Chapter 9 (click here to go back to the beginning)

Of course, Dart had to go see if it was raining frogs right now. It wasn't. Nevertheless he had high hopes and vigilantly scanned the horizon until Callie came to see if he was alright. "What are you doing?" she asked. "Nothing. So what do we do when it rains?" "Mostly we wait for the rain to stop." "That's it? Isn't there anything fun we can do?" "Well, we could play a game- try and guess when the rain will stop." "I guess now." "Nope." "Now." "Sorry." "Well then definitely now." "Wrong again." Eighty-three incorrect guesses later, Dart decided this was a dumb game. "There must be something we can do?" Callie remembered her own days as a froglet, when every day was an adventure, every discovery amazing, and every game life or death. Sometimes sitting around telling stories and waiting for the sun to come out just wasn't any fun. Sometimes a frog just wanted to get out there and jump around. Besides, it might be a good idea to be creative and give Dart something to do lest he start thinking about his parents. "I know," she said. "Do you want to go see the rock monster?" "Rock monster?" "Yeah, it's a big rock that looks exactly like a monster. Wise old frogs like Rana say it's just a harmless piece of rock that happens to look like a monster, but I know better . . ." Dart urged her to go on. She paused just long enough to make him bounce up and down. "The rain brings it to life. Briefly. Long enough for it to feed." "What does it eat?" "Froglets, of course. And it doesn't matter what kind of froglets, either. I think it like poison ones best of all. Since it's made out of rock it doesn't really worry about poison too much. But don't worry- it can't stand red-eyes like me. So if you want, I can take you there." "Uh, why? Wouldn't it just be better to stay safe? I thought you said that just because most eaters will leave me alone that I should still try to keep away from them." "Yeah, mostly that's true, but. But." Callie tried to think of a convincing reason. She breifly considered telling Dart it would grant him a wish but she realized there was no way to make good on such an empty promise. Telling stories, embellishing the facts was one thing, but outright lying was a bad habit to get into. "are you telling me you're too scared? That's fine. We can stay here and wait for it to stop raining. I don't mind. Either way." "No, I'm not scared! No way! Don't you remember how I chased off that spider? Did I look scared to you? I'll chase the rock monster the same way. Yeah, I'm not scared. More like, let's go right now!" To prove how unscared he was, Dart took off into the forest. Callie laughed and called after him, "Wrong way Mr. Smarty-Darty. Come with me, I know the way." Callie headed off in the opposite direction. Dart followed, marveling at how dim and gloomy the rainforest floor was. Spying a froglet-sized mud puddle, he detoured into it, splashing mud all over his blue skin. Presently he remembered the task at hand, which was hunting monsters, not playing in the mud. He looked up. Callie was nowhere to be seen. "Callie?" he called. No answer. Well, she was heading in that direction, so Dart decided to try to catch up. He didn't notice the shape that detached itself from a waterlogged aloe. It crept up behind him, moving silently. Dart slowed down. Still no sign of Callie. He called her name a few times. How could she have left him behind? Was she that absent-minded? Couldn't she pay attention to what she was doing? Dart felt a tingling sensation in his tympani. He turned around. "BOO!" Callie jumped out at him, just like the first time they met, and the sight of her varihued belly was startling amid the gray drabness of the weather. Dart screamed. Callie laughed. "You went right by me! When will you learn?" Dart was embarrassed. And a little annoyed with Callie. "That wasn't nice." "Sorry- I couldn't resist. You were trying so hard to be brave even though you were obviously scared . . . " "I wasn't scared!" "Yes you were, and that's okay. There's nothing wrong with that, especially since you were willing to go anyway. I respect that. You're a brave little guy, even when you're scared." "Really?" "Yeah. Yeah, really. But maybe I should tell something. There isn't actually a rock monster, you know. It's just a game, something to do. A little harmless adventure. I mean, there is a rock that looks exactly like a hideous monster that eats froglets, but it's just a rock." Dart was relieved, but also disappointed. He had to admit he was having fun. "Can we still go see it anyways? Just for fun?" "Of course! Let's go!"
___________________________________________________________________________
So how long has it been? Too long. I was hoping to get some new writing done this week while on vacation but I was too busy. But I typed this up, I think I wrote it over a month ago, because I wanted to post something before I went away to work again.
It'll probably be a while before you see a new chapter. Slowly but surely.
Anyways, this chapter is dedicated to Travis Hanson, one of my favorite artists ever, who did that Homie Bear with froggies pic for me.
For a soundtrack, I think Rock Lobster by the B-52s would be cool, if only because I don't think another opportunity to use that song will come up in the course of this story.