Hadley swallowed a lump in her throat as she gazed upon her now giant frog. She immediately hated the fact that she'd become the size of a pebble.
"Well, what are we gonna do with him? We can't just stand here." Lue asked, his facial expression revealing nervousness. Catra rubbed her chin.
"We need supplies." She said, punching Lue in the ribs. "Come on, grab the lassoes and lavender."
All four of them went inside the houses, gathering ropes and poking sticks and a small cage. Hadley watched the whole thing unfold.
"What are you planning on doing with those?" She asked, worried that her pet may be harmed.
Catra grabbed a handful of lavender plants and shoved them in her satchel. "You just stand aside, pretty girl. We know what we're doing."
Hadley bit her lip, making the executive decision to trust them, although it wasn't easy.
Ellabelle was nervous that Hadley would reveal her identity to her friends, but that wasn't exactly her main concern when there was a frog running rampant through the village.
The fairies (and the imposter fairy) ran out of the houses, ropes and lavender bushels in hand.
"What's the plan?" Asked Lue, fidgeting with the rope in his hands.
Catra and Ellabelle began thinking for a moment as Hadley kept her eyes on Bartholomew. Whenever he croaked, it bellowed and bounced throughout the land and beyond. Fairies were already clearing a path for him, as they didn't want to get smushed by his giant green feet.
"...Ok. Ella and I will use our lassoes to try and grab him while Lue handles the lavender. And, Hailey, was it?"
"Hadley."
"Right. I knew that. Hadley can... um..."
"Uh, Hadley can be on ground duty, directing the frog's steps and keeping him from killing people. She can get him into the cage once we catch him. He's her frog, after all." Ellabelle said, blushing with an overwhelming sense of anxiety.
Catra shrugged. "Alright, that sounds like a plan. Hadley, can you keep that thing calm?"
"Of course. I'll try my best." Hadley replied. She could feel her heart beating faster. It was a lot of pressure having these fairies counting on her to accomplish something so important. She had to stay calm. She had to remain level headed.
Lue handed her the cage and saluted. She wondered how Giant Bartholomew would fit into a tiny cage, but she decided not to ask anything more.
Lue and Catra shot into the sky, their wings flapping as fast as a hummingbird's. Ellabelle held tightly to her strand of rope, turning to Hadley.
"Don't worry. We'll take care of it." She told her. "Just act naturally." Then she zipped to the skies. Hadley hugged the cage to her chest, looking at Giant Bartholomew.
"Alright, big little fella, let's get you home." She whispered. She ran over to the area that everyone had flown away from, right in the line of sight of her frog. He noticed her and blinked a few times.
"Bartholomew!" She yelled as loud as she possibly could. "Hey big guy, just stay calm, buddy, ok? Stay calm.."
Catra wrapped her lasso around Bart's mouth, and he tried opening his mouth to croak. She pulled tight, making sure he couldn't escape. Ellabelle followed suit as she attempted to lasso his leg, which resulted in failure.
"Get him 'round the neck!" Catra exclaimed, her hands wrapped tightly around the scratchy rope of the lasso. Ellabelle nodded, retrying her attempt at roping his neck.
"Don't hurt him, don't hurt him.." Hadley repeated over and over under her breath. She was nervous they were going to choke out her only frog pet. Sure, she could get a new one if anything bad were to happen, but none would be like Bartholomew. Especially not now, since he became Giant Bartholomew.
"Hadley, keep talking to him!" Ellabelle yelled to the ground as she whipped the lasso loop towards his neck.
"It's ok, Bartholomew! It's ok..." She cooed, smiling. She rubbed her thumb against the bars of the cage. "It's ok, big guy. You're fine..."
The second lasso finally rested around Bartholomew's neck. Ellabelle made sure to be extra careful not to choke him, but held it tight enough so he wouldn't get away.
As if an imaginary switch was flipped inside of him, Bartholomew began to squirm and fidget. He did not like the strongholds he was forced into, and he wanted out.
"Lue! Now!" Catra commanded, her voice booming.
Lue frantically zipped up to the frog's face, looking him square in the eye. Hadley watched him curiously. To her surprise, after holding the lavender bushel up to the frog's nostril, Lue shoved it up his nose.
Hadley was taken aback as Bartholomew closed his eyes. What would that do to him?
"The other nostril!" Ellabelle shouted out. Lue saluted her, zipping his way over. He made sure to push the lavender all the way up Bartholomew's other nostril, and he flew backward to examine their work. He gave the other two fairies a thumbs up.
All at once, Bartholomew stopped struggling to get out. His eyes were closed, and he started swaying, as if he was about to fall asleep. Then, he seemed to disappear.
Hadley fled to the scene as the fairies dropped back down to the ground, along with the long lassoes.
"What was that? Where did he disappear to?" Hadley asked, tapping her fingers rapidly on the cage and blinking fast. Lue tapped on her shoulder, then pointed down to the ground.
Sitting there was Regular-Sized Bartholomew, all better again. Hadley let out an elongated sigh.
"Phew, I got worried there for a second. Thank you so much." Hadley smiled, kneeling down to allow Bart to hop into the cage. He now fit perfectly inside, and the plan all made sense.
"I haven't seen you around, Hadley. Are you new here?" Catra asked, giving her a smirk.
"I guess you could say that." Hadley replied, standing up and hugging Bartholomew's cage to her chest.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, anyway." Catra added.
"You don't meet a lot of new folks around here. At least, not in the village." Lue shrugged, biting at the edges of his nails.
"Well, I was glad to meet you, too. I-"
"Well, uh... we'd better be getting back now, right Hadley?" Ellabelle interrupted with an unconvincing smile. Catra and Lue raised their eyebrows.
"Yeah, sure. See you guys later?" Hadley suggested.
The two fairies waved, and Hadley and Ellabelle were off towards her home.
YOU ARE READING
Of Fairies and Noontime
FantasyHadley Marble is a curious, unladylike, and stubborn 12-year-old girl who loves exploring... and breaking the rules. One day, after climbing the oak tree in her backyard, she breaks the rules unintentionally and finds herself sucked into a portal in...