“So, what brings you guys around these parts?” Pete asked, suddenly, breaking the awkward silence that had grown around the three of us.

“Just passing through,” Alex answered, quickly, giving me a look out of the corner of his eye that I couldn’t quite read. I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Psh, no one just ‘passes through’ here,” Pete replied, “everyone’s always coming into town for trade, or to pay their dues to the Princess, or on one of those Journey things, but they never stay long. Actually,” she paused for a moment, looking thoughtful, “I guess the Journey guys would be the only ones actually just ‘passing through’. If they make it through, I mean.”

“What do you mean, ‘if they make it through’?” I asked. Alex gave me another unreadable sideways glance. I ignored him. If whatever he wanted was that important, he could just say it, already. I wasn’t a mind reader.

“Oh, you know, they lose track of what’s important, I guess. It’s easy to get distracted around here if you don’t have a clear goal.”

“I see.”

“I’ve always wanted to go on one of the Journeys,” she continued, “Well, not on one, really, because no one really wants to be the person having to go through it all, but as a Guide, I think would be kind of fun. See other lands; build up some points for helping out one of the Lost. It would be a great adventure--better than anything around here.”

I pondered this for a moment, “Who are these ‘Lost’?” I asked.

Pete looked at me as if I had just asked her what colour the sky was, “You know, the Lost—the people who have to go on the Journey, through all the Tests? They’re normally looking for something to redeem them from some mistake they made, usually because—“

“Hey, is that a lake?” Alex asked, suddenly, interrupting Pete’s explanation and pointing to a shining body of water a few yards to the left of the road.

“Shiny!” Pete exclaimed, almost skipping towards the sight.

I scowled at him, annoyed by his obvious distraction as a change in subject routine.

“What?” he asked, innocently, reading my expression, “I’m thirsty.”

“Right,” I answered, unconvinced. I followed closely behind him as we made our way across the grass toward the water. Pete led the way, a few feet ahead of us. “Why did you interrupt her?” I hissed to my lanky companion, “What is so freaking important that you keep secret? I think that I have a right to know—“

“You do have a right to know,” he interrupted, “and you will, just in time. You have to have a little patience.”

“Fuck patience,” I swore, becoming more irritated by the second, “I think that I’ve been pretty damned compliant throughout all this, and I’m a bit tired of this whole ‘you have to learn for yourself’ bullshit! You have no right—“

“No, little girl, you have no right accusing me of being anything but on your side,” Alex hissed back, stopping and pointing his finger in my face, “I’m taking a huge chance helping you out like this. It was by your own actions that you landed yourself here in the first place, so don’t go blaming me, just because you were incapable of—“ he cut himself short, closing his eyes and running his hand through his hair, and taking a deep breath as he tried to get a hold of his temper.

“Incapable of what?” I asked. He turned away from me, and started walking again. Not letting him get away that easily, I chased after, setting myself firmly in front of him, “Alex, answer me, incapable of what?” When he wouldn’t meet my eyes, I decided it wasn’t worth arguing anymore, and quickened my pace until I met up with Pete.

“Lover’s quarrel?” Pete asked when I joined her.

I stared at the small cat-like girl, mouth agape, “Pshawhat?” I sputtered.

She gestured behind us at Alex, “You and him. You guys in a fight?”

“Well, yeah, I’m pretty pissed at him at the moment, but I think you’ve gotten the wrong idea, here. We’re not, I mean, he isn’t, I mean….”

The cat-like girl rolled her eyes, shaking her head, “Alright, Mandy, calm down, you’re going to hurt yourself.”

I frowned, continuing our little trek towards the lake.

“We’re not together,” I stated, again, after a moment or two of silence.

“Kay,” was all that she answered.

As the three of us drew closer to the lake, faintly, on the wind, there was a voice, “Oh no, oh dear, oh no.”

Pete and I looked at each other, “What was that?”

“Oh no, oh dear, oh no,” the voice answered.

“Sounds like someone’s in trouble up by the lake,” Alex piped up from behind us.

“Good job, Captain Obvious,” I answered, glaring back at him. He looked hurt. I felt a pang of guilt, but quickly pushed it away. I was mad at him. I had to remember to stay that way until I got some answers, “Still,” I continued, “we should probably check it out.”

“What if it’s a ghost or something?” Pete asked.

I rolled my eyes, “It’s not a ghost.”

“But what if it is?”

“Then I’ll….hit it with a rake or something.”

“I don’t think that will work. Wouldn’t a rake go right through it? I mean—“

“It’s a magic rake,” I countered, dryly, cutting her off.

“Oh, ok,” she replied, seemingly satisfied. All I could do was shake my head. This girl was just weird. I liked that, though. It was almost comforting in a way.

What we actually found at the lake, while not a ghost, was almost just as frightening.

It was a talking frog.

“Oh, hello,” said the frog, sniffling a bit as he saw us approach. He sat in the mud of the bank, tears streaming down his face. He was rather large for a frog—about the size of a housecat. Around his neck was a black bow tie. A smart little top hat rested on his green head. He reminded me of the cartoon frog that used to play dead to make his master seem insane on Looney Tunes. ‘Cept, you know, sadder.

I looked at my companions, “Did that frog just talk to us?” I asked out of the corner of my mouth, trying not to draw attention to my surprise. I didn’t want to be rude, after all.

“Pete has cat ears,” Alex answered, by way of an explanation.

“Point taken,” I replied. I looked back at the frog, who seemed to be lost again in his own despair, “So…what do we do?”

“Uh, talk to it?” Alex suggested in a tone so sarcastic it made my ‘Captain Obvious’ quip hang its head in shame.

“Why do I have to talk to it?” I asked, “Make Pete talk to it. She’s the one who’s from around here.”

“Huh uh,” Pete protested, clinging to Alex’s arm a bit, “talking animals freak me out.”

I stared at her, “Talking animals freak you out?”

“Well yeah, frogs aren’t supposed to talk, man, it’s just weird.” She clung even tighter to Alex’s arm, hiding herself slightly behind him.

“I am not even going to try and point out the irony in that one,” I sighed, “alright, fine, I’ll do the talking.”

I took a deep breath, summoning up all of my nerve. I wasn’t exactly frightened of the crying, talking frog, but it was definitely not high on my list of “things that are normal and therefore safe”.

“Um, hello, Mr. Frog,” I greeted, taking a step towards the sniffling amphibian. Ok, I actually stumbled forward a step, as I was quite rudely nudged forward by one of my cowering companions, but taking the step on my own sounds much more courageous.

“Hello,” answered the frog, wiping away a little froggy tear with his little froggy foot-hand-appendage thing.

“Are…are you okay? We heard you crying from over by the road. What’s wrong?”

The frog sighed, his little chest seeming to expand twice as large with the effort, “It’s my mistress’ ball,” he explained, “Her favorite golden ball. She dropped it while walking by the lake this morning and she was so upset, how could I not come back and try and find it for her? I spied it from the bank, and I thought I could reach it, but, alas, I fell in and was turned into this miserable creature you see before you.”

“So…you weren’t always a frog?” I asked, confused.

The frog laughed, bitterly, straightening his little shoulders a bit, “Of course not. I am the head steward for Her Majesty Princess Avaritia, Randolpho Smith.”

“Randolpho….Smith,” I echoed.

“Yes, of the Chestershire Smiths. I come from a long line of stewards,” He sighed again, “all of which who would be mortified to find that their offspring had been reduced to this.” He gestured in an all encompassing way to himself.

“So how did the lake turn you into a frog?” I asked, still confused on the finer details of steward to frog transformation.

“Why, it’s enchanted, dear child. Cursed, by a vicious fairy with too much time on her hands. Anyone who becomes completely submerged within its waters are changed.”

“Into frogs?”

“Not always frogs. No, this is a curse all of my own. Every curse is unique to the individual. It’s never the same curse twice.”

“She did have too much time on her hands,” Pete spoke up from her hiding place behind Alex.

Randolpho the frog nodded, wisely, “Yes, indeed, child. Yes, indeed.”

“So, if you’re already cursed, why don’t you just jump in and get the ball? It’s not like you can get turned into a frog, again.”

“Do you not think that I have tried?” he cried, impassioned, a new spring of tears welling up in his beady little eyes, “The ball is solid gold! It is too heavy for me to lift in this puny little body! Oh, I have failed. How can I return to the castle? How can I ever return to my beloved Princess Avaritia?” He threw himself onto the muddy bank, sobs wracking his tiny green frame.

“Awww, you love the Princess?” Pete cooed, stepping out from her hiding place. She walked up to the weeping frog and stroked his head, comfortingly with one finger, “Does she love you back?”

“Whatever happened to you being afraid of talking animals?” I whispered, leaning into her ear.

“He’s so sad. They’re not scary when they’re sad,” she whispered back.

“He was crying when we got here.”

“Yeah, but now he’s crying and in love!” she explained.

“I’m not even going to try and understand how your brain works,” I stated, giving up. I turned my attention back to our scaly friend, “So, what about it, Randolpho, how does the Princess feel about you?”

“Oh, I daren’t ask,” he anwered, wiping away tears, “How could a marvelous creature such as she love but a lowly steward such as myself? She is the sun in the sky, the stars in the heavens, the flies on a dung pile…wait…not the last one. Oh this transformation is affecting my brain! How long until I become a full frog? I can never face her again, never!”

“Awwww,” Pete cooed again, continuing to pet the poor creature.

“Relax, Frog-man, we’ll find a way to turn you back. A curse can’t exist without some kind of anti-curse, right? We’ll find someone who can lift it for you,” I offered.

“You…” Randolpho sniffled again, “you would do that for me?”

“Of course we would,” I answered, “We can’t just leave you here like this. It’d just be mean.”

“Oh thank you, thank you, child!” the frog cried, wrapping his sticky little arms around my ankle in a hug, “You have no idea what this means to me!” He stopped for a moment, pulling back from his death grip on my leg, a frown marring his features, “But wait…what about my mistress’ ball? I cannot return to the castle without that. I cannot bear her sadness when it is not with her.”

“We’ll get the ball, too. You said that you were almost able to reach it from the bank, right? I’m sure, if he tried, Alex could get it, right Alex?” I suggested, looking hopefully to my lanky companion.

“What are you looking at me for?” He asked, frowning, “You’re not speaking to me, remember?”

I rolled my eyes, “Oh, come on, don’t be such a girl. You’re the tallest, and have the longest arms. Besides, this isn’t for me, it’s for Randolpho. How can you say no to that sad little face?”

“I’d love to help, really, I would, but the truth is, I can’t swim.”

“You can’t swim?”

“Nope. Not even a dog paddle, and so if I fell in, not only would I be cursed, but I’d be cursed and drowned, and neither of those sound very exciting. Sorry.”

I shook my head at him, and then turned to Pete.

“Huh uh,” she protested, her eyes growing wide, “don’t look at me. Cat. Water.” She pointed to both herself and the lake in turn, “Do I have to say any more?”

I sighed, throwing up my hands, “Fine. I’ll do it!”

“Oh, thank you kind child!” the frog cried, again, again latching onto my ankle, “I do not know how I shall ever repay you!”

“Thank me, later,” I answered, “Now where is this ball, exactly?”

The frog detached himself and hopped further up the bank. The three of us followed until he stopped a good thirty feet away. I could see the ball shining though the crystalline clear water amongst the silt and rocks that lined the bottom, a good three feet or so down.

“Do you think you can reach it?” the frog asked, hopefully.

I shrugged, “I can try. Can’t guarantee anything, though.” That said, I kneeled along the bank, slightly disgusted at the way that my knees sank into the mud. Bracing one hand on the ground, I reached as far as I could into the water, my fingertips just brushing the hard surface of the ball. I wiggled my fingers, trying to inch it closer, but only succeeded in pushing it further away. I adjusted myself, scooting a little bit closer to the water, and tried again.

“Almost…almost…” I groaned, stretching as far as I could. Suddenly, just as I felt my fingers finally close around the golden orb, the mud under the hand I was bracing myself with seemed to fall away, my weight pushing it into the lake, and I found myself falling forward. I barely had time to scream before I felt myself splash into the lake, sinking quickly into the water. I felt a sharp pain in my head as I hit the bottom and then there was darkness.

“What are you doing in here?” James asks, wandering into the living room.

I look up from the television screen that has been holding my attention for the past fifteen minutes or so, “I can’t figure out what path I want to take on this game,” I answer.

He crosses the room, plopping himself down on the couch beside me, “You started twenty minutes ago. You still haven’t chosen your character?”

“Oh shush,” I admonish, turning back to the screen, “this is the most important decision I’m gonna make in this thing. What I choose now will affect the entire course of the rest of the game.”

He rests his arm on my shoulder, absently playing with my hair, “So what are the choices?”

“The Path of Knowledge or the Path of Power.”

“Psh, that’s easy,” he snorts, “Power, duh.”

“What?” I frown, “Why Power?”

“Easier battles which means quicker leveling, which means better loot.”

“Yeah, but I’ll have very little magic that way, and with harder battles magic might come in handy.” I countered.

“Then choose Knowledge.”

“But then I don’t have the same physical power. Makes battles much harder until I learn more advanced spells.”

He sighs, rolling his eyes, “You know, Babydoll, you’re making this a lot more complicated than it actually is.”

“I know, I’m just difficult, I guess.”

He smiles at me, and kisses my cheek, “And I wouldn’t have it any other way, you weirdo.” He leans his head on my shoulder, “Don’t worry about it so much, though. I’m sure you’ll make the right decision.”

“And what if I don’t?”

He frowns, “Well then, I guess you’ll be stuck.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I reply, dryly.

He takes my chin gently in his hand and turns my face towards his, “Really, though. Be careful. You know what choice is right for you. Don’t change your mind based on what anyone else says.”

“What are you talking about, you weird kid? It’s just a game—“

“Breathe, Mandy,” he commands, cutting me off.

“What?”

“Breathe!”

“James, what are you—“

“Come on, Mandy, damnit, breathe!” Alex’s voice cut through my vision, and I felt a hard pounding on my chest. Gasping, I quickly sat up, coughing up water and what felt like pebbles. Clutching my chest as I coughed, I looked up, finding myself staring into the face of a very worried looking and very wet Alex.

“Mandy!” Pete cried, throwing her arms around me in a bone crushing hug, “I thought you were dead!”

“What…what happened?” I asked, my voice scratchy. My throat was killing me, and I kept spitting out hard little pebbles.

“You almost drowned, that’s what happened!” Alex answered, a touch of worried anger in his voice, which made it seem higher than usual,” You slipped and fell in the lake and must have hit your head on a rock at the bottom. When you didn’t come up, I jumped in, and—“

“Wait, I thought you couldn’t swim,” I interrupted him. What the heck was with these rocks in my mouth? Did I swallow some sand as well as water?

Alex blushed a bit, rubbing the back of his neck, sheepishly, “Yeah, well…that was…kinda a lie. I just didn’t want to get wet…”

“Great, you just let me almost drown instead. Thanks.”

“Hey, I jumped in and saved you, didn’t I? Stop being such a bitch, you have no idea how worried I was about you!”

I shook my head, “I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you, I just—what the hell do I keep spitting up?” I looked down at the ground around me where I had been spitting out the small rocks I kept coughing up. Picking one up to inspect it further I found that it was sparkly and clear, almost like a...

“Is that a diamond?” Randolpho asked, inspecting one of the stones at his little froggy feet.

“Diamond?!” Pete exclaimed, releasing me from her grip, and grabbing the stone from my hand, “It is a diamond!” She turned back toward me, grabbing my shoulders, shaking me slightly with every word, “Mandy! You’re speaking jewels!”

“You’ve been cursed,” explained Alex, “like Randolpho.”

I sighed, “Well, at least I didn’t turn into a frog,” I looked at our new friend, “No offense, Randolpho.”

The large frog shook his head, “It is alright, dear child, I am just happy you are unharmed. And look!” he gestured beside him in the mud, “You have retrieved my mistress’ ball! I am forever in your debt.” Indeed, lying in the dirt of the bank was the small golden sphere, no larger than a golf ball.

“Glad to be of service,” I answered. I turned to Alex, “So…what’s your curse, then?”

Alex blushed, “Well…uh….” He gestured down at himself. I noticed that his blue and red shirt seemed rather…tight in the chest suddenly, and that his jaw line seemed to have softened a bit. That, along with his higher pitched voice…

I stifled my sudden laughter, “You’re a girl!” I cried, pointing at him.

“Yeah, well, let’s not make a big thing of it, shall we?”

I couldn’t help it, I laughed even harder, falling over onto the bank. Alex stood, throwing his hands into the air in disgust, “Great, I save your life, and this is the thanks I get?”

“I…I’m sorry, Alex,” I apologized, hiccupping up a pearl, “I’ll stop laughing.”

“Thank you.”

We looked at each other. I could feel the laughter rising again in my throat.

I lasted a good three seconds before I found myself rolling again on the bank, holding my sides from the laughter cramp that was forming.

Alex rolled his eyes. It was then that we heard the splash and realized that sometime during the last few minutes, Pete had magically disappeared.

“Pete!” we both cried. I jumped to my feet, running back to the water.

Pete was dragging herself back onto the bank, coughing. She shook herself, spraying water everywhere.

“Yuck! I hate water.” She muttered, coughing again. A large beetle fell from her mouth. “Ewwww!” She cried, spitting out another beetle and a few tiny snakes, “What’s going on? Why am I spitting out bugs?”

“You’re cursed,” Alex answered, “You knew the water was enchanted, why would you jump into it?”

“I wanted to speak in diamonds,” she explained, her eyes tearing up, “Why do I get gross stuff and she gets the sparklies?”

“The curses never repeat themselves,” Randolpho explained, “and are completely random. I am sorry, my dear.”

“So, so I’m going to be stuck like this forever?” she asked, tears flowing down her cheeks and a small frog falling from her mouth.

“Of course not, Pete,” I replied, putting my arm around the small girl. I coughed up another an emerald, “There has to be a way to cure us. Come on, let’s go into town and see if we can find an enchantress or something to life the curse.”

“You can call stay in the castle in the meantime,” Randolpho answered, “I am sure my mistress will be most grateful that you all took such a great risk to retrieve her ball. She is sure to reward you.”

“See?” I squeezed Pete’s shoulder a little, “we get to stay in the castle! Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

“I guess,” she pouted, a spider falling from her lips.

“Think on the bright side, Pete,” I offered as we made our way back to the path, “At least you’re not Alex. He, I mean she turned into a girl.”

“I heard that,” he protested.

“Maybe we should start calling him Alexis?” Pete chimed in, momentarily unphased by the mouse that jumped from her mouth.

“Great. Everyone’s a comedian,” Alex moaned.