The misadventures of the meandering mage

The tiny frog is so soft & fragile, the liquid eyes look up at you & suddenly there are words in your mind. There is no sound but they take form as though you had just heard them.

"Listen to my tale, it is a tale of woe, for once I had a different form. As a lad I served my apprenticeship in magic 'ere I set out to discover the world. Many were the adventures I had until one fateful day, while looking for the local scribe to send greetings to my old master, I wandered into a place of wizardry.

The desks in that place contained not quills or parchment but boxes that whirred with lights that glowed. Strange objects were attached to each box; a luminescent screen, a flat board which clattered when I ran my hands over it & a small white object which reminded me for all the world of a mouse with a long, long tail. I swear to you I meant no harm, this mouse fitted so easily into my hand. Each movement affected a tiny arrow on the screen although it had a will of its own & seemed to always travel in the direction opposite to that which I chose. Sometimes as the arrow passed over the colored script it was transformed into the shape of a hand.

I only rested my hands for a moment but there was a loud 'KLICK' & the image on the screen moved as if in life. Over this image was scribed "Into the WWW with ye". My fingertips tingled & as I watched in fascinated horror, a stream of colored particles flowed inexorably from them towards the screen. The flow became a flood then I remembered nothing, until I awoke in the cellar of a great castle.

I thanked the gods that I seemed to have suffered no harm & climbed the stairs to the kitchen above. The passage outside led past many doors, one with a strange symbol upon it. At the end of the passage was an infirmary & such groans issued from within that I was afraid. I rounded the corner towards a main junction & tiptoed past a lit room, the guards inside seemed engrossed & did not notice me.

From the juncture I could see the entrance in the south. As I walked towards the foyer with its great oak doors standing open, I could hear snippets of a conversation about pixies & puzzles until one voice said clearly, 'Mages, I thought I would just turn them into frogs and be done with it.' A serpentine beast appeared before me. I caught only a glimpse of the colorful wings, a hint of a mischievous grin. The world seemed to spin about me & I became as you see me now."

Engrossed in the telling you don't realise the tears have rolled down your cheeks & into a hollow in the blackrock floor. Suddenly with a croak of glee & a ginormous leap, the tiny creature launches itself into the pool with a plash that fills the air with tiny drops. As each drop reaches it's vertex, it transmogrifies into a multi-colored bug & with a 'thaloop', a long tongue snaps it from the air.

Replete from it's feast, the frog settles back into it's corner.

---oOo--- Web Travel ---oOo--- .
Dated: 8 July 1996
Updated: 23 January 2007
© information : Browser notes.
In consultation with:Anthony Thyssen
§ adapted by afactor