The Enchanted Forest of Mangga

4. Ribbit, ribbit, ribbit...ai palaka!

Well, they did it. The children made it over the stone fence. It felt like the biggest obstacle that they had ever faced because Sez was swallowing big gulps of his water bottle that was almost half-empty. Bea had to remind him to save the rest through their journey. After a couple of minutes of gathering their breaths and checking their pulse, the three of them paused and waited for something magical to happen. Or perhaps the opposite of magical when entering the place the children weren't supposed to. Although it would give them relief if gold and silver sparkles flashed their eyes or pink petals showering from above them or a swarm of butterflies floating around them or maybe at least blue birds chirping a welcome greeting to them.

But this wasn't a musical theatre.

They were alone. In a forest strange to them. With a fairy that needed to return home.

And trees. And moss. Lots of them. All of a sudden, the children felt really small while everything in front of them looked really huge. The same red lacewing butterfly that guided them over the stone fence delicately descended on a narrow dirt path that led further into the forest. Since it was still early in the morning, the forest wasn't all that scary. As the shine shone, its golden rays gracefully glistened the dew leaves that made the forest still appear a bit magical.

So it was safe to say that it was okay to walk through the dirt path. As well as when the fairy impatiently instructed them with her wide eyes and squeaks. There was no turning back and even if they did, something bad might happen to Lolo's mango farm because it was their fault.

Sez led the way first with the fairy yapping away with squeaks. If she was angry or excited, the children couldn't tell. They couldn't understand squeaky fairy language. Ali occupied himself pretending he was a spy agent. With a guarded look imitating James Bond thanks to Lolo's love of the franchise, his hands stretched a thick blue rubber band ready to aim at any target that would threaten them.

"Where did you get that?" Bea asked with a quizzical look at one of Ali's silly antics.

"It was in my pocket. Very handy. Now shush! I'm trying to protect us," Ali whispered raspily.

"Uh, and what exactly are you trying to protect us from? The trees?"

"A monster!"

Sez stopped abruptly. Even the fairy stopped her squeaking.

"Monster?" Sez said slowly. The fairy shrunk closer to Sez's neck, warily looking around their surroundings.

"Now, you scared them," Bea said as she passed Ali and patted her younger brother's head. "No monsters. Ali was just playing."

Ali just shrugged. Guilty of scaring the youngest, he shoved his rubber band back into his side pocket.

Bea continued. "See? It's just us, the trees, and--oh, look! A frog!"

A smooth-skinned forest frog leapt in front of their path. Its dark eyes stared straight at the children. The creature didn't blink nor flinch when the children slowly walked over to it. Sez was fascinated with another discovery. He felt his handy pail still latched onto his belt on his side, planning to scoop the wondrous creature into the pail. He didn't notice how the fairy's hands were on his neck.

Reading Sez's mind, Bea warned him, "Don't touch it. It might be poisonous."

Sez knelt closer. The frog croaked in a low, rumbling sound.

"Ribbit, ribbit!" Sez answered.

The frog croaked again in reply.

Ali grinned mischievously. "We have a brother who speaks frog!"

"Ribbit, ribbit!"

Bea sighed. "C'mon, you guys. Let's leave it alone and--"

The children didn't see it coming.

The frog opened its mouth and released its long, slender tongue. It grabbed and wrapped around the fairy who yelled for help--but of course it came out as a squeak--as the tongue pulled back to its owner. Bea gasped thinking that the fairy was going to get swallowed, but the frog held the fairy between its mouth and croaked again. It leapt farther away from the children as the fairy frantically squeaked at the top of her tiny, fairy lungs.

691 words

2879 words total

April 3, 2021