Sebastian was in a world of hurt. He had landed on a rock. He could barely move. His hands felt weird, like his fingers were stuck together. He knew he'd been turned into something small, something that made it hard for him to move around. He couldn't stand, he could only crawl. Still, he could feel what he needed. He needed warmth, and he needed water.
He felt warmth coming from the east. Slowly, he started to crawl. He saw something large and yellow. It was the wild man's tent! If he could get in there, if he could somehow alert Linus, maybe Linus would put him in the lake. It wouldn't turn him into his old self, but he would get water. He needed water, more than anything.
Linus was fast asleep in the tent. Sebastian crawled in and looked around. There was a canteen! Sebastian swatted at it. It was heavy. He crawled around to the flat side of the canteen, where he could get some leverage. Then, slowly, he stood. He fell forward, right into the canteen, and knocked it over. Not what he wanted to do, but it would help a little. He quickly crawled in front of the mouth of the canteen and soaked up the little water that was still dribbling out.
"Ngggghh...what the…?" Linus wiped his face. The water had spilled right onto his cheek. "Oh. My water." He reached out and grabbed for the canteen. He got the frog instead. "Yuck!" His eyes snapped open.
Sebastian waved.
"What are you doing so far from the lake, buddy?"
Sebastian opened his mouth to speak. Nothing happened. When he closed his mouth, though, a croak came out. He waved again.
"Should we go back to the lake? You don't belong here, it's too dry."
No kidding, Sebastian thought, but the lake's not the best place, either. He swatted at the ground. His little hand scraped the wet dirt and left a mark. Nice! He drew a parallel line, and a line connecting those: an H. Next, he drew an E. Then, an L.
Linus stood. "You trying to dig, buddy? You won't find the water down there." He reached his hand down. Sebastian smacked it. "What are you doing?"
Sebastian quickly drew a P. HELP. Linus, an old man in a dark tent, completely missed it. He grabbed Sebastian. In his other hand, he picked up the canteen and poured the rest of it over Sebastian's frog body. It felt good. With the warmth of the hand under him and the water wetting his skin, his pain started to subside. He relaxed. He'd worry about what to do later.
Linus carried the frog and the canteen down to the lake. After filling his canteen and giving Sebastian another rinse, he set the frog down. Sebastian crawled into the water and stayed there, floating with his eyes above the water, enjoying the moisture while simultaneously wracking his brain and trying to figure out a way out of this predicament.
In the Witch's hut, Abigail was blind and covered in painful salt. She heard a thump. She waved her little frog hand, trying to get the attention of whatever had made that noise.
"Madam!" A low, gravelly voice called out. "Madam, what happened? Why are you in there?" Abigail felt herself being flipped upside down. "You're covered in salt! Were you attacked?" Abigail, forgetting her limitations, opened her mouth to speak. Nothing but salt!
She felt something warm. She was in someone's hand. Another hand was brushing her off. Then, she heard running water. She didn't want to get her hopes up, but she wanted that water more than anything. She pointed her little hand toward the sound.
"Yes, Madam, I'll rinse you off. I'm so sorry! Who did this?" He set Abigail down in the sink. She crawled under the running water. It was warm. It felt so good.
What she heard next made her feel even better. "Adalagu," the voice said. "Adalagu balala…" It was the undoing spell! The spell would be undone!
The elation was cut short by a flash of light, and a flash of pain. Pressure. Bones aching. Sickness. Then, a fall to the floor. Abigail was on the floor, soaking wet, and staring up at a terrified goblin.
"What the…? Who are you?" he asked.
"Who the hell are you?!" She stood. She still had to look up at him; he was a tall, muscular, and imposing figure. "I'm sorry. That was rude. I mean, I'm a guest of the witch's, an old friend from years ago. There was a misunderstanding. She turned me into a frog. Then, a frog snuck in. She grabbed me, thinking I was the intruder frog, and said something about dessicated frog for a potion. Then she threw me in a jar with the salt. Anyway, I'll be going now, excuse me!" She ducked past the goblin and ran out the door.
"Not so fast!"
"Yes, so fast," she answered. She grabbed what appeared the be a red and black rock and pitched it at the goblin. "Heads up!" With that, she hit the Circle of Summoning outside the swamp. The goblin, distracted by the jar of Void Mayonnaise that had washed ashore, didn't follow.
Abigail ran through the mountain cave, hopped over the tracks, and sprinted down to where she last saw Sebastian.
"Sebastian!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. "Sebastian, where'd you go?!"
"I'm tryin' to sleep! Holy Yoba!" Linus stormed out of his tent. The sun was just coming up. He turned and saw Abigail. "Oh! What happened to you?"
"I'm sorry," Abigail said. "It's a long story. I got turned into a frog, and now I can't find Sebastian."
"It wasn't you in my tent last night, was it?"
"No. There was a frog in your tent?"
"Yeah, and it was acting real strange. It was trying to dig, waving at me, slapping me...then it settled down all nice in my hand when I got it wet. Normal frogs just jump away."
"What did you do with it?!"
"Took it down to the lake. Frogs need water."
"Maybe that was Sebastian!" Abigail looked toward the lake. "Thanks, I'll check there!"
She sprinted down to the lake, knelt by the bank, and immediately saw a problem. Frogs. So many frogs. They were all identical. They were all cold, too, stiff from the cool night air. She grabbed one and said the undoing spell. Nothing. It hopped away. She grabbed a second frog, and said the undoing spell again. Nothing.
She tried five more times. Each time, the frog jumped away without changing. Even a spell cast without effect takes its toll on its caster, and after the night Abigail had, she was already tired. She thought about walking back up to the tent and asking Linus to describe the frog he'd found, but decided it would be of little use. They all look the same.
In the lake, Sebastian finally noticed the hand reaching in and scooping up frogs. With his poor frog eyesight, and no nail polish on the hand's fingernails, he couldn't tell who it was. It could be Abigail! But it could be the farmer, catching frogs to sell. It could be Gus, gathering ingredients for haute cuisine. It could be Vincent, catching frogs to play with.
Sebastian crawled up on the bank. All he could see was the person's giant hands and black pants. That didn't narrow it down very much. He had to find a way to send a message, one that Abigail would understand, but the others would not.
He felt a strange soreness in his mouth as he tried to crack a smile. He had an idea. The Flower Dance! He could do the Flower Dance, Abigail saw him do it every year. That stupid thing was actually good for something! He stood on his hind legs. He shuffled forward, moving his hands according to the choreography, and screwing it up because he never practiced that horrible dance.
"Sebastian!" Abigail cried with delight. She picked him up and kissed him on his little frog nose, then said the undoing spell.
There was a flash of light, and of pain. Sebastian felt sick. He felt aching down to the center of his bones. He was soaking wet, with algae in his hair. His hair! He was human! He was face-to-face with Abigail!
She wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. He yelped in pain and collapsed to the ground, screaming.
"Something's wrong! I'm a person again but something is really wrong, my whole body hurts!" He looked up at Abigail and groaned as he rolled over to his back. "Thank you for helping me. Please, get my mom. Or Harvey. Or the wizard. I can barely breathe."