"NERLMAN GERFATI HOREDOFA KLEWN!" The voice that bellowed the name echoed throughout the swamp. All the creatures immediately fell silent and the abruptly, the only sound was the wind swooshing in and out, oblivious to the fury in Mama Frog's voice. Nobody liked to see Mama Frog dole out her punishments to her children, it left many giving thanks at night to their little animal gods that they weren't born a frog.
"Oh dear," thought Nerlman as he hopped briskly though the reeds in a fashion that was hopefully inconspicuous, "better not let Mama see me now, who knows what she'll do this time." He shuddered as he thought of the last time he got caught for dropping poop in his younger brother's fly soup. The animals watching Nerlman speculated at why he bothered to run at all, in the end, Nerlman was always caught and always sentenced to yet another one of Mama Frog's frightening punishments in hopes that he would finally learn his lesson and let peace descend in the swamp.
Nerlman continued to hop although he started slowing down and began to look warily around him as if he expected a great terror to appear at any second. The squirrels above him chattered as they gambled on how long Nerlman would last. They placed a few acorns in between them and waited for the final outcome as they sat in a tree that overlooked the frog. Nerlman finally came to a standstill at a little patch bare of reeds and the whole swamp held its breath as the final deciding moment came. Some of the reeds near Nerlman moved suspiciously and he backed away fearing that just the slightest move would mean yet another round of torture. A few reeds near him moved again as if whatever was causing the disturbance was coming closer. He knew his mother's tactics; she would throw a rock and make him think that two Mama Frogs coming toward him from different places. Bewildered, his defenses would be down and that would be the moment she would spring from her actual hiding spot and seize him victoriously again. Nerlman was prepared this time though, he would foil her plans once and for all!
For an extra bit of good luck, Nerlman pleaded silently "Please god, don't let me suffer another week of horrendous torture" as he braced himself. A twitch behind him made him whirl around to face his foe, but he was too late. Mama Frog had him bound up and trussed with a speed that only came with years of practice. "Ha Nerlman! Didn't think this old hag would get you again did you?" jeered Mama frog as she had him carried by a few snakes back to their humble little burrow.
***
The little burrow did not look impressive from the outside, but for those who knew it well, it was actually connected to a massive network of caverns and tunnels. One would ponder as to why frogs needed so much space but no one knew, not even the frogs themselves. The frogs only used a few of the more substantial caverns as their meeting places but some, such as Mama frog, had transformed a small cavern into something for their personal use. Mama frog's torture chamber was moderately sized, but could surprisingly hold a lot, which included some of the most fearsome tools of torture amphibians had ever seen. Years of chasing Nerlman had made her collection of tools diverse and intimidating. Most of the tools were actually handmade by Mama Frog, who could transmogrify a single blade of grass into a deadly weapon that could kill legions of armies, a very dangerous trait for some but incredibly handy to Mama frog who needed to punish Nerlman every other day.
As Nerlman approached the burrow, he viewed with dread as he thought of the impending torment that awaited him. He was befuddled when the snakes did not lead him to the secret entrance of the torture chamber but instead to another hole which lead to his mother's bedroom. He was plonked down on the toadstool and left for whatever fate he had.
The frog sat fidgeting for a few minutes until a croak alerted him to Mama Frog in the doorway. "So son, you've come of age" she began. Nerlman groaned inwardly, this wasn't going to be another coming of age talk would it? Mama Frog continued, " The council and I decided to announce you as heir to our Frigglefraggle clan!" Mama frog beamed with happiness as she said this but Nerlman was completely blown away. "W-w-wait, WHAT?!" He managed to splutter out. He didn't even know there was a council! And what the croak was this talk about being heir? Mama Frog was making a foofaraw! He was completely bumfuzzled and didn't manage to get a word of complaint out before Mama Frog started up again, this time in a frenzy."We've got it COMPLETELY planned out! I have all the decorations set up and the whole town knows about it already!" She was obviously bursting with excitement and was completely different from the Mama Frog who cackled evilly while looking on as Nerlman was being punished. Her gleefulness suddenly disappeared from her face and a look of seriousness set in. "There's only one teeny tiny problem...you have to find the coveted frogstool. There are many toadstools in this world but only a few frogstools. Most frogs have never even heard of it before." Nerlman certainly hadn't. He wondered if it was tasty."You'll have to travel far far away to lands of despair, dryness, and horror!" Nerlman couldn't take it anymore, he absquatulated from the cavern.
***
Nerlman hopped around aimlessly for hours, lamenting over what he should do. He had never seen Mama Frog be so persnickety before! Tired, of all the hopping, he leaned against a weathered tree stump and muttered" If only there was a place where I could get whatever I want." The night rustled and and silence filled the air. Suddenly a soft voice moaned, "As you wish." and the stump that he leaned upon vanished. The last thing Nerlman remembered was weakly vociferating, "What the croak?!" as he tumbled into the vast pit.
***
Nerlman dreamed of many things, Mama Frog, his many punishments and devious pranks, the few friends that had aided him in his quest to prank the whole town, and other things a adolescent frog might dream about. He was having quite a lot of fun in one where he was the king and all the hoi polloi followed all his orders when he was swiftly awoken by an anonymous thing. Startled, he looked around expecting to see a creature but instead seeing a luscious landscape of rolling hills teeming with life and pulchritude. A magnificent luminous humanoid figure was gently wafting closer to Nerlman. "Dear Nerlman, what is your wish?"it said in a tinkling voice. The flabbergasted Nerlman replied "I, Nerlman Gerfati Horedofa Klewn, wish to seek out the coveted frogstool."
"Why do you wish to seek it?" replied the mysterious figure.
"Because I want to become the leader of the Frigglefraggle clan."
"Is there not another wish you have? For I can only grant one."
"No, I only crave to become the leader of the Frigglefraggles."
The figure shrugged,"If that truly is your wish, so be it."
With a swish of her hand, the landscape swiftly faded to black and Nerlman the frog was sent back to the pit of darkness to make the journey back to his world.
***
When Nerlman woke again, it was daylight and he could hear Mama Frog caterwauling her poor little frog her out. He found himself clutching the frogstool and he heaved himself up on his 4 froggy legs and prepared for the long trek back to the town of Frigglefraggles.
When he arrived, all the towns people were talking folderol about him and some were being lugubrious. The few that spotted him immediatly made a huge racket and by the time he reached town square, half the town was following him and the other half was waiting at the square. Mama Frog proudly lifted the frogstool out of his hands and declared, "Today, us Frigglefraggles have a new leader! May everyone please look to...Nerlman!" All the frogs clapped and made a brouhaha. A few came up and patted him on the back, saying their congratulations and hoping to suck up to Nerlman. He politely shook their hands and shared a fly with them which was completely mystifying as the Nerlman who they all knew would rather kill himself than shake a hand. They didn't complain though, all the frogs liked this new Nerlman better.
In the end Nerlman became a magnanimous and philanthropic king and the Frigglefraggle clan prospered under his rule.
The End
