“TOAD” An Inktober Short Story

Written and Illustrated by Luis Roding
Reading time: 12 minutes.

Was it yesterday? Or the day before? I could not know when I started feeling it, a “pulse” from within myself, from my center. I just knew what it meant: I needed to set her free.

– Your turn, you grass-eater! – The roach guard said in a guttural voice.

I tried to look him in the eyes, but he was always peeking aside. I could not move too much in that tiny hole I was being held.

– So, no more shiny beetle guards in this part of the dungeons? Uh? – I said.

– Quiet, jumpy boy. We need no beetles to deal with your kind – He replied.

I chuckled.

– What are you guys getting out of all this? – I replied, though I didn’t need an explanation. Roaches were not good at fighting, even worse under daylight; I was just making time to catch them off guard.

– The prisoner will not speak – He scanned me with his long antennas through the cell bars – Want to have another leg detached? – Asked, as if he’d memorized the line.

I looked at my broken wing and realized these poor little bastards could not tell the difference between limbs, probably not even their own. I remember a story my cousin told me once, that of an old roach that lived in their swamp; he’d escaped a salamander and lost his head but still walked and tried to keep himself alive until one day, it starved to death.

– Come on! Get out! – The guard opened the cell, holding a lance with a sharp edge.

With slow moves, I put myself out of the hole, and once I stepped into the tunnel, I started faking a limp.

– If you cannot walk, we’ll just crush you here and take your pieces to the camp.

– I am moving, can’t you see? – I said.

Two more guards joined us. I hoped we were going to the left, where I last saw her.

– Move then, you little green waste!

Too bad we were heading to the right. That meant I would need to sweat a little, maybe even bleed. So, just before reaching the first corner, I stretched my legs, standing out a bit from my captors.

– Hey, stop it! – Said the guard behind me, putting the edge of his lance on my wing shoulder.

– Sorry, I stepped on a shit. Should you guys keep your workspace clean?

– Keep talking, and instead of a quick death by the Titan Bug, we might take you to Gertrude – Said the roach leader.

– I thought we needed his crushed body for the show? – Said the roach behind me.

– A show? Gertrude? I thought you were walking me to get some fresh air – I said, trying to slow them a bit.

– And you will, but first, you’ll be crushed by a Titan Bug; then we throw your body with the rest of the war prisoners and show them to your troops in the field so they know why they shouldn’t mess with the beetles.

– Can I choose Gertrude? Is she a butterfly? – I said while trying to make room between the guard and my rear legs.

– Prettier than that, she’s our eight-legged lovely executioner. We deliver her just our regular prisoners, but we could make an exception if you keep babbling.

– Show it is, then! – I said. I hated spiders, so I shut up and kept walking, still limping, but now I knew I was in good shape. I needed the surprise element, so I sent all my energy to the rear legs, which made a cracking noise as they pulled me out of the ground.

– Hey! – The guard cried.

My jump took me higher than I anticipated. All these days, crouching in a tiny hole had left me rusty. Anyway, the guard’s lance tore the rest of my wing, and my vision got blurry after hitting the ceiling with my head, but it did not matter; all I needed was to land behind him or at least on his back, which I did.

– You morons, he was faking! – Said the guard on the front, but it was too late for them. I jumped again in the opposite direction.

Roaches were fast runners, especially under confined paths like a tunnel. Still, they were no match against a highly trained jumper like me. I kept moving, leaving the clumsy noise of their legs and wings far behind.

The lighting was poor, but I was just undoing the path the big beetle used to take me to my cell. I’m not sure how many jumps I made, but with every bio-beat of my system, my legs were taking me closer to where I wanted.

At last, I reached the chamber, which was bigger than I remembered. Several folks were trapped there; many were soldiers from “our side,” they were marked with the blue tint, just like me. While others were merely camp folks, like a poor earthworm, two blue beetles were tying up with a grass rope.

– Who are you? – Said one of them.

– Get him. He’s a prisoner, don’t you see? – Said the other one, who looked older.

The two walked towards me, but I jumped again before they could catch me. I left them confused; they had me in front of them, and I was gone in less than a second. Not to brag about it, but jumping was my specialty.

– What happened? – Said the young one.

– You lost him? – Said the other one.

– You lost him too! You’re next to me!

I landed behind them, just over the prisoner I was looking for, a tall, fine Mantis with all legs tied up, including her fangs and claws. Needless to say, she looked like she was praying.

– “Excuse me,” – I whispered to her head – “I will set you free. We are escaping.”

So I started eating the rope in her mouth, but then I felt her antennas touching my head. They were pointing to her claws.

– “Of course” – I said, why didn’t I think of it before?

– He’s up there! – Said old blue beetle – Get him!

I ate as fast as I could. The ropes were not my favorite grass, sour and dry, which I hated, but it was no time to be picky. The beetles moved over the prisoners quick, but just at the moment the young guard reached us, the rope broke, and the mantis’ claws extended free.

– Argh! – Cried out the young beetle. The Mantis grabbed him from the middle and lifted him. The old blue beetle froze behind him.

– Crack! – The sound of broken exoskeletons and crunchy guts tearing up was a horrible thing to hear. Still, little did I know I would soon associate that noise with freedom. The shiny blue body fell in two halves to the ground. Old beetle turned around and ran.

I was now eating the ropes of her mouth again, and with my last bite, a sort of kiss happened. She turned and stared at me.

– Oh my! – I said.

For a second, I thought she had a pretty mouth until I spotted her fangs, and I was positive that if she kissed me back, I would lose my whole face. But then, the same pulse I felt back in my cell started again, and I swear I could hear it in her body despite those indecipherable eyes. She stared at me as if feeling the same.

– Hop on my back – She said, calm, as if she had been waiting all this time for this moment. The Mantis broke the ropes holding her legs with a single touch of her sharp claws and started to walk.

– Let’s go to the right! We’ll reach the entry there – I said.

She shook her head.

– No, that entry is swarming with beetles, giant horned beetles. Not even I will be able to crush them all.

– So?

– To the left, I need to get closer to the swamp.

– The swamp? – I protested, but a turmoil of legs, wings, and screams interrupted us.

– Help! Help! Go back, you morons, we need help! – The old blue beetle groaned while being pushed back to us by the three running roaches I escaped from.

– We can beat two prisoners! – Said one roach, who I recognized as the one who threatened me with Gertrude.

My new escape partner kept walking towards them, even when the three lances pointed at us.

– Slash! – A swing of her claw severed the ends of all three weapons. Only the beetle seemed to notice what had just happened because he tried to roll between the three brute roaches, who were now trying to feel the severed lances with their antennas.

– Scrat!

Another swing sliced one of the roaches from top to bottom. The two halves of the roach attempted to keep walking and got lost behind us. The leader roach groaned again.

– What’s wrong with you? I’ll do it myself! – And jumped toward us, extending his wings.

Mantis trapped him with both claws, then, with a quick move, disappeared his head with a byte. This noise was not very loud, but it will remain in my head forever. She then threw the body behind, who also kept running as if nothing had happened. I gave it a look and thought of the old roach of the swamp, headless and destined to starve.

The last one seemed to understand something was wrong because he tried to turn around, but the old beetle got in his way as he rolled to escape ahead of us. Mantis chopped this last one with both claws into small pieces.

– Hold on – She said as she extended her wings and started to hover through the tunnel.

The ride was much faster than I anticipated; we reached the old beetle quickly, and the Mantis cut him just like she did with his partner. I couldn’t help but gasp in horror at the carnage my new friend was leaving behind.

– My apologies, but I had to – She said in a disturbing and polite tone – We don’t want Titan bugs after us. Do we?

We passed the cells I was held and turned to the left, on a more humid and darker tunnel.

– I just need to get closer to my pal.

– Your pal?

– Yes. Unlike you, I have nothing to do with this war, but my connection with my pal is why they captured me in the first place.

– Why?

– Not entirely sure. Maybe they want to control me so they can control my pal.

– Is he one of the leaders?

– Not at all; the truth is that he couldn’t care less about this war, just like me.

– I don’t understand; what is your cause then? – I replied, but we stopped.

– It’s not a cause – She said – It’s more like a pulse.

– A pulse?

– Somehow, my pal and I share it.

A noise began, and the whole tunnel rumbled.

– Somehow, you have it too – She said, and a big hole opened in the ceiling. Light and mud rained down, but the place where we stood was left intact. After a while of noise and confusion, a clearing lay before us.

– Let’s go! – She said, and we started climbing the clearing. We climbed through the mud, and as we reached the surface, there was a turmoil of voices and noises.

– You brought us to the war zone? – I said. Ground and flying troops were everywhere, but they all seemed to be moving away from us.

– Yes, this is the war zone, but to be fair, all the land you know about has been a war zone since you were a small egg. Just trust me, we will be far from here soon if that is what you want.

I turned to where she was looking, and I saw him. It was hard to tell if he was looking back at us; his eyes on that big face were just staring at an unknown point, but that is how they all look.

– Good gracious! – I said.

My voice broke more than I liked, but it did not matter. My instinct prepared me to jump, even though I knew it was useless. Any survival action was futile at such a close range of a giant, big-faced bull toad.

– Stay, please! – She said, feeling the tension of my back legs on her back.

– I don’t think there’s running away from this one – I said – I’ve seen them before. This close, anything that moves is history.

– I am counting on that – She said.

– You are?

– Yes, this is my pal.

– What?

– As you pointed out, we are in the middle of the war zone; based on how things are now, there is little chance of getting out of here alive unless…

We moved towards the toad, who made a gesture as if he chewed. I assumed that was his way of agreeing with the Mantis. We moved to the side and started climbing on his back, a rough, dry skin that felt hard and flexible at the same time. At last, reaching to the back of this head, Mantis secured us with her claws on the huge wrinkles I assumed hid the toad’s nape.

– I am heading east. Where are you going? – She said.

– My fellow soldiers are fighting in the north – I said, a bit unsure.

– So, you will rejoin them in this mindless conflict?

I kept silent; the truth is that I didn’t feel like it anymore. In fact, the pulse that I had been feeling, the one that got me this far, urged me not to.

– Come with me, and once we cross the border, you can jump to wherever your hunger leads you.

– Ok, I’ll go – I said, feeling the pulse stronger than before.

– Hold fast. I suppose you’ve never taken a toad ride!

The bull toad jumped, and I felt like Mantis and I were part of him, a massive, heavy ball full of power. Plants, mud, and grass pushed away as we passed. It was not long before we reached a low valley full of enemies. Their main army was gathered there in battle formations.

Hundreds of insects lay upon us, some of them holding weapons, others with their natural ones, like three massive Titan Bugs in the middle of the field.

– Can we jump over? – I asked.

– I don’t think so. We are on low ground – Mantis said – But we’ll make our way through! Nonetheless.

It was as if the armies guessed our intentions but were unsure what to do against a giant toad. At last, one of the Titan bugs yelled a warfare command, and all marched against us, but then, Mantis cried out.

– Hiya!

The bull toad opened his mouth, and I felt a slight rumble. A projectile of tongue launched with such a speed that made my jumps pale. Dozens of enemies disappeared from the field, leaving a straight, empty trail. A crowd of screams was heard; legs, wings, and weapons flew into the air as the tongue retracted into our pal’s mouth, which crunched them with the uncomfortable but necessary sound of our freedom.

– Go! – Mantis said.

Obedient to my friend’s commands, the toad jumped ahead and landed where the empty trail ended. Many other insects tried to run away, but there was no way out, so another band of them was smashed and dragged by the immense power of the tongue. And the sounds of the chewing flooded my ears with goosebumps.

At last, only a few battalions stood in our way, but in the middle of them, a Titan Bug held his ground while his smaller fellows ran for cover.

– Can our pal eat such big horns? – I asked, a bit unsure.

– Probably not, but it doesn’t matter.

The toad made a short jump and landed over the Titan Bug, who sank into the mud.

We kept jumping, and the turmoil of the battle was left behind. We crossed the border of what I used to call home, and new land and sky appeared around us. Then I remembered my species used to be travelers, moving from long distances into new territories, something I had been unable to do because of the war.

At last, our bull toad stood on a rock next to a light green water swamp.

– This is it – Mantis said – Here’s where our ways should part.

– Oh – I said. Now that I faced the moment, I didn’t feel like moving away from my new friends.

– It’s either here or on the other side of the swamp, but we must part ways.

– Why? – I said.

– Don’t you know by now?

– Hmmm, no – I replied.

– The pulse is almost gone; if we stay together much longer, I will eat you, and my pal will eat me.

– But what was it then? The pulse? I thought it was… something special, something more!

– Oh, it is indeed something special.

– Why does it have to end, then?

– Because its purpose is now complete.

– What would that purpose be?

– Survival.

And once she said so, my rear legs, like being controlled by an invisible power, made me jump very high. The toad and the Mantis looked tiny down on the ground. And while I was in the air, time seemed to run slower, so slow that I could feel something in my system; in my center, it was like a drum beat. It was a new pulse.