A Case of Time-Travelling Shorts

A Time-Traveling Frog with Super Powers Pt.1 of 2

Dear Wattpad. In your words regarding time-travelling frogs with super powers: "We don't have that, and we'd be happy to see you write it!" So I present you with the story of Lars. May it be everything you hoped it would.

With a tremendous crash, Lars was spat out onto the ground, limbs flailing about like a rag doll's. Eventually, he came to a halt, slamming into a peculiar, seemingly invisible barrier. He left out a sigh of relief.

Time travel was a bitch sometimes, Lars thought, rubbing some feeling back into his dry toes. His vision blurred when he tried to stand up. Water. His skin cried out for it; a dry frog was a dead frog, after all. That was the trouble with time travel: it dried you out, almost better than a spider could. If the Transporter was working properly, he should be near some water source. Lars glared accusingly at the metal instrument around his wrist. It was also meant to deliver him in a safe and calm manner. He made a mental note to get it checked out by the Tech Team when he returned to Base.

Lars hopped painfully around his newly discovered timezone. Later, he would savor being the only frog in existence to visit, but right now, water was the only thing on his mind. When a small pool came into view, he hopped to it, rolling about to cover his thirsty skin. Ahhh... Sweet blessed relief. He could practically feel the oxygen dissolving through his poor dehydrated membranes. Once his Amphi-suit had absorbed enough moisture to last for at least six hours, he sat by the edge of the small pool, pondering his choices. 

 A clear material boxed him into the small, enclosed space. It was some kind of... cuboid.  From his position, he noted a horrifyingly warm lamp: he had enough experience with snakes to be afraid of hot objects. The lamp was the room's sole source of light, casting shadows around the small space.  A log dominated the better half of the enclosure. Lars took to his Combat Crouch. It made him feel safer in the hostile environment. The ground beneath his Amphi-suited feet was artificial and orange. He kicked at the pebble-shaped objects; they were smooth, and much too light. The twentieth century is a weird place, he thought. His mission was to gather information on the self-destructive human species. Not that he'd spotted any yet.

He gazed out through the clear material... Glass,  he remembered. A human invention, made by the burning of sand. Unfortunately, the lamp did not cast its light far enough for Lars to uncover any of the room's secrets. Probably a human nest, he thought, noting the lack of wind. He couldn't see the sky or any trees. Maybe they've cut all them down already. Humans were so strange: no other creature had such a blatant disrespect for the environment. Meanwhile he was trapped inside this glass object. How am I going to get out? He could hardly report back to Base with no new information.

"Flippers to snorkel," Lars croaked, knowing the Transporter would forward it to the Base, give or take a couple of minutes. Time-travel was like that: the reception was awful. "Mission initiated. Currently stranded in glass terrarium. Water is sufficient. Searching for life forms as I find an escape. Flippers out."

Yellow dots flickered across the life form scanner strapped to his arm, revealing an abundance of bugs and flies, and a colony of cockroaches hidden from sight. At least I'll be able to eat something if I can find a way out of here,  he thought. There were no hot-bloods large enough to be a human within range, but it did pick up a small blob somewhere below his feet. The humans took many animals captive during their reign, it looked like it could be a cat, or perhaps a small dog. It also informed him that there was a cold-blooded life form with him in the enclosure. A significantly larger, tube-shaped life form, curling out of the log that concealed it.  And it was right behind him.

Lars spun around, coming face-to-face with the golden slitted eyes of his worst nightmares. His tongue retracted deep within his throat. Even in their primitive form, the snake was a terrifying sight. Even now, his nights were plagued by the fiendish snakes that stalked his night pictures. He had fought them once... but no more. Seeing one again chilled him. It looked so similar to- the snake hissed. Lars froze. He was backed up against the glass wall, with nowhere to hide. Trapped with it. 

The snake tested the air with its forked tongue. By the flippered Gods almighty! Lars thought. He couldn't help thinking about how absurd his death would be. Of all the ways, he thought. Being devoured whole didn't sound very heroic- least of all by an ancestral species. How would Deidre and the tadpoles be able to afford their breeding hole now? Deidre's job as a fly herder just wouldn't be able to keep them in water. And with no spawn, who would they send to defend their borders from the fire-snakes? That thought gave him strength. No, he vowed. Today is not that day.

Lars gulped, and stared down his fiendish adversary.