The Frog at the Top of Frosty Mountain

Escape

The Author was put into a moldy jail cell along with 6 others to await his trial. None of the other prisoners spoke, but he could tell by how tough they looked that they were in for more than just shoplifting. One by one, they were transfered to other places, until The Author was the only one left in the cell. The police told him that the local judge was giving priority to more serious cases like murder, assault and armed robbery, and that they would let him know when there would be an opneing for a trial.

"How long is that going to take?" The Author asked.

"Six months." Said the officer who took care of the cells.

"Six months? But it was a minor offense! I should be in for 3 months tops."

"Yeah? Well, you'll have to wait your turn to serve your sentence."

"Doesn't this cell already count?"

"Nope."

"Can't I wait for the trial on parole?"

"And let scum like you on the streets? Of course not! You're a danger to society, and since we don't know how to rehabilitate you to become a lawful citizen again, we're going to do the next best thing: keep you locked up for as long as possible."

After a few more tries, The Author gave up on trying to convince the police to free him. He instead asked for a pen and notebook, which the police reluctantly provided him. He figured that if he was going to be locked up for a while, he might was well get some writing done.

The Author sat down with the pen and notepad in hand, but he couldn't for the life of him write anything interesting down. He was too anxious to think of anything to write, a fact that depressed him deeply.

"Mr. Bullfrog would know what to do." The Author said sadly, knowing that he wouldn't see his friend for a long time.

"Who's Mr. Bullfrog?" Asked a voice from the dark corner of the cell.

"He's a friend of mine. Who are you?"

The owner of the voice turned out to be a large, ugly rat who squeezed in through a small hole in the wall. It scurried up to The Author and offered his paw.

"I'm a rat."

"I can see that." The Author said, shaking the rat's hand with a feeling of disgust.

"I can get you out of here, but first, you need to make up a story with a rat in it.

"Any kind of story?"

"Any kind. Just as long as the main character is a rat."

"Uh. Okay."

The Author struggled to think of a story. He was creatively bankrupt. How could he come up with a story on the spot, let alone one starring a rat!? He thought real hard, staring at the rat as he did so. He wondered how long the poor creature had spent scurrying through the sewers. If it was this desperate for a story, it was very likely that it didn't watch any movies or read any books.

I can use this to my advantage, The Author thought. I doubt he's watched anything that's over 15 years old, and I know a movie he would have loved to see but probably hasn't...

The Author told a story about a rat that loved to cook and went through many adventures in order to become a kitchen chef. The rat made many new friends, but also some enemies. But with the help of his friends and family, everything worked out in the end.

"Wow." That's a great story." The rat said. "It's a little familiar though, did you really make this up right now?"

The Author panicked. He had just described the entire plot of an old children's movie, but there was no way he could say that to the rat. 

"I swear, it's brand new. And you didn't let me finish, there's a twist at the end."

"Really!?"

"Yes." The Author lied.
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"Tell me!"

"Uh...it turned out that it was all a dream in the end, and the rat was really in a coma. When he woke up, he used everything he learned in his dreams to open a restaurant in New York City."

"Wow! I love a story with a good twist, even if it doesn't have that much of an impact on the larger narrative!"

"I'm glad you liked it."

"Well, it's time to help you out like I promised."

The rat scurried back into the hole where he came from, and after a few seconds, a part of the wall split open to reveal a secret tunnel.

"This will lead you to the sewers." The rat said. "Be careful though, the sewer is crawling with man eating alligators."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for helping me."

"Thank you for the story! I'll share it with all my friends, they'll love it."

The Author said goodbye to the rat and crawled into the hole. He thought about how much easier things would be if all it took for people to like his books was to add twist endings.