A dark shape, unnoticed by Jared and his brother, slid through the murky water beneath the floating lily pads.
Jared's bulbous eyes bugged out of his green head after he had witnessed his brother squishing the amulet deep, irretrievably so for a small frog, into the mud at the water's edge.
He croaked in desperation, but instead of a recognition of his pleading, Kevin seemed determined on something. When Jared saw the long-handled net in Kevin's hand, his desperation took on a keener edge.
The 10-year-old boy made an awkward lunge, which Jared the frog easily evaded by hopping off the pad into the warm, murky water. He tread water, keeping his head and bulbous eyes above the surface to better track Kevin's movements. He kicked his web limbs to stay afloat as a lurking monster circled closer.
Kevin could only watch irritably from the bank after the frog leapt to safety in the deeper water. He was looking away when the bass struck, opening its huge mouth wide and breaching out of the water. Jared's eyes bugged again as he saw the incoming fishy projectile rushing toward him.
"No..." he had time to think before finding himself caught in the jaws of the large bass.
"Kevin, help..." Jared managed to croak before the bass gulped, dived, and disappeared back into the murky depths where it reigned supreme as the alpha predator. A second gulp ended the thrashing of one little webbed leg that had clung desperately to the outside of the bass's wide jaws.
"That was SO cool!" Kevin exclaimed as he was left staring at the ripples spreading out in the wake of the bass's successful strike.