Ribbit.
Ribbit.
Ribbit.
I don't remember anything about being a frog before I woke up in the warm embracing muck. It was wrapped around me like a heavy blanket on the softest bed that squished between my toes. So, I only did what came naturally... I went back to sleep.
I didn't want to get out of bed. That warm darkness was like the moment just before waking. That moment you know you are about to wake up and can make a choice: open your eyes to the harsh realities of life or sink back into a dark slumber and hope never to wake again.
Not that I wanted to die and be reborn, but life was pretty lack luster after graduating college. I loved hard work but I also loved sleep. And adulthood was a lot of hard work, for little pay, and never enough sleep. In school, I had friends who had my back. At work, I had the leftover bones of those picked clean by bosses who would rather devour their employees then insure a working ecosystem for the health of the company. In school, I had friends to explore and share my joys with. As an adult, they all either moved away, didn't have time, or worse... Adulthood sucked.
The only highlights in my life were bath time and sleep. Now I had plenty of both.
As the mud warmed up, I woke up more. It could have been minutes, hours, or even months. I didn't know... and, as a frog, I didn't care. When I wiggled my way out of the mud and into the light, I was in a whole new world.
Of course, feeling famished, the first thing I noticed was the plethora of bugs. The air was thick with the feast and I ate many before I realized what those little flying candies were. Then I ate a ton more until I was bursting because I was never one to care.
I had eaten bugs before. I grew up in a non-bug eating society, but I started with chocolate covered ants (they taste like chocolate rice crispy treats). Then I moved to grubs and popcorn (the cheese flavored grubs are just pure crunch, so they blend in with the cheese flavored popcorn). Then I started eating flavored grasshoppers (which taste like less salty shrimp). I always loved the crunch of exoskeleton when eating seafood, so it wasn't that big of a stretch to go for the land versions. Eventually I wanted to try barbecued spider, but adulthood. Adulthood meant that I neither had time or money for any of the things I wanted to try, but now I was a frog.
Adult-frog-hood wasn't nearly as bad as being an adult human. The little bugs each had different flavors depending on species and what they ate. The meat eating bugs had meaty or salty flavors depending on what kind of creatures they ate and how old the corpses were, while the plant eating bugs had sweet flavors depending on the foliage and fruit they ate. And, as a frog, I could taste it all.
However, beside food, there were other nice features too. I woke up in the mud created by a hotspring that ran into a glacier river. The area reminded me of a place I used to hike to as a teenager. We would take a long drive away from the city, down curvy and skinny roads, to a dead end and then hike the half mile to where a glacier river ran past a cluster of hotsprings. Over the years they improved the pools for humans, only occasionally we would stumble upon old candles and forgotten underwear, but it was always a harrowing hike to get to the steep hill and amazing view on the hot springs. Oddly, we never encountered other people while there. But then, I wouldn't be surprised if the owner of the underwear didn't want to stay to say good day to us.
Here though, was untouched by humans. The spring waters flowed freely into the glacier water to create a variety of pools with a range of temperatures perfect for every mood and season. As it got warmer, I'd move closer to the river. As it grew colder, I'd move towards the springs. All the while I could bask in the rich mud. It was like every day was a spa day with a feast flying in the air.
The plants though, they were smaller than I thought they would be for a cute little frog like me. The trees, of course, were still huge. I could hop up one for half a day and only get to the trunk. But the flowers, many were smaller than me.
There was a huge glen filled with what looked like Trinity flowers, with their white three pointed flower followed by their three green leaves. Trinities were my favorite growing as a kid, but rare in my world. Here they were all over the place, but still about the size I remembered as a kid. Then there was the foxglove. I didn't eat bugs around them just in case they were poisonous. They were tall shoots of purple flowers that always brought a smile to my face when the bus past a batch of them growing on the side of the road. They were a little less rare than the Trinity flowers, but in my world many plants were getting rarer and rarer as the city began swallowing up the land around it. Even the springs I loved as a kid were--
No, stop! Old world. This is a new world. There are new plants too. And new animals. This is a new chance. This was all I'd ever want. I just have to stay alive...
Of course, I missed TV, books, and video games. I loved to devour entertainment when I wasn't too tired. I wasn't very picky. I didn't like overly serious things, but I'd consider anything with a good story and character development even if it made me blush or cry. I just wanted to feel.
Here, there were no books, TV, or video games. The sprawling beauty of the valley could capture my mind for hours. And sometimes I'd find little nooks and cranies of concentrated wonder. But, when I didn't want to explore, I'd just sit and daydream between tasty morsals.
I had several stories running through my head. One was of a princess with silky golden hair that I can almost feel running through my fingers (the imaginary ones from my past life obviously). Her life was mostly boring... I don't really know why I'd think about her. But every once and a while things would be interesting. She had a few rivals, suitors, and was secretly cursed.
Her Kingdom of Ameria was decent, pretty medieval but still decent in how they treated their people, their level of sanitation, and living in piece. They loved their princess too. But not because of who she was, because of a prophesy. She was promised to marry a prince from another land and with their vows their nations would become more powerful than any other and unite the continent. Sounds pretty basic, right? But I know what the prophesy really means.
The prophacy isn't talking about political power, it's talking about real power. The moment they both make their vows they will open the gates of hell and the princess would become possesed by the great and mighty Demon Queen. The gate's energy will spread as many of their subjects become demons as well. And what will happen from there? How will they 'unite' the continent?
Well, I haven't gotten that far in the story yet. I'm still stuck in politics and parties. The king keeps several of his enemies' offspring close in the castle to keep them under control. Some are focused on brewing trouble, discontent, and plots of death for the young princess, while other's work to be by her side, become a 'friend' and advisor, or potentially a lover to thwart the prophesy or at least have some more power on the side.
Another story I daydream about sometimes is of a silver haired prince with cold eyes. The kind that really sends shivers down my back. Like me, he searches for something that will make him feel or that is worth feeling for. As third born, he became a knight to go out to save his people from monsters and occasionally reap the glory. However, a dark shadow looms over him.
A big, dark shadow reflecting in the water.
Oh, shipe! That shadow is looming over me!