Kissing the Frog, Again...

[widardofodd]

"So, you're wondering how I got here again, I suppose?" Alistair Twiggybush asked the Guardian.

The statue replied with a question, "Restless spirit, do you wish to return to the material plane?"

"No, no. This place is like a second home to me. I think I'll stay a while to meditate." Alistair paused to scratch his nose. "A lot to meditate on, actually. Mostly, whether or not I should listen to that still, quiet voice that tells me not to do stupid stuff.

"Stupid stuff like what, you ask? Oh, there's a lot, but let's focus on my latest boondoggle.

"'Abiz!', my adventurous voice cried. 'Sure,' I thought, 'I haven't been to Abiz in a while.' 'I've got a bad feeling about this,' my still, quiet voice said. 'Oh, shutup!' I told it. 'You say that about EVERYthing. We're going.'

So I went to Brosna. Walked to the Abiz transport, fighting off some petty legendary wolves on the way.

“The journey by sea was uneventful, until we were attacked by pirates. I single handedly took care of almost all of them. Then I met the mage. Bastard hit me with a hold person spell. They made quick work of me, to be sure.

“The next thing I remember was waking up on the shores of Abiz. I patted myself down to make sure all of me was still there. After a moment, I was satisfied I was in one piece. More importantly, all my stuff was accounted for. I wandered the island, fighting monsters and hacking cactuses, or is it cacti? Whatever. Anyway I got to the town of Hebezdi. Nice folks. Good hummus.

“After eating all the hummus and tabuli I could get my hands on, I decided to take a trip home. Outside Hebezdi, I saw a sign pointing to the docks. I headed that way. Not unexpectedly, I was beset upon by earth elementals all along the road. I wandered through the desert along a uncertain road for a while. Then I saw it in the distance. A huge blue dragon!

“'RUN!' screamed my quiet still voice. 'FIGHT!' said my adventurous voice demanded. 'This dangerous beast must not remain on the road to harass helpless travellers!' I listened to my adventurous voice. Surely I, Alistair Twiggybush, could handle a dragon! No other foe on this cursed island has given me trouble. Well, yes, there was that pirate mage, but we were at sea at the time, so that doesn't count.

“Anyway, I steeled myself for the attack. I wrapped the shadows around me, and crept toward the dragon. My quiet, still voice muttered, 'Oh, shit. Here we go again.' Pushing that voice aside, I focused on the task at hand. I sneaked up to the dragon, all but invisible, quiet as a mouse.

“Apparently, dragons can hear mice.

“'Why hello, pre-lunch snack.' boomed the dragon. 'I'm nobody's snack, beast!' I retorted. 'Nom, nom, nom,' said the dragon.

“And that's how I ended up here again. What think you, Guardian? What would you have done?”

"Restless spirit, do you wish to return to the material plane?" the Guardian answered.

“Yes, yes,” Alistair responded thoughtfully. “I wouldn't change anything, either. Well, there's always next time.”

[Lliira]

(( ))

[KYPHEN]

Nicely rendered! You give good words

[widardofodd]

Thank you, KYPHEN. On another note, did you get your CDKey problem fixed?

[KYPHEN]

Yes and thanks...