Folksburywoods

“Melvin, aren’t you cutting it a little close?” asked the shopkeeper.

“If you’re referring to the Wicked Woods, I have nothing to fear. I have Esmeralda with me, and she’ll protect me from any harm that may dwell in the wood,” answered the farmer.

“Still, I wouldn’t go and tempt fate if I were you,” the shopkeeper said.

Melvin paid for his supplies, requested they be delivered in the morning, and then headed home.

“Imagine the foolishness to think anything could harm me,” Melvin muttered.

Glum sat in his pit beside the road. “One will come, and Glum will feast,” mumbled the man-beast.

To pass the time, Melvin hummed a tune that Esmeralda was fond of. The noise caught Glum’s ear.

“Yum yum in my tum tum. Foolish man calls me to him,” giggled the creature.

Melvin was passing Glum’s pit when the beast lurched upon the farmer.

Yum in my tum,” cried the creature.

In a flash, Melvin pivoted so that Glum’s face landed in the center of Esmeralda.

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE,” screamed the man-beast. His skin turned bright red and began to swell, causing him to lose his vision.

“Stupid beast, no one messes with my Esmeralda,” Melvin said as he stroked the plant.

Glum rolled back and forth and screamed as the plant’s poison finished its work. The following morning, a woodsman found the poor beast swollen and emitting a foul stench.

Once Melvin reached his home, he set Esmeralda on the windowsill and headed for bed.

“Raising a poison stinger from seed makes one immune, like a clown fish and sea anemone. Folks should know that,” mumbled the farmer as he drifted off.

Melvin slept soundly, knowing Esmeralda would always be there to watch over him.

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