No sooner had Junia returned to her hunt than she found herself tripped up by a toad. The third year had been minding her own business mostly, avoiding a rather large puddle in her path, when a toad hopped RIGHT where she was going to step. It all seemed to move in slow motion from that point on, the thirteen year old giving a SQUEAK and then stutter stepping on to some wet, slippery mud. Her shoe slid and she lost her balance, arms windmilling in the air as a last-ditch effort to balance herself. It didn't work, though. It was like the slug pit from the beginning of the year all OVER again! Down she went in a rather ungraceful manner, onto her side and right in the mud.

Another toad had joined them at this point and Junia felt the creature hop onto her leg. She wrinkled her nose and reached out to grab it with her hand but just as she closed her hand around it, it disappeared. ...REALLY?!

UGH.

UGGGGGH.