an original short story by Gillian Lister
*****
Charlotte ducked behind the pussy willows while she watched a toad jump side to side and to and fro. She watched it for hours and hours, until her mom called her home for dinner.
"Charlotte, sweetie, come inside for some hot dogs!"
"Charlotte, sweetie, come inside for some hot dogs!"
Charlotte's
room was decorated with frogs and had green walls. Even all her stuffed animals
were frogs.
"Why
are you so obsessed with frogs?" her brother, Luka, asked as they were
sitting down at the dining room table.
"I
am not obsessed!" Charlotte yelled, spitting hot dog everywhere. "I
just like frogs."
"Then
explain your bedroom."
"Don't
be rude to your sister," said her mother. "You're obsessed with race
cars, you know, and I'm obsessed with gardening, and your father's obsessed
with cooking."
"So
it's not weird to be obsessed with frogs?"
"No,
sweetie. I think it's great."
The
next day at school, Charlotte walked to her locker to get her science books. Charlotte’s locker was right beside her
best friend’s locker.
"Hey
girl!" Ava, said. "How goes it?"
"Good,
I guess."
Ava
was a total fashionista. She knew about all sorts of styles. Just then, the
bell rang.
"Gotta
go," Charlotte said.
"Sure,
you don't wanna miss science class."
"You
mean my favourite class!" exclaimed Charlotte and ran to Room 217.
"Okay,
guys!" said their science teacher, Ms. Welder. "We are going to go
around the room and each student will pick an animal and then tell me their
habitat. Let's start with, hmm...Charlotte! Okay, so what animal are you
doing?"
"I'm
doing a frog," Charlotte said.
"A
frog again!" yelled the class bully, Tyler. "You're about to turn
into a frog yourself! Just wait 'till you kiss one!"
The
class burst into laughter.
"Quiet!"
yelled Ms. Welder.
But
she was too late. Charlotte ran out of the classroom crying.
She
was in the bathroom for half an hour until Ava came in.
"Charlotte,
I've been looking for you every- hey, what's wrong?"
"You
know that boy, Tyler?"
"Oh,
the boy in your science class?"
"More
like the big fat jerk in my science class!" yelled Charlotte angrily.
"He
can't be that bad," said Ava.
"Have
you even met him?"
"Well,
um...no," Ava said.
"See,
you don't even know what he's like. He's a big meanie."
The
next day Charlotte was going to math class when Ben, a boy in her science
class, came walking down the hall.
"Hey,
Charlotte, I've heard of this new species of frog that this guy named um… Andy Chapman,
discovered.”
"What
kind?" Charlotte asked.
"It's
called, um, the...Three Speckled Toad."
"Oh,
I've never heard of that kind," Charlotte said.
After
school, Charlotte ran to the pond to look for the “Three Speckled Toad”. She
brought a camera and binoculars. At least she thought they would be helpful.
Charlotte was at the pond until bedtime. Still no sign of the toad, but she saw
lots of other kinds of frogs and toads.
When
she got to school the next day, Charlotte was walking to phys-ed class when Ben
walked over.
"Hey,
have you found the frog yet?"
"No,
I haven't, and it's a toad not a frog," Charlotte said.
"Whatever,
same thing," Ben said and wandered off.
After
three days, Charlotte got fed up and decided to call the so-called “Andy
Chapman” who had discovered the “Three Speckled Toad”. She dialed the number
and a man with a deep voice answered.
"Yo,
what's up?"
Charlotte
then asked, "Um, are you Andy Chapman?"
"Why
yes, I sure am," he said.
"Well,
have you ever discovered a new species of toad?"
"I
don't know anything about toads. I collect baseball cards," he said.
"Oh,
okay," Charlotte said. "Must have called the wrong number."
After
Charlotte hung up, she went to her laptop. She searched Andy Chapman Three Speckled Toad. She waited. Suddenly something
came up: There are no results for your
search.
"Weird,"
Charlotte said, and went to her room for a good night's sleep.
The
next morning Charlotte's cell phone rang.
"Hello?"
Charlotte said.
"Hey
girl!" the voice said, and immediately Charlotte knew who it was.
"Hey,
Ava! Uh, I can't talk right now. Can you meet me in the janitor's closet at
school?"
"Sure
thing. Bye!"
Charlotte
got dressed and headed to school extra early. When she got there she ran to the
janitor's closet right away.
She
saw Ava sitting on a worn suitcase with a disgusted look on her face.
"This place is so dirty,"
"Okay,
we wanna get revenge on Ben!" Charlotte said.
"Oh
yeah," said Ava with an evil look on her face. "Wait, why?"
"'Cause
he told me there was a new species of toad and I searched for three days, but
it turns out there is no such thing and the only guy named Andy Chapman is a
guy who collects baseball cards."
"Whoa!"
Ava said.
"So
what's one thing you know about Ben?" asked Charlotte.
"Well,
I know he loves hot dogs," Ava said. "He'll go crazy if he sees
one."
"Perfect,"
Charlotte said. "Just perfect."
Later
when the bell rang, Charlotte walked over to Ben.
"Hey,
Ben," Charlotte said, "They're selling hot dogs in the
cafeteria."
"What?"
Ben yelled and ran to the cafeteria.
Ava
hid behind a chair when she heard Ben's scream. Ben ran into the cafeteria screaming,
"Hot dogs! Hot dogs! Hot dogs!"
She
saw all the way up to when the chef told him they didn't have any hot dogs.
It
turns out everything went perfectly! Ben got his worst payback, Charlotte went
back to looking for frogs that actually existed, and Ava went back to doing her
normal thing – fashion designing.
And
Charlotte learned not to trust anyone without proof!
~ The End
~