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// 5 
// Story: Carrot Troubles 
// by Matthais Unidostres 
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The Sun beat down on Froggy Bottom Bog, its head hot and intense upon it. It was some time after the flood waters had rushed in from the massive overflow that occured due to the broken dam. At the moment, all was quiet as the water had long since become a part of the bog.

All of a sudden, a pair of ears popped out of the surface of the bog. Then, Angel Bunny slowly rose out of the bog, completely caked in sticky mud and muck from the bog. Angel looked around with his eyes, the only things not covered in muck, and his eyes widened when he saw the big carrot floating on the surface of the bog a few steps away.

Angel excitedly stepped over to it, but in midstep, he suddenly felt the mud around him harden and dry in the hot Sun. Angel stuck out a forepaw towards the carrot, only to have his paw stop a few centimeters away from it as his entire body was encased in a rabbit shaped cocoon of dried mud.

From within the casing, Angel grumbled as he tried to shake himself free. He then peered down at the carrot, and the encased paw that was so close to it. With a huff, Angel shifted his weight forward once, then twice, and he could feel his body tilt forwards ever so slightly. The bunny grunted and groaned as he strained to tilt himself forward. With one final heave, Angel finally fell forward, and his mud encased forepaw made contact with the carrot.

Angel let out a sigh of relief at the small victory.

STOMP!

The massive scaly foot of the hydra came down hard on top of Angel Bunny. Then the hydra continued to walk away, leaving only a massive footprint with a few bubbles rising to the surface of the bog. A few second later, a bubble rose up out of the bog and began to float upwards. Inside the bubble was Angel, somehow free of the shell of much, albeit dazed from the stomping.

Angel blinked his eyes and looked around, and soon spotted a much smaller bubble floating next to the bubble he was in. Inside that smaller bubble was the carrot. The bunny immediately smacked his paws against the inside of his bubble, trying to break out and reach the carrot, but the bubble up to his assault as the carrot continued to float up and away from him.

Angel fell back onto his tail and stared at his feet for a moment. Then he stood back up and jumped straight upwards, throwing himself against the top of the bubble. He did this over and over again, slamming himself against the top of the bubble to sent him upwards after the carrot. He made decent progress in his ascent, and was closing the distance between his bubble and the carrot's bubble,. However, one overzealous jump ended up sending his buck teeth into the bubble. He was stuck there for a moment, with his mouth up against the side of the bubble, and he pushed hard with his forepaws to free himself. His teeth eventually came out, but a noticeable hissing sound alerted Angel to the fact that his teeth had punctured the bubble.

Angel immediately felt himself get propelled downwards from the air escaping from his now shrinking bubble. With a startled cry, Angel tried to turn the bubble so he would fly in the direction of the carrot. He did succeed in changing his direction from downwards to upwards, but he ended up flying right past the carrot and high up into the air. Eventually, he did slow down, only at this point he could barely move due to the bubble being so small that he was squished into a tiny ball.

Angel squeaked nervously from inside the bubble, and then his body suddenly popped out of it, leaving only his head inside of the bubble. Angel kicked his feet aimlessly as he continued to float in mid air, until the eyes in his squeezed, orbed face lit up from an idea that struck him. Angle used his right foot to reach into his fluffy tail and pulled out a small pin. Holding the pin with his toes, Angel carefully touched the sharp tip to the side of the bubble, which instantly popped.

Angel laughed as his ears were free to stick up again, only for them to promptly droop when he realized he was high up in the air, and then began to fall. Angel cried out in fear at first, but then stopped when he recalled that he was over Froggy Bottom Bog. Angel took out a yellow bathing cap and put it on his head, making sure to neatly tuck in his ears. He then took a deep breath and put his paws together as he went into a downward diving position as he quickly fell back down to the ground.

SMACK!

Angel cried out in pain after landing on a heavy stone boulder sticking up out of the bog. His entire body locked up as he stood on his chin, the only things moving were his witching feet that swung at their ankles. Even Angel's face was frozen in wide eyed pain as he remained there, patiently waiting for the pain to pass and for his body to eventually unlock. Angel could still smell the carrot, and he had a good idea where it had landed. So as storm clouds began to roll in and blot out the hot Sun, Angel still planned to head after the orange vegetable as soon he was no longer paralyzed from the pain of his botched high dive.