Munoola's Toes, Chapter 1

By Teal Rain and Camille Kay

Once Upon a Time...

There was an ostrich named Munoola. Munoola lived with a family of elves in the Dark Forest of No Light.

Munoola was a sad little ostrich, for she had no toes. An ostrich's greatest pride is it's toes. Frankzoo, the Father elf, always told her that one day the Toe Fairy would come and give her toes.

Munoola smiled at this, as was expected, but secretly she knew that a fairy would never come to the Dark Forest of No Light. It was dark. So she decided to set out in search of the Toe Fairy.

It was late in the night when she slipped out of her cottage, making sure the elves didn't wake up. Hoisting her bag full of worms over her wing, she took off running through the Dark Forest of No Light. After about an hour, she came to a black, creepy lake.

Munoola's stomach grumbled, and she wondered if there were any fish in the lake. She had never tried fish, but Frankzoo often went fishing. Munoola pulled a squirming worm out of her bag and stared at it, wondering what to do next. How, exactly, did on go about fishing, anyway? Finally, she flung the worm as far out into the lake as she could, calling,

"Come to me, fish, out of the deep!"

The surface of the water trembled, and out popped a little goldfish. It looked at the worm, then at Munoola. It snorted. "Don't you think it would have been a good idea to attach it to something?" It asked snottily. Munoola didn't know how to reply to this rude little fish.

"Catfish got your tongue?" the goldfish sneered. Munoola blinked, then threw a worm at the goldfish's head. "Oi!" the fish shouted. "Watch it!"

"But I'm hungry," Munoola replied weakly. The fish's expression changed to one of concern.

"Oh, you poor dear. Why don't you build a fire and I'll jump on it? I recommend squirting me with lemon juice."

"You'd do that for me?" Munoola asked, stunned by the fish's kindness.

"NO!" the fish shouted. Then it splashed Munoola in the face.

Munoola gagged. That's what she does when she's stressed. So when Munoola collapsed on the ground gagging, the fish simply stared in confusion. Not quite knowing what to do, it finally cried, "Here! Just take this!" It then chucked something at her head. Munoola stopped gagging, and looked at the heavy object that hit her in the head. It was a...foot!

"TOES!" Munoola cried in joy. "Beautiful TOES!" She rubbed the foot, smelly though it was against her face. "You must be the Toe Fairy," she said to the fish. "Thank you, Toe Fairy, for this gift of toes all to my own. I shall cherish them forever!"

"I'm not the Toe Fairy," the goldfish said. "I'm a fish. Fish don't even have toes."

But Munoola wasn't listening. She was dancing around in joy, cradling the foot to her face. She then opened her mouth and let out a keening, grinding wail. The fish covered it's ears in disgust. "What ARE you doing?!" It yelled over her wailing.

"It means I'm happy!" Munoola responded, as if it were obvious.

"Then be sad!" the fish yelled. "I've never met a stranger ostrich in my entire LIFE!"

"You have to come with me," Munoola said. "I have to show you to Frankzoo! Oh, he always said the Toe Fairy would give me toes! Come on, I don't live far from here--over in the Dark Forest of No Light!"

"Why on ocean would I go to the Dark Forest of No Light?" the fish sneered. "I'm perfectly happy here in the Miserable Lake of Gloom. And I'm NOT a fairy!"

"Oh, but you are! You gave me the gift of toes! That's all I've ever wanted in my whole life! You must meet my family! I just know they would give you a mango!"

"I don't eat mangoes. I'm a strict wormatarian," the fish said haughtily. "Although," he glanced around as if worried about who would hear, "I once ate a beetle." Munoola frowned. "But mangoes are a customary greeting in the Dark Forest of No Light," she said. "It's a form of protection--Shape Shifters can't eat mango, so that way, we can make sure our guests won't eat us." Then a look of horror passed over Munoola's beak. "But... you don't eat mangoes..." she murmured.

Munoola began gagging again, as she slowly backed away from this cruel fish, clutching her foot to her tightly. "Where do you think you're going, huh? If you want to leave give me all those worms."

Munoola furrowed her eyebrows. "Wouldn't you like a diet cankleberry more?" The fish sighed.

"What part of 'wormatarian' don't you understand?" the fish asked. Munoola opened her beak to say that she had actually never heard of that term, when the fish put his head in his fin. "You know what? Never mind. Just give me the worms or I'll... I'll shape shift into a... shifted shape and EAT YOU!"

Munoola screamed loudly as she flung the bag of worms at the fish. It grunted as the 6 pound bag hit it. Munoola took of running as fast as she could, screaming like a banshee all the way. When she finally stopped to take a breather, she realized that something was caught in her tail.

It was her foot! Munoola reached for her precious burden when suddenly, it crumbled away between her wings. "NOOOOOO!" Munoola cried.

she collapsed to the ground sobbing, cradling the foot dust in her wings. "Cruel, cruel world!" she howled at the sky.

Munoola stared at the dust, wondering what to do. She'd had toes for such a short time... But perhaps she could still find the Toe Fairy. Munoola wiped away her tears and stood up, determined.

Stomping back to the smelly lake, she hid behind a bush. The goldfish was still there, teasing a little guppy. "Hey, leave that guppy alone!" Munoola cried. The goldfish looked up and his jaw dropped. "You AGAIN??" it asked.

"M-my foot crumbled to dust," Munoola said, her beak trembling.

"I'm NOT THE TOE FAIRY!" the goldfish shouted. The sad-looking guppy took this opportunity to swim away. "Aw, great!" the goldfish said angrily. "There goes my dinner!"

"I though you were a strict wormatarian?" Munoola said.

"Uh, um...what are you doing back here?! Go find your foot somewhere else, you psycho ostrich! I'm NOT THE TOE FAIRY, for the last time!" Munoola stuck her tail at him, then, picking up a small rock on the ground, she flung it at him. "OOUCH! Stop throwing things at me!"

"Not until you give me toes!" Munoola cried, throwing another rock at him.

"FINE!" the fish shouted as the rock bounced off his skull. "The Toe Fairy lives that way!" He pointed a fin towards the distant mountains. "She'll give you toes! Now LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Munoola lowered her wing as she looked off into the direction the mean fish indicated. "Th-that way? But that's the But-Buttermilk-k-k Mountains...?" she whispered, horrified.

"Guess you don't really want toes then," the fish sneered. He disappeared under the water. Munoola looked at the mountains again, swallowed, and started walking tentatively forward. The Buttermilk Mountains, she knew, were the home of the Shape-Shifters. If only she had thought to bring some mangoes... but it was too late now. And Munoola refused to go home without toes.