Bluebells Froggy Dilemma

We nymphs really don't like frogs. They're the reason we fly high over ponds and rivers. This is because, for a frog, creatures our size flying above the water's surface make a rather tasty snack. When we're children we are told the fable of little Acorn, the boy who ignored all the warnings and flew too close to the water. Then when he least expected it, a sticky tongue shot out of the water, attached itself to him, and dragged him underwater where the big bad frog had a jolly good munch. It was only a story, but it ensured young nymphs didn't share a similar fate.

    This was why, as I dangled over the murky pond watching dark shapes moving underneath the surface, I was feeling pretty scared. I would have loved nothing more than to have stretched my wings and flown away as fast as possible, but the ropes that crisscrossed my body pressed them into my back and rendered them useless. I gave a pitiful moan into the black rag pulled over my mouth, trying to utter the enchantment to release myself from this situation, but my incantations were all effectively muffled. I sighed while trying to ignore the blood rushing to my head from being hung upside down for so long.

     I'd been suspended from a branch overhanging the pond by my booted ankles, which had already been tied together, along with my wrists which were crossed over and fixed behind my back. Then my captors had seen fit to wind rope all about my body, starting at my shoulders and methodically circling their way down to my waist, wings, thighs, and then upper and lower legs. I'd been left in a tight cocoon of cord, leaving me almost incapable of movement. I inanely thought at least this prevented my wavy skirt from falling down and revealing my modesty. But with my long blue hair falling past my head in the direction of the frog infested water, I regarded this as a pretty tiny mercy to have been left with.  

     I struggled only as much as I dared. I didn't want to alert the beasts below of my presence. I flexed my wrists, trying to find a knot to pry with my fingers but unable to find one. I knew my best chance of escape resided in me getting my gag off in order to cast a spell. This was what I had done the last time I ended up a bound and gagged captive, but dangling upside down in mid air provided fewer opportunities then the floor of my flat, and I couldn't shift the rag no matter how much I wriggled my jaw or tossed my head.

    My housemate Fern had been the one to help me loosen my gag before, but there was little she could do to help me now; largely because she was trying to escape her own identical bindings on my left hand side. She constantly grunted into her gag in frustration, her long green hair held back in a ponytail swaying from side to side. She wriggled against her bonds a lot more violently then me, the free spirited officer in the Nymph Defence Force not taking too kindly to being placed in peril. I could tell from the murderous glint in her brown eyes that she would surely make our captors pay if she ever got her hands on them.   

    On my right we were joined by a third captive, my classmate Primrose. Her thick glasses constructed out of hollow plant seeds had long fallen into the water below, with her normally immaculately straight, shoulder length pink hair dangling in the same direction. She barely moved against the identical ropework binding her, her eyes closed as she thought not only of our predicament but also of the events that had placed us in it, while silently hoping rescue would hurry itself up.

     I shifted a little against my bonds, making my body sway from side to side. I heard the green tinted ropes suspending me creak as I swished about like a leaf in the breeze. I found myself morbidly wondering how much longer the overhanging branch could support our weight, or whether the frogs would snatch us from above the surface before that happened.

    "Cccccnnnn yyyynnnn ggggtttt lllllssss?" Fern asked me through her gag as I swung closer to her.

    I shook my head. "Nnnnnn, tttssss ttttt tttnnnnttttt." I began to feel very dizzy, a combination of rocking from side to side and dangling upside down. I gazed helplessly at my flatmate, beginning to feel overwhelmed by despair. "Wwwhhhtttt dddd wwww dddddnnnnn ffffrrrrnnn?" I mewled.

    She didn't have an answer. We just continued dangling, our fate well and truly out of our hands.



    And to think, the day had started so well. I'd woken up in plenty of time for once, giving me the chance to prepare for the day ahead. I had a shower in the water gathered from the previous night's rain, gave my long blue hair a brush with my stickyweed comb, and even fitted in some routine exercises for my wings to keep them fit and healthy. I then selected an outfit consisting of a blue tanktop, wavy knee length purple skirt with a diagonally slanted hem, dark tights and a pair of blue high heeled knee length boots with strands of green ivy serving as laces. I then had a quick breakfast with Fern and my other flatmate, Princess Marigold, before I set off for the days lectures.

     I made it to my seminar with Professor Pear bang on time, taking my usual seat in between Primrose and my other friend Reed, a young male nymph with short green hair ruffled with beeswax. I could tell instantly that something was bothering Primrose. She barely acknowledged me, staring into oblivion while aimlessly twiddling strands of her pink hair. This continued once Professor Pear had begun the session. Normally she would have been first to put her hand in the air for each question, but today the words of our lecturer washed over her. It meant that without a willing volunteer, the professor picked on us at random to practice the spell he had just taught us.

    "Snofrizar!" I chanted when it was my turn, focusing on the acorn positioned on the professor's desk. I felt the air about my body chill as my spell began to take effect, and I sent this cool air towards the desk. The acorn was hit with a blast of freezing wind, causing ice to crystallise on its surface. I concentrated as hard as I could, but eventually found myself unable to maintain the effort and I relaxed, the ice instantly turning to droplets of dew.

     "Not bad for a first effort Bluebell," Professor Pear congratulated. "See what happens when you put the effort in?" I felt pride swelling up inside me. What a day this was turning out to be.

     "Now let's see...Primrose you've been very quiet. Why don't you have a go?"

    Primrose removed her hand from under her chin, where she had been resting on it. She glanced at the acorn and muttered, "Snofrizar," very nonchalantly. Her feeble spell barely created a breeze, the room temperature dropping only by a few degrees.

    "What was that?" A bemused Professor Pear asked. "That's not like you. Have you been practicing or...?" That was as far as he got, before Primrose burst into tears, got to her feet and ran out the classroom. We sat in silence as she slammed the door shut behind her, until Professor Pear asked, "Was it something I said?"

     Getting to my feet I said, "Let me go talk to her Professor."

     I was joined by Reed. "Yeah I'd better go too, she seemed quite hysterical." If I knew him well enough it was more down to him sensing a chance to skive lessons. But he joined me in searching for our distraught friend regardless, even though she had long since vacated the corridor by the time we left the classroom.

    We searched the entire oak tree that our university was situated in. Eventually we found her perched on its higher branches, staring down at the bustling city of Daffoville below. She was still sniffing loudly, dark marks under her eyes where her make-up had run. "Need to talk?" I offered as Reed and I approached.

       "Oh I'm sorry," Primrose apologised, the emotion straining her voice. She seemed to be debating internally whether to tell us what was wrong or to keep quiet. But eventually she had to get it off her chest. "I just made a terrible discovery yesterday, about my cousin Moss."

     "Oh I know him, he's the hot one right?" chimed in Reed.

    I elbowed him in the ribs, hissing under my breath, "That isn't helping." Moss was a couple of years older than Primrose, and throughout her childhood had been like an older brother to her. Though while Primrose was working hard to become a powerful and successful sorceress, Moss was a lazy dropout who eked his way through life, often relying on how, as Reed so eloquently put it, he was quite hot.

     "What's wrong with him? I thought you said he'd got a job," I asked.

     "That's where it all started," Primrose sniffed. "He spent all his wages on strawberry beer and betting on the firefly races. Eventually he got obsessed, and then started spending more money than he was earning. When I asked him about it, he just told me not to worry. So last night I did a bit of snooping through his private records...and I found...he's taken out loans from the gnomes."

     As Primrose blew into her handkerchief Reed and I exchanged concerned looks. She was right to be worried. The gnomes were notorious gangsters, running a criminal empire that stretched from the old willow tree right across to the dew filled meadow. They were as ruthless as they were greedy, and as Fern had repeatedly discovered almost impossible to convict due to the money they wielded. And if Moss had indeed borrowed from them then he was in for some horrific consequences if he didn't pay it back with plenty of interest.

    "Are you sure? There are other ways he could have got the money," Reed pointed out.

     "I saw the IOU leaves in his personal files," Primrose sighed. "He's borrowed 30,000 petals in the past three months. I don't know what to do. There's no way he can pay that back, and there's no way I can help him pay it off."

    Looking back now, I sort of wish I had kept my mouth shut, put my arm around her and offered words of comfort. But what happened instead was that I had an idea. There was nothing I could do to help her, but I knew just the person who could.



    "The leafy shrub," Fern announced, pointing at the dingy bar constructed inside the root of a gnarled cedar tree on the outskirts of Daffoville. "The base of operations for the Fungus family, the richest and most powerful gnome gang within the city limits."

     We peered at it over the large leaf we were hiding behind, hovering in mid-air with our wings flapping so fast they were a blur behind our backs. I watched as numerous nymphs, sprites and a couple of leprechauns walked into the bar, unconcerned that they were walking into the den of some of the most ruthless criminals in our society.

     "Moss mentions this place all the time," Primrose breathed. "He often comes here after work."

     I turned to Fern, the young officer already formulating a plan in her head. "If there's an illegal gambling syndicate in there then we shouldn't go in until later. If we wait until night when it's busier then we can sneak around using the crowds as cover," she explained to us.

     "Besides, not really dressed for a night out are you?" I grinned at her, noting the professional white sleeveless blouse, green trousers and high heel ankle boots she wore for her job.

      "It's more her I'm worried about," Fern told me, motioning to Primrose with her head. I had to admit, my classmate did stand out rather with her scarlet long sleeved top, purple minishorts, vivid pink tights and purple flat pumps with tiny buttercups on the toecap.

      I was beginning to feel a bit apprehensive. Fern is a real natural at all this stakeout and snooping stuff; whereas I'm a slightly lazy student with airhead tendencies. "Maybe you're right. We should come back later. Reed will probably be wondering why we left in such a..."

     "MOSS!" Primrose interrupted loudly. Fern and I resumed staring at the entrance to the bar, and saw her cousin walking towards it. Dressed in a shabby hooded top his purple hair was unkempt and his face unshaven. He looked about nervously as he walked, but didn't notice us hiding in the leaves, and as conspicuously as he could he entered the building.  

     The door had barely swung shut before Primrose took off from behind her cover. The only thing that stopped her was Fern grabbing her by the ankle, before yanking her back behind our hiding place. "You can't go in there," she warned.

    "I have to. If those gnomes hurt Moss in any way I'll never forgive myself. I have to help him!" Primrose insisted. With a powerful kick of her tight clad legs she broke free from Fern's grip, and took off in the direction of the bar.

    "We have to go in with her," I hissed to Fern, knowing that if something happened to her I'd be the one not forgiving myself.

    Fern gave a sigh. "You ever wonder why the police hate dealing with students? They always think they know better than you," she remarked through gritted teeth. Yet she joined me as I set off after Primrose, rhythmically flapping our wings as we landed on the dirty ground by the main entrance, in time to see her already making her way through it.

     Fern and I darted after her, running through the door before it closed ominously behind us. We found ourselves at the top of a flight of red carpeted stairs, illuminated by dim purple candles fixed to the walls. The three of us walked down in single file as a musty smell invaded our nostrils, like that of rotting plants. Fern wrinkled her nose, recognising the pungent stink of an unwashed gnome. We pressed on regardless as the stairs lead us to a set of grand double doors. Whoever was on the far side seemed to know we were coming, and opened them before we had even finished our descent.

     We all gasped as we walked into the swankiest bar we'd ever stepped into. It was one large room filled with candlelit tables surrounding a wooden dance floor, with a trio of fairies playing covers of nymph pop songs in the corner. Along one side was a long bar, behind which a troupe of pretty nymph girls were pouring strawberry beer and mixing dandelion cocktails for their half drunk clientele. On the other side were a number of booths embedded in the walls, and above our heads people leant on the railings of the surrounding balconies, drinks in hand as they discussed business deals or tried their luck with a passing bar girl.

   Suddenly feeling very self conscious I asked Fern over the music, "Any idea where to go next?"

    "You think I'm just going to walk up and ask the first gnome we meet? Seriously Bluebell, we found the bones of the last defence officer to investigate this gang making up part of a blackbird nest."

    "Oh now you tell us." This situation was getting worse by the second. But Primrose was undeterred, pushing her way through the screeching and dancing crowds while seeking the purple hair of her cousin. After a while she spotted him, sitting at a table situated in a booth, chatting animatedly with the rest of its occupants.

    "Pretend to dance," Fern hissed at us. Primrose and I took her advice, and began moving in time with the music in a tight triangle formation. We slowly bopped our way through the bouncing crowds, moving as inconspicuously as possible. Remaining unnoticed we ended up leaning against the far wall beside the booth, casting careful glances to the table at which Moss was seated.

    Across from him sat a creature our height with a bushy brown beard covering half of his sweaty, boil pocketed face. He gave a smile revealing a mouth only half filled with blackened, rotting teeth. He was dressed in a crisp, dark suit with a bright purple tie made out of flowers welded together. His name was Bullion, the Gnomefather, the leader of the fungus gang. And as we were about to find out, he wasn't a pleasant host.

      "You surprise me Moss," he remarked in a tone of mock surprise, his voice raspy and strained. "You're an intelligent young nymph. Surely you'd have learnt to properly manage your finances by now?"

    "I just need a little more time," Moss replied, sounding desperate. "I'm getting paid in a few days, I'll start paying you back then."

     "Are you sure? You aren't going to go spend it on the four to one favourite at dandelion meadow?" Moss opened his mouth to defend himself, but only emitted a pitiful squeak, which made Bullion laugh at him. "Gambling is an intriguing pursuit isn't it, capable of bringing me great wealth and likewise reducing a naive youth to wearing rags."

        "Please, just give me a little..."  Moss bargained, but was swiftly interrupted by the notorious gangster.

        "I've been more than generous young man. You wouldn't do me the dishonour of taking advantage of my generosity. How sad. Do you really want my boys to teach you a lesson in respect?"

      His mocking words seemed strike a nerve inside Primrose, and looking more furious then I had ever seen her she leapt from behind our cover and shouted, "You leave him alone you cockroach."

     "Primrose!" I exclaimed in astonishment as Fern and I darted to her side, amazed at the normally shy girls appalling language.

     "What are you doing here?" Moss spluttered, staring at her in disbelief, as three burly security gnomes a lot taller and muscular than ourselves advanced on our position.

    But Bullion's smile did not diminish in the slightest. "It appears you have a fan club Moss," he remarked, licking the bristle underneath his lips.

     "Listen to me you creep. We will pay you back but in our own time. And understand this, no-one threatens members of my family." Primrose finished her outburst, looking angrier then I had seen her before. Moss stared up at her from where he sat, utterly bemused by the situation he now found himself in.

     Yet Bullion remained unmoved. Looking like he was having a wonderful time he said, "Am I supposed to feel threatened? Young lady, I have the authorities too scared to even touch me. What makes you think you can do anything that will scare me?"

     "If the authorities knew what was really going on they would shut this place down in an instant," snapped Fern, also becoming frustrated.

    But she overstepped the line, as indicated by one of the security gnomes grabbing her upper arm roughly. "You talk too much lady, you should leave the boss in..." He trailed off when he caught sight of the golden acorn badge protruding from the back pocket of her trousers. "Boss she's got an acorn badge. She's a cop! Get..."

     But Fern cut his announcement short when she stamped heavily on his foot with the point of her high heeled boot. He reeled away in pain, allowing her to wrench her arm free from his grip. Flapping her wings she took off to the correct height for her to give a strong roundhouse kick to the face of the second guard, before she thrust her elbow into the chest of the third gnome behind her. I watched in astonishment. I knew full well she was highly trained in the nymph martial arts but seeing her in action was something else.

    But my attention was diverted to across the room, where more security was barging their way through the dancers towards us. Thinking fast, I raised my hands and yelled, "Dewesta!" My enchantment covered the dance floor in a thick fog, seriously limiting the vision of everyone on it. I heard the crowd screaming in panic, preventing the security guards from reaching out position.

     With a flick of my blue hair I whirled around to face Bullion, my arms raised as I prepared a spell that would stop this madness. But Bullion was ready for me. Having already got to his feet, the instant Primrose and I were facing him he blew some sparkling yellow dust at us from the palm of his blistered hand. It stung my throat and nostrils, making Primrose and I cough violently. Managing to catch my breath I tried saying the enchantment, but I didn't make a sound. My vocal chords vibrated and my lips moved, but I simply couldn't utter a word.

    "You think you're the only sorceress I've dealt with?" Bullion smirked as Primrose and I tried every incantation we knew but remained thoroughly muted. "I know just how to deal with you hocus pocus types. There's no way you can hurt me when you can't say your little spells." He was right. He'd taken away our ability to use magic by using silencing powder, and now Primrose and I were easy pickings. Within seconds security guards had us surrounded, and despite our best efforts they swiftly grabbed us, pinning our arms behind our backs and crushing our wings in between our bodies and our attacker's.

     Fern had trapped one gnome in a painful arm lock, but when she saw Primrose and I in their clutches she froze, weighing up the situation in her head. She was surrounded, outnumbered and would be putting us in danger if she resisted. Closing her eyes in resignation, she released the guard from her grasp and held her hands up in surrender. Quickly two guards grabbed her by her wrists, and twisting them painfully pushed her to her knees.

    Moss stared at us blankly, obviously wanting to help us but too terrified to defy Bullion. "Why did you have to come here Primrose?" he breathed. Unable to speak back Primrose simply shook her head, tears forming behind her glasses.

    Bullion stood beside Moss and put his arm around him. Smirking triumphantly at his three captives he said, "Now this is a real strange situation we find ourselves in young man. But don't worry, I've come up with an ingenious solution that I think will suit us all in the end, but particularly me."
     


     So that's how I ended up in this situation. Fern, Primrose and myself had been frogmarched (pun not intended) through the forests with our wrists and upper bodies bound and black rags over our mouths, until we reached this frog filled pond. We were carried up to this overhanging branch where we were further bound with ropes attaching our feet to the branch. Then one by one we were shoved over the side, but the ropes prevented us from falling to our deaths, and instead we ended up swinging upside down above the water's surface.

      Bullion had made Moss watch as this was done to us. As I swung backwards and forwards from the momentum of my original descent I heard him say, "You really are a fool for doing this. You know the blue haired girl is the granddaughter of the Grand Mage? Believe me, he's a sorcerer you really don't want to cross."

     "Who she's related to hardly matters, and in a few hours it will matter even less," Bullion barked at him. "Here's the deal lad. You're going to get me my money, all of it, before your cousin and her nosy friends become dinner for my pets. You do this, and I'll sprinkle you all with amnesia dust and you can all be on your merry way. But you'd better be quick, there's no telling how long it will be before they get hungry. It could be minutes, could be hours, could be longer. I think the current record is three days."

     And with that we were abandoned here. Left in a deserted part of the forest, encased with inescapable ropework, countless nymph eating monsters in the water below and our lives in the hands of a young man burdened by an almost impossible task. So yeah, things did look pretty bleak for us.

     The sun was beginning to set, and I was already feeling the evenings chill. I wriggled my hands, feet and legs in order to restore some feeling to them, numbed as they were from dangling like this. I had no idea how much time had elapsed in reality, but to me it felt like an eternity.

    Primrose moaned as a gust of wind gently buffeted us, making our ropes groan as we swung from side to side. Fern methodically tested her bonds, trying to find a weak point to begin her escape. But our bonds remained stringent. Fern emitted an angry cry into the black rag pulled over her lips, giving such a powerful tug with her bound legs that the branch supporting us shook wildly.

    I found myself looking at the upside down forms of the three gnome security guards on the ponds shore. They had been left to keep an eye on us, but given how inescapable our situation was they'd long stopped paying attention. They had made a campfire and were sitting around it playing a card game. The sound of their amused guffaws filled the otherwise empty forest. They were perfectly safe from the hungry predators, because gnomes were so oily and spot riddled that they tasted awful. A trio of nymphs unable to put up a fight would always be a more appetising prospect for a hungry frog.

    I closed my eyes, shaking my head and hair in one more attempt to dislodge my gag, trying to move my wings so they broke free from the ropes pressing them into my back. But once again my efforts proved futile. Disheartened, I opened my eyes and immediately saw a pair of dark amphibious eyes glinting at me from above the waters' surface. I mewled in desperation, realising it wouldn't be long now.            

    "When you told me you were going to hang out, I didn't expect you to mean it literally," said a familiar voice from above me.

    Tilting up my head I gave a cry of surprise as I found myself gazing up at the grinning face of Reed. He put his finger to his lips to shush me, and said "Keep it down Bluebell. You don't want to alert your charming captors of what's coming next."

    Feeling confused, I returned to gazing at the three gnome guards, who stood up alarmed as Moss emerged from the undergrowth, a large sack slung over your shoulder. "I got Bullion's money," he announced, slinging the sack to the ground with a heavy thump.

     This seemed to surprise the gnomes, who obviously hadn't expected him to return. They shuffled over to the sack suspiciously, wondering what it contained. They were right to be wary, as when it was untied they were covered by thick, muggy fog that burst forth from it. Then instantaneously the air was filled with nymphs, all wearing an identical orange and green uniform complete with riot helmets made out of hollowed out conkers. Primrose, Fern and I all gave muted exclamations of excitement as they overpowered the gnomes, realising we were being rescued by the elite guard of the Nymph Royal Family.

    We felt several strong tugs on our legs, until with a powerful heave on the part of our rescuers we were pulled up onto the branch. I tried blinking away my dizziness as my bonds were cut away. Reed smiled at me as he grabbed my gag and pulled it from my mouth. "Weren't expecting this were you?" he grinned.

     Laughing happily, from relief as much as anything, I told my friend, "If you weren't gay I'd seriously be asking you on a date right now."

    "Drinks on you next bar crawl is all the reward I need," Reed winked.

    The Elite Guard swiftly untied Primrose's hands in time for Moss to land next to her. The two cousins embraced each other tightly, even as a guard tried freeing her from the ropes binding her legs. "I'm so, so sorry. If I knew this would happen I'd never have done it," he apologised with a trembling voice.

    "How did you manage all this?" Primrose asked, sounding utterly bewildered by our swift rescue.

    "Reed caught up with me and I told him what happened. He suggested we enlist the help of someone more powerful than some gnome gangsters."

      I was about to ask who he was talking about when I was nearly bowled over as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around my neck. "Thank the sunflowers you're safe," Marigold exclaimed, her long golden hair draping itself over my shoulder. "I hope I brought enough help." Only Marigold could send the elite guard to rescue us and then worry she hadn't done a good enough job. I'm telling you, having the fifth in line to the Nymph Throne as a flatmate really comes in handy.

    "You have to arrest Bullion. He can't be allowed to get away with this," Fern barked at the guard helping her kick the ropes off her feet.

    "Already in hand, Bullion won't be escaping from..." the guard began, but he was cut short by a loud scream emitted by Primrose. We all whirled around to see her desperately holding on to Moss, who was being pulled from her grasp by a sticky tongue attached to his waist. As Fern, Reed and three guards darted forward to help her keep hold of him, I peered over the side of the branch and saw a frog splashing about below us, trying to reel its catch in.

    Knowing I only had seconds before the creatures overwhelming weight dragged Moss to the depths, I pointed at the water and bellowed over the frantic cries of the crowd beside me, "SNOFRIZAR!"

    A tempest of freezing wind surged from my fingertips, twirling and whistling their way to the pond in a vicious cyclone of ice. As I had felt that night when confronting the pixie intruders in my flat, I felt a surge of energy throughout my body, making me feel like I was capable of anything. The cyclone seemed to whip about with a flick of my fingertips, and I focused on the flailing beast below.

    The wind slammed into the surface with a crash, but even as the water splashed from the impact it instantaneously froze. This chilly air radiated out in a circle, freezing everything in its path. When it reached the frog it quickly stopped moving as it got trapped within the ice sheet, ice crystals forming on its slimy skin. These crystals continued to form all the way up its tongue, reaching right up to Moss where a ring of frost formed around his waist.

   I exhaled loudly as I ceased my enchantment, dropping to my knees feeling drained of energy. I then looked to my side to see the faces of everyone staring at me in complete amazement. Reed eventually broke the silence, saying in an impressed tone, "Professor Pear is never going to believe you did that."