Chapter 9

"Let us depart from the cave." said Mistle Toad. "I believe we've had enough of a history lesson."

"So, where are we supposed to go?" asked Fur Foot.

"I said you must go to Toad Hollow." replied Mistle Toad with a grin. "It's an amazing world where life and love have no physical and mental boundaries. A realm where the life inside us toads is accepted into a paradise, a toad's introduction to the joys of Heaven. Toads who find their way to Toad Hollow thrive on the impossibilities of this world: the world where life itself is born."

These words captivated Beauty Stem. Immediately, her imagination swayed into a never-before-seen realm of color and botany. "How poetic."

"Toad Hollow is the definition of poetic." said Mistle Toad.

"Sounds like a load of hooey." said Puff Ball. "Am I supposed to believe there's a place in the forest where only toads can go? And everything's all happy-cheery and-"

"Everything sounds like hooey to you, Puffy." said Elf Cup, pointing at Puff Ball like he was a little kid. Even though he was younger, he was larger and much more responsible.

"And this only sounds nice to you because you want it so bad." said Puff Ball. "And don't call me 'Puffy.'"

Mistle Toad was getting tired of this. He raised his staff... and an amazing glow of pink light surrounded him! Pink dust spun slowly around him. It was the most beautiful thing any of the toadlets have seen.

The dust started to take forms. First, they turned into little toadlets, all scrambling to a magical portal on the ground. But then, the portal closed. And the toads turned into toadstools.

Mistle Toad lowered his staff, and the pink light went away, and the dust slowly floated to the ground before disappearing in the darkness.

"No that you've seen the power of Toad Hollow," began Mistle Toad. "Do you understand the severity of your situation?"

"How do we get there?" said Fur Foot, immediately realizing his siblings wouldn't get hurt.

"Not through normal means." said Mistle Toad. "Toad Hollow can be accessed through a magical portal known as the Fairy Ring."

"Portal?" asked Fur Foot.

"You've seen it in the fairy light that I have shown you with my Fairy Sparkler." said Mistle Toad, holding up his staff. Mistle Toad drew a toad and a giant circle on the ground, and then proceeded to draw another frog far away from the two. "A portal is a door that leads from one place," he pointed to the first frog near the circle (the portal), and then went to the second frog. "To a completely different and far away place in an instant."

"So where's this fabulous portal?" said Puff Ball.

"I never know. Only the thunder trees know, since the portal always appears in a new location every season. When the season ends, the portal closes."

"So, if we don't find it in one season, we have to start over?" said Elf Cup.

"You do not understand. You would know death for life. You must go through the portal. Or else..." The old toad paused and turned to the rubbery stem. "You will become like that. A toadstool, a former toad. It is a plant that does not think. A fungus. It was once a toad."

The children just stared at the toadstool, realizing the unfortunate fate that met the toad.

"And the same will happen to you if the fairy ring closes this season." said Mistle Toad.

"But you'll help us get there, right?" said Fur Foot, nervously.

"There are others I must help. I have a whole forest to watch over. I left Toad Hollow long ago, and I am not affected by the magics of the Fairy Ring anymore. But you are. And others are that I must help."

"But how do we find it!?" said Fur Foot.

"The thunder trees are the wisest creatures in the forest. Find a leaf-less tree with thick branches like lightning, and you will see it."

"Lightning..." said a confused Elf Cup.

"Crackles in the sky. That is the primitive word for lightning."

"So, it looks like the light in a storm!" said Fur Foot.

Puff Ball rolled his eyes. "Great, along with a total riddle, we have new words! I have no idea what's going on! I have a headache."

"Quit whining, Puff Ball!" said Elf Cup. "We need to listen to this guy or we'll die!"

"No." said the toad. "You will not. You will live in a dreamless, never ending sleep; always black."

The toads froze in place. The words sank in their hearts. A never ending blackness is a terrible fate. "Some say it's worse than death." said the toad. With that, he waved his bejeweled staff at the kids. "If you can talk to the thunder trees, you will know where to look. Not all can talk to them."

"What do they sound like?" said Fur Foot.

"Ah! Panther Cap!" shouted the young Beauty Stem. "Panther Cap can hear the thunder trees!"

"What?" said Puff Ball.

"Panther Cap's heard strange things tell us of a home. Those must be the thunder trees. Yes!"

"Then let us depart for the thunder tree!" exclaimed Mistle Toad. "If your friend can hear them, you may all be safe!"

It wasn't long before they all ran out of the cave. When they did, they saw Shaggy Mane chasing Panther Cap from far away.

"Where are the going?" shouted Fur Foot.

"What are they doing?" said Puff Ball.

Mistle Toad looked up in the sky. A small storm was blooming above the forest of trees in the distance.

"The Listener is born." said Mistle Toad.

"Panther Cap!" shouted Shaggy Mane as he chased him through the forest. "Stop running! Get back here!"

Panther Cap wouldn't listen. The whispers were getting abundant, louder, more serious. He was close to the source of these whispers. And he believed they would end once he found who, or what, was whispering in his mind.

"There's a storm coming!" shouted Shaggy Mane.