Chapter 5: Mote's Advice

Morsels

Arriving home with a new batch of crickets, I found Mote and Mustardseed against the glass of their Dwelling, expecting my return with The Crunchy Morsels.  

I opened the bag, and dumped four unfortunate souls into the dwelling, and watched as they were gobbled up with Alacrity.  Mote was especially skilled at Snatching, and consumed three crickets, while Mustardseed only managed a single cricket, the smallest and slowest of the bunch.

At this moment, I decided to fix a rather Sensitive Problem, one that I had been Brooding over for a time, a problem that I must elucidate with great care, and Strategy, as to not upset Mustardseed, who was now perhaps placated slightly by Morsels.

Of late, I have become concerned with Mustardseed's Continuous yet Mild failure at obtaining his share of Bugs.  Though Mustardseed excels with Concepts, Comprehension, and Creativity, he is a rather Frail Frog, plagued by what I perceive as Hunting Anxiety and Hasty Lunges.  

I praised Mote, as she sat, fat-happy on the log, in her abilities at Hunting.  She always gets the cricket on the first Lunge, I said, and though each previously consumed cricket weighs her down, she still manages to gobble many Crickets while under this burden.  How does she do this, I asked, and looked toward Mustardseed, for whom I was fetching this Advice.

Mote pushed her eyes downward, toward her throat (to help swallow her last Prize) and smiled a large smile.  Her finest cricket catches jumped across her mind: the from-under-water Shark-like nab, the Over-the-log-catch-and-flip grab, and the Herculean Jump Catch, the Prized Snatch of the Lily Pad.

The Moistness on Mote enhanced her vibrant green skin.  Mote began by saying that Hunting is not quite as much a Hunt as it is a Way.  She said that a Frog must not Fret, but must Let The Bug-Mind Go, and that one would do better to feel what the bug will do next, instead of think what he will do.

Mote said that a Frog must not Fret

A Bolt of inspiration came to me at this moment, as I realized too, that, while creating characters, plots, or settings, a Writer must not create, he must instead channel his topic, as if it were speaking to him Directly, Unobstructed by the writer's mind, knowledge, and experience.  At the same time a Counter-current of thought came to me, saying that yet surely his topic is Shaped by these factors from his life, to an extent which is Positively Incomprehensible. 

From these advisory lines from Mote, I also pondered about her Mind, remembering her disjointed and rambling Haiku, yet contemplating her Aptitude in Strange but Endearing Things.

Mustardseed moved slowly toward us, his eyes squinted in thought.  He said that he would Try, and attempt to Forget Himself while Hunting, and hinted that he is a rather Nervous or perhaps Fidgety Frog, when it comes to Jumping and Snatching, and that he may sometimes be very dependent on his Inner Monologue to carry him, and that he should perhaps Buoy Up.

Mustardseed squinted his eyes in thought