her.
"What about?"
"they keep saying i'm destined t0 die ..." She buried her face in the pillow.
"Don't listen to them." He hated the spirits. Mostly because they reminded him of Slick when they first found the grubs. He was constantly trying to convince Droog that Aradia wasn't going to make it. It's a good thing Droog didn't listen to him. "What do they know?"
Aradia stayed quiet for a while, then whispered, "i d0n't want t0 die."
Droog put his arms around her and held her close. "Death isn't something to be afraid of. It happens to all of us. There's nothing we can do, it happens when it happens. But don't worry. You still have plenty of time to live." He wasn't completely sure about that, actually. He'd heard that trolls had different lifespans depending on their blood color. He tried not to think about that too much. He just had to convince himself that Aradia would be around for a while. He'd make sure of that as a father. "Remember, always live life to the fullest, and don't be afraid."
She hugged him tightly. "i'll remember."
He stroked her hair as she slowly drifted off to sleep. "Atta girl."