Hey everyone! So this is a short story I wrote a while back, obviously for little(r) kids. But it's a pretty cute story line anyway. (Or so people have told me)

This is about Alexander. And the frogs. hehe

Reviews are greatly appreciated!!

Frogs, Bogs, and Alexander

Squish. Squish. Squish. The bog water came up to my ankles now. Oh the things you’ll do on a dare!

I turned and saw all three of my friends waving me on from the edge of the swamp, just out of reach of the muck that was trying to swallow me whole. They all gave these huge fake smiles and held up a piece of paper with a snicker. Four words stood out plainly in black marker against the white of the paper:

don’t die too soon

I tried as best I could to shrug it off. I pushed forward, farther and farther into the bog. Soon darkness began to engulf me. I knew it wasn’t dark yet, since we had left the house at eleven this morning, and yet it was beginning to feel like nine at night.

I dug around in my jacket pocket and found the flashlight the gang had given me. I flipped the switch and... nothing. It figures they would give me the one without good batteries.

With a sigh I tried to fight my way through a particularly thick set of vines. Once on the other side, I looked up... and screamed.

Before stood the scariest thing I had ever seen in the seven years I had lived my life. But I’m sure you don’t want to hear about that, now do you?

Oh, all right, if you insist. Frogs. Yep, frogs. You know, the little amphibians. Except these were different. You’ve seen frogs, I bet, but have you ever seen a giant frog? The size of a small car, perhaps?

I didn’t think so.

Oh, but there’s more. These frogs were purple. I’ll wait while you pick your chin up off the floor...

Better? Well, you might want to sit down, if you aren’t already doing so. Sitting down now? Ok, good.

They were spotted.

Yeah, you heard me. They were covered in spots of all sizes and colors. Blue, yellow, green, red, black...

Did I mention the Mohawks they sported on top of their very large purple heads?

But that’s beside the point. The point is that I had just run into the very creatures I had tried so hard to avoid. All four of them as a matter of fact. I’m sure that the whole reason Fred, Tommy and Louis had dared me to come here in the first place was to see if the legend was true.

It’s true, I assure you.

So after screaming some more, I finally got my legs to start moving. But it was too late. Before I knew it, I was being carried off by what appeared to be the largest of all of them.

They carried me farther and farther into the bog. Before long I had given up all hope of seeing pure daylight ever again. All I could see was this hazy, green light sifting through the treetops.

“Ow.” I suddenly found my head connecting with the ground. “Be more gentle, would ya,” I mumbled.

“Oh, master, we are deeply sorry. Have we hurt you?” one of the frogs asked.

“Wha- Oh, no, not at all.” I gave a big false smile.

And now for a look inside my tiny little brain: Wow, they serve me. ME! Yippee! Well... I think that’s a good think anyway. I guess that the guys were wrong. Other than the fact that they are humongous, these things aren’t so bad. I wonder what they’re capable of...

“How may we serve you, master?” one frog said with a bow. “My name is Hop. Anything you want is yours. Just ask.”

Around this time two things happened at once. One, the frogs began to flee, and one of them knocked into me as they ran (hopped? I thought vaguely) by me. I slipped and fell, hitting my head on the ground and temporarily knocking me out. Two, Fred, Tommy, and Louis all came crashing through the trees wielding what appeared to be small axes. I found this out later from Tommy of course, since I had been knocked out.

Fred also told me that I had been squirting blood from a wound in my head, but I didn’t believe that part of the story.

When I finally came to, I was lying on Louis’ bedroom floor, with all three of my friends staring down at me. “Alex?” Louis asked me softly.

I sat up with a groan. “What happened?”

And this is where Tommy tells me this ridiculous story about how there were these cannibals who had kidnapped me and were about to eat me, but the three of them single-handed fought them off of me. Then they carried me all the way back here to Louis’ house.

I only believed the last part of course.

“Did you happen to see any of... them?” Fred asked in a whisper.

I thought about this for a moment before answering. “I did see something. It was horrible. It was humongous! Drool was dripping down from it’s mouth only to gather in puddles at it’s gigantic feet... But I didn’t get a really good look at it, so I’m not sure if it was one of them or not. Guess we’ll never know.” I gave a small smile.

Or, more like, no one but me will know.

So that's about it! What'd you think? If you could hit that review button down there, I'd love it. Also, do you think this could be published somewhere? If so, where? Thanks for the suggestions!!