Unwrap your arms from yourself," A different voice said this time, "You'll find the pain is gone."

"He's right, you know." A female voice spoke now.

He slowly lowered his arm. The voice was right, although his breathing was still stiffened. He brushed the dirt off the front of his coat.

"Where are you?" Billy asked, narrowing his eyes to see in the darkness.

"Look down, my boy."

Billy lowered his chin and puckered his lips, bewildered.

Curiously, sitting on a large, flat log were four frogs. They were all roughly the same size and identical in spots and decoration, the only difference seemed to be their colours. The frog on the left was the colour of blood, the next was as blue as the ocean, the third was the colour of bright sunshine in summer and the last was shaded like the leaves around him. Billy knelt done and stared at them, their jowls throbbing.

"What you looking at, boy?" Said the red frog in a husky, male voice.

Billy jumped back with amazement; he had never seen a talking frog before.

He pointed at it, "You...you can speak?"

"Oh, this poor boy." From the tone of her voice, the yellow frog was definitely female. She appeared to be speaking to the green frog, "His mother never told him about the forest being enchanted."

"Obviously." Replied the green frog, also female, "And after all the long conversations she had with us as well."

 "Are you ladies quite finished?" Asked the blue frog with an angry deep voice, "We have a job to do. Remember? Marzurka said to expect him."

Billy frowned, "You know the wizard?"

The green frog laughed, "Know him?" She threw a look at the yellow frog, "How do you think we came to be this way?"

Billy shrugged, "I don't know." He said, "Genetics?" He had read this word in one of his brother's schoolbooks, he had little idea of what it meant.