Toadette's Story: Book 1

Chapter 32 - Boos Among Us

Minh T. and I stood speechless, staring at the little girl before us.

“What are you doing here!?” I asked.

“Don’t be mad. But I wanted to—”

Time wouldn’t allow us to get mad. The cold temperature and endless raindrops made the perfect recipe for creating a sick Penelope.

Nearly tearing the girl’s arm off, I pushed against the freezing winds. My feet sunk so deep in the mud, it felt like I was swimming in a massive sinkhole. But after stomping over a soil river, Minh T. pointed us to a bushy path. Unlike the others, no branch protected this one. In fact, it was in the inner ring we’d been avoiding.

“You sure about this?” I asked. “Anything could be hiding in there.”

Minh T. spun behind and pushed me forward. “Sounds like a job for you.”

Once far enough on this path, my body received a refreshing warmth. Though the darkness remained, the flashlight revealed that we were in a little circle. Nothing but some dirt, wet bushes along the edges and crackling trees that towered over us. Most impressive of all, where had the rain gone? A few droplets snuck in, but otherwise, we were in nature’s hurricane shelter.

Removing Penelope’s drenched clothes lasted forever, for she wouldn’t quit rubbing her wet skin.

“That was really dumb, Penelope.” I dried her big hair with a tiny towel from Minh T.

“Next time, you can try spending days in the castle and see how you like it.”

“So you sneak the one place nobody visits?”

She groaned. “I knew you’d be here.”

As I scolded and dried this moron from head to toe, Minh T. gifted her an extra pair of clothing. Pyjamas, red from top to bottom. Unfortunately, only the shirt hung onto her narrow shoulders. So now we had a barefoot girl running around in a damp forest without pants. The best we could do was wrap a small blanket around her.

“You ain’t gonna change?” Minh T. asked me, stripping to her underclothing.

I shrugged. “Penelope, close your eyes.” The last thing I needed was the great Princess Peach’s daughter seeing my tight wedgie. Ow…

Thankfully, Minh T.’s wider clothes still fit me like a glove. Grey sweatpants, a Zip Toad t-shirt that made me shudder in embarrassment, and I got a dry bra and panties. Meanwhile, she changed into another pair of pyjamas. Violet, to be exact.

“Alright, here’s the plan.” I got on my knees. “We’re gonna… wait this storm…”

THUD!

****

What time was it? Oof… The back of my neck stung like hell. But I spotted no blood on my fingers after feeling it. Instead, I felt a thick, soft bandage.

As I turned around, Penelope’s feet firmly pressed into Minh T.’s lap. The Toad massaged them as if everything was well in the world. The towel may have cleaned her soles somewhat, but still, ew. Nevertheless, I crawled near the bright flashlight.

“How was the nap?” Minh T. asked, kissing Penelope’s sole.

“Time,” I groaned. “What’s the time?”

“Nine, give or take.”

WHAT!? I slept for FIVE hours!? My body immediately kicked into action. “Thanks for not waking me up,” I mumbled.

“You think it would’ve changed anything?”

BOOM!

Minh T. smirked. “See what I mean?”

While the thunder obliterated my sense of hearing, I watched Minh T. continue to rub Her Highness’s daughter. There was nothing else to do, after all. She treated the girl like she’d treat one of her flowers. What did this mean? Slow and deliberate movements. At one point, she rubbed the palms of her hands against the sides of Penelope’s foot, getting the girl to bite her lip.

Then she reached for my soles.

“Whoa!” I pulled my feet back. “That’s a no-no.”

“Why not?” Minh T. pouted. “You’ve been on edge all day.”

“Miss Toadette.” Penelope deepened her voice. “You’re to let Miss Minh T. do whatever she wishes to your feet until she thinks you’re okay.”

“Look, I really don’t need—”

“THAT’S AN ORDER!”

I instantly slammed my feet before Minh T. It’d been so long since Penelope gave me an order that I forgot I was technically below her. But while my muscles stiffened up, Minh T. didn’t hesitate to touch my soles in weird manners. Poking them, wiggling a finger on them, and even smelling her hand after she touched them. It was like she magically came to life.

“Don’t worry,” she said, continuing to sniff her hand. “I ain’t gonna tickle you.”

After cracking her knuckles, the Toad’s fingers caressed my right foot’s toes. A light pressure travelled across all of them. Then, from left to right, she swept the digits like she was dusting them. I couldn’t tell how filthy my soles were, but the dirt must’ve stained them a tad. Not that Minh T. cared either way.

“When was the last time you got your feet rubbed, Miss Toadette?”

I scratched my cap. “I guess at that Dry Dry Outpost inn.”

“Maybe you should ask Miss Minh T. to give them to you more often,” Penelope said, stretching. “She’s pretty good.”

Minh T. giggled. She spread my toes apart before spinning each one in a little circle. As I accepted this massage, the numbing raindrops and heavy thunder disappeared. Closing my eyes sent me to a warm blue sky. And I’d been lying on the silkiest, softest cloud imaginable. At the end of this cloud, my toes scrunched over and over. All the hardships stored in them for weeks slipped out, falling to the land below. Once they rubbed some magic between my toes, the only sound one could hear was my moan.

“My heels…” I muttered.

A slippery, warm touch sent my heels into bliss. And I let out another moan, followed by a tiny giggle. “T-Tickles…”

“My bad. I’ll go slower.”

My eyes widened. Minh T.’s tongue crawled from my heel to my toes, then fell to the bottom to repeat it again. Next to me, Penelope’s hands covered her mouth.

She dropped them to reveal a smile. “Enjoying yourself, Miss Toadette?”

Minh T. wouldn’t give me a chance to answer. As if my feet tasted sweet, she drove both my big toes in her mouth. If she wanted me to gasp, mission accomplished. Her sucking sent a shiver up my spine. And while she licked my toes, her hands continued to massage my feet…

I pulled them back. “Okay, that’s enough.”

Minh T.’s jaw dropped as she pointed at my face. “Ooh. Look at that blush.”

“I’m still injured, you know. All the blood just rushed to my head.”

That nonsensical excuse didn’t deter Minh T. from going on about my blushing. Penelope also couldn’t resist throwing some jokes into the ring. Ugh, how was I moaning from getting my feet licked of all things?

But I hadn’t imagined the rain subsiding, to my amazement. Not one droplet hit us for minutes. However, the thunder made itself loud and known. Every time it roared across the forest, the little girl would jump for a split second.

“What are you doing?” she asked me as I put my glasses on.

“That mansion isn’t gonna find itself.”

“We can’t wait until it’s daytime?”

“You didn’t notice the sky being black even during the day?” I made for the shelter’s entrance path. “Besides, we’d freeze camping out here. Unless one of you wants to start a fire and invite more guests.”

And now my arches were back in the mushy soil. Minh T. may have been an expert in traversing all terrains with flip-flops, but Toadette was not. On the bright side, there was a certain comfort in knowing that the sloshy dirt protected my toesies.

“Wait.” I walked backwards to face Penelope. “If you snuck out, where exactly does your mom think you are right now?”

“Now isn’t that a good question…”

Perfect. So now Her Highness had zero clues about where her daughter was, and we wandered through an expansive forest with neither a map nor signal. But now with my vision cleared, I’d do my best to get us to Boo’s Mansion. Unlike the other flowers, the ones to our left had four petals and puckered lips. Correct path! And in the next circle, Minh T. jumped out her shoes as a tree developed a blood-red face. Another correct path!

“I think we got this forest figured out,” I said. “What’s our clue this time?”

“Miss Toadette!”

The human noticed flickering mushrooms behind the trees, the only set that did so. Laughing, I skipped down the respective path. Boo’s Mansion was so close that I could taste it.

SMACK!

And suddenly I found myself in the mud. Something knocked me in the back of my head, but what? The only person directly behind me was Minh T., and her fist was curled.

“What was that for?” I asked, rubbing my head.

“There was something on you!”

I glared at Penelope, but she just shrugged her shoulders. Typical paranoid Minh T. If something was on me, either we’d have heard it, or I would’ve felt it crawling. Back to the journey ahead. Boo’s Mansion… It should not have taken us so long to locate this. When I meet the leader of that place…

SMACK!!

I snatched Minh T. by her collar. “You have one more time!”

“I-It was right there!” Her voice got higher than normal. “I’m not lying!”

“Mmm-hmm, totally.” I rolled my eyes. “Lemme guess. A big, scary Boo?”

My heel dug a six-inch crater in the dirt, spun 360°, and then proceeded onward. Once Minh T. began to gasp and stammer, I just sighed. “We were making some good progress until you—”

My stomach dropped, and more mud splattered on my back. An intense, white light floated before Penelope and Minh T. Two little stubs protruded from its side, and its behind curved upward.

“Go away,” the Toad girl squeaked, rummaging her bag. “I’m armed.”

The noxious scent of the Boo Repellent spray flooded the air. As Penelope coughed, Minh T. doused the creature in even more of the silver substance. After the bottle choked and ran out of juice, she took a few steps back. I bit my lip, crawling back ever so slightly.

As the mist faded, one white sphere remained floating before the Toad.

RRRRRRRAAAAGGGGHH!!

As the creature unleashed a ghoulish howl, Minh T. chucked her flashlight and ran like a Swooper out of Hell. The light now highlighted Penelope, the little girl whose lips trembled.

I pulled myself up, chuckling. “Don’t be scared, Penelope. Ghosts can’t hurt us. They can’t even touch us.”

The white Boo twisted upside-down.

Clap!

Instantly, it floated before my face. It was time to be tough. I scrunched up my face, furrowing my brows until they formed a long unibrow. At last, I snarled my teeth, growling like a hungry animal. “You don’t scare me.”

The Boo stared at me. Just kept on staring.

I didn’t flinch from its sudden smile, or from how its sclera changed from white to black. But the Boo started to move below. I kept my head up. No way would I give into his little games. And my foot was ready to… Well, what could I do? Boos couldn’t properly interact with the world.

Penelope gasped.

The heaviest coat of saliva immediately covered the top of my foot. And right on top of my foot was a giant tongue, and the Boo’s black eyes piercing my soul.

“KYAAAAAAAAAA!!”

Our screams rivalled Minh T.’s with how ear-shattering their volume got. Penelope and I had the same mindset: get the hell out of this forest! I scooped the flashlight, sprinting behind Penelope to keep her in my sight.

Another white light popped in front of her.

“Boo!”

“No!” Penelope shouted. “Get away!”

“Penelope, come back!” My pleas fell on deaf ears, for the child had outpaced me. Now with a Boo behind me and in front of me, I jumped onto the path to my left.

SPLASH!

No, no, no. Now wasn’t the time for my glasses to be soaked on mud. As I scrubbed the gunk off, another tingly feeling hit my body. This time, up my back.

A purple Boo laughed so hard, its mouth went from smooth to jagged. It was like staring into a bright, floating jack-o-lantern.

Killing my vocal cords, I took off as far as my feet would carry me.

Wait a minute. If the Boos licked me, then they must’ve been solid! Yeah! Drifting around the bend, I flew into the howling spirit with my foot first. Toes pointed, just to claw him for extra damage.

SPLASH!

Why? Why didn’t that work!? Cold air left my lips as I groaned, sloshing in this heavy dirt.

The laughter subsided. “I’ll give ya another shot, lady.”

Every next attack I delivered went directly through this thing. So he could touch me, but I wasn’t allowed to touch him? Yelling like a freak, I charged at him with a plain fist.

THUD!

In the end, the tree won the battle. More Boos of various colours swarmed me, tying a crusty rope around my arms and legs. They then stretched a blindfold around my head.

“Alright. We got the other two?” one Boo asked.

“Brat’s already on her way to the mansion, and she doesn’t even know it. The other Toad can’t be that far behind.”

The Boos chortled in unison. “Excellent.”

Thank you, Your Highness, for sending us on a death mission for some smelly shoes.