Novel, Day 4

And now, for some fun at the midway...

“Now, this can not actually be a game.”

Ivy was looking dubiously at a game called Spang-Hewing. Granted, her friends were giving it similar doubtful looks. It wasn’t the rings slowly rotating over a tub of water that had them confused. It was the frogs.

Elliot was giving the man running the game a hard look. “So, you mean to tell me, if I can throw a frog through one of the rings, into the water tub, I get FIVE tokens?”

The man nodded. “Yes, sir. Underhand only, and you cannot kill or maim the frogs, either before or during the throw.”

Ivy looked horrified. “I should hope not!”

Elliot ignored her comment. “And I get three frogs per try?”

The man nodded in agreement.

“So if I make all three frogs, I would get fifteen tokens?”

The man raised one eyebrow. “Yes sir.”

“I’ll take you up on that then.”

The man turned around, to round three frogs out of the tub. Ivy looked horrified, though the rest of the group was all laughing. “Elliot, you cannot be serious. The poor frogs!”

He smiled at her. “I promise to be gentle with them. You know I’m a good throw. This should be a lot easier than a card in a peach.”

The man gave Elliot a bucket with a lid, containing the three frogs. He took one out and studied it. It was a general, every day frog, about the size of a peach. It would be oddly balanced, that was certain, and it was slimy, but the rings were bigger around than a crown, and rotating slowly enough they wouldn’t present a huge challenge. He held the frog up to Ivy’s face. “Kiss it for luck?”

She turned a bit green around the edges, not even dignifying his request with a reply. He smiled at her, gave the frog a few light practice tosses, getting the feel of the frog, then gave it a gentle underhand toss at the lowest ring.

The frog sailed beautifully, straight toward its goal. However, Elliot quickly learned that when you throw a frog for any real distance, its limbs spread out as far as possible. One of the frog’s hind feet caught the ring, and the frog swung around using that grip, missing the tub entirely and flying toward the exit. The man’s assistant instantly scooped up the frog, dropping it in another bucket. This was, apparently, a common occurrence.

“No fair!” Shouted Devon. “Interference!”

“Is it ok?!” Ivy instinctually reached out for the frog that just a moment ago she wouldn’t have dreamt of touching, which brought another bout of laughter from the group.

“I assure you ma’am, the frog is fine. They do this all day long.”

Ivy noticed Elliot’s smile didn’t leave his face, but his eyes hardened slightly. He was still having fun, but now he was taking this much more seriously. He took out the second frog, studied it more intently, including staring the creature in the eyes.

“Can I hold it for a moment?”

Elliot was shocked at Ivy’s request, but he handed the small creature to her. She cupped her hands around it, being sure that it wouldn’t hop away. She closed her eyes, as if in concentration, then handed the frog back.

The man seemed concerned. “No spell casting on the frogs, ma’am.”

It was Ivy’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “Are you serious, sir? Spellcasting?? I am a healer, and well known as such at this festival. I wanted to assure myself that the frog is actually healthy. I don’t know much about amphibian biology, but it feels fine enough. That was all I was doing.”

Elliot stopped and stared at Ivy, a slight smile on his face. She turned toward him, saw the look on his face, and smiled back, blushing slightly. The moment was broken by the frog squirming, attempting escape. Elliot shook his head, as though to clear his mind, or perhaps get the hair out of his eyes, and took his time aiming his second shot. This one was slightly harder than the prior one, but this time the frog had a bit of a spin to its flight. The legs barely cleared the ring, and the group was met with a satisfying “Blurp” as the frog landed in the tub. The group burst into cheers, for which Elliot took a bow. He looked up from the bow to hold eyes with Ivy, causing her to blush even deeper.

“Now, let’s see if I can do that again.”