A/N: in this story, Anne uses she/he pronouns, and Spring uses they/them. Written for the genprompt_bingo square "Terrible Decisions" and fan_flashworks challenge #359 "current"


"Hey, Spring, Polly, want to go play by the creek?" asked Anne.

"Yep!" said Polly.

"Sure! Just let me get my stuff," Sprig said.

"Hop Pop! Spring and Polly and I are going to the creek!"

"Okay, kids! Have fun, and be home by supper!" he said.

They walked down to the creek, chatting all the way.

"Huh, the stream's running pretty fast today," Anne observed when they got to the creek.

"Yeah, it always speeds up after a big rain," Sprig replied.

"I guess that makes sense. Hey, do you want to play tag?" said Anne.

"Uh, maybe, I-"

"Tag! You're it!" Anne ran off laughing.

"Oh, come on, I wasn't ready!" called Sprig as they chased after her.

"Wait for me!" Polly said as she hopped after the other two.


Eventually, they got bored with playing tag, and Sprig began to demonstrate their skill at catching bugs with their tongue. Anne and Polly clapped and laughed, enjoying the show. After Sprig caught one in a particularly impressive way, Anne whistled and said "That was amazing!"

"Yeah!" Sprig said. "Now, let's see if I can catch…this one!" they pointed at a rather large fly, then began to hop after it.

"Yeah, go Spirg! Woo-hoo!" Anne and Polly yelled.

The fly proved to be surprisingly difficult. It was very fast, and had a habit of going in directions the one didn't expect. Eventually, Sprig found themself hopping onto a rock in the creek in order to get at it.

"Sprig, be careful!" called Anne with a hint of worry in her voice.

"I'm fine, Anne! I can do this! See, I'm - waaaaurrrgh!" With a great splash, Sprig hop-slid off the rock and into the creek.

"Sprig!" Anne cried.

They yelled and struggled as the strong current swept them down the creek. Anne turned to Polly and asked, "please tell me there aren't any giant leeches in the creek."

"Nope, no leeches!"

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"But there are giant teeth-fish that can strip a frog of flesh in ten seconds. It's kind of amazing, honestly."

"Giant freshwater piranhas!? That's even worse!"

"Heeeellllppppp!" Sprig cried as they were carried down the stream by the current.

"Okay, okay, let's see what we have here," Anne said as she and Polly rummaged through their bags.

"Would this work?" asked Polly as she pulled a jacket out of Sprig's bag.

"Great!" said Anne. He scanned the shoreline and spotted a tree upstream. She pointed at it and ran towards it with Polly, yelling "I'm coming for you, Sprig!"

They only emitted a garbled shout in response.

Anne grabbed Polly and scampered up the tree. Carefully, he adjusted herself so that he was holding onto Polly with one hand and the tree with the other. The end result was that Anne was holding onto Polly, who was dangling the jacket over the stream.

"Sprig! Grab hold of this when you can!" Polly shook the jacket.

Sprig made another garbled shout that Polly and Anne took as affirmative. Anne spotted a dark shape behind Sprig. They swam and struggled for a few more moments, as the shape grew larger and closer to Sprig.

"Come on come on come on!" Anne muttered under her breath.

Sprig continued to get closer to Anne and Polly, and the shape continued to get closer to Sprig. At this point, it was clear that it was a piranha, and that Sprig could get eaten if they weren't fast enough.

Sprig grabbed hold of the jacket, and as soon as they did so the piranha made a lunge for them. He screamed and thrashed as Polly and Anne tried to pull them out. After much struggle, the trio managed to fling themselves onto the shore in a heap. The piranha disappeared back into the river.

"Thanks for pulling me out, guys," Sprig said after the group had disentangled themselves.

"Yup. It's what friends do," said Anne.

"And, let me guess, I should be less reckless and more careful, especially near dangerous places."

"Yep."

"Mm-hm."

"Well, do we want to stay here or go back?"

"I think we should stay here. I mean, the weather's nice, and we're not too badly injured -"

"Tag! You're it!" Sprig ran off.

"Oh-I'm going to catch you!" Anne ran after them, and Polly hopped along.

The end.