"Live bait," I said aloud to myself, still trapped in the lonely dark room. "I never thought I'd know what it feels like to be a worm or a maggot or something. I'm never eating another fly again."
I pondered this thought for a moment. But as a frog (sort of), I found that my pledge to give up flies was near impossible.
"Hey, Frog!" I heard a voice call. "I've got someone here for you!"
I snapped to attention.
"Dad?"
Close, but not quite.
A blond pig got shoved so hard in the back, he fell and hit his face on the ground. His wrists were tied with rope like mine and the left sleeve of his t-shirt had been ripped straight off.
"Axel?"
"You'll never take me down, Fatso!" Axel yelled at Doc Hopper furiously.
"Oh, yeah, Sausage-Meat?"
I saw Axel's emerald eyes flash with anger.
He turned his head away, then did a double-take when he saw me.
He let out a sigh of relief. "Jasmine, you're alright. Thank God," he said. "Hey, who is this guy?"
"That's Doc Hopper," I whispered. "The…frogs' legs guy."
Axel never did share my Muppet obsession. He shared my loathing for frogs' legs though; it'd kind of suck if he didn't.
After hearing this statement, Axel decided that despite having no free hands, it was still a good idea to launch an attack on Doc, hurling abuse at him in a pure rage.
In merely five minutes, Axel was tied to the post next to me and we were both abandoned in the dark.
"Most horrible man I ever met," Axel said defiantly. "Try and make frogs' legs out of my sister, pah! I'd like to see him try! How do you put up with him, Jas? I thought you were supposed to be the tough one."
I didn't reply.
"Jasmine? Hey, don't cry."
I was crying because my hopes of escape were evaporating fast. If it was so easy to capture Axel, surely then Dad didn't stand a chance.
"We'll be alright," Axel said. "Trust me."
I sniffed. "Axie? Are…are we gonna die?"
He sighed, the same thought had entered his mind, I could tell.
"I hope not," he said. "Not if Dad can help it! Heh…"
Axel trying to make humour of the situation was a pointless effort.
"I'm so scared, Axie," I said in a tiny voice. "I don't want to become some French guy's dinner."
"And I don't fancy being a British guy's breakfast," Axel said. "What did Hopper say the plan was anyway? Is he just going to kill us right away?"
I told him the plan about luring Dad here.
He sighed. "That's not good."
"It's the worst," I declared.
"Not the worst," he said. "The worst would be if we're killed on the spot. We'll be alright, trust me."
"Is Dad really going to star on a frogs' legs commercial? He's a frog!"
"Jas, if it's to save us, Dad would eat frogs' legs," Axel said fervently. "Let alone advertise them."
I wish I was half as sure.
Still, the idea made both of us shiver.