Frogs

Frogs is a scary horror story about a man whose hobby is taxidermy. He catches frogs, stuffs them and frames them on his wall.

There was an old man who caught frogs. Every morning, he would go down to the field near his house and squat down on the edge of the pond.

Whenever an unsuspecting frog came hopping out of the water, the old man was ready with his net. Before it could leap away, the old man would swipe out with his net, capturing the little creature.

Then, he would take a needle out of his pocket and drive it through the little frog’s brain, killing it instantly. He put every dead frog he caught into a big glass jar and took them back to his house.

When he got home, he would take a sharp knife from the drawer and begin skinning the frogs with great care and patience.

Taxidermy was his hobby and stuffing frogs was a painstaking business. He would stuff their bodies with cotton wool, sew them up and then dress them in tiny coats and hats. When he was finished, he would frame the frogs and hang them on his wall.

Whenever he held a party, the old man would show off his collection of stuffed frogs. Most of his guests laughed at the dead frogs frozen in funny poses, wearing their little costumes, wigs and hats.

Now and then, someone would say it was horrible to treat animals in such a way. Whenever one of his guests complained like that, the old man would just laugh.

Early one morning, just before dawn, the old man got out of bed, put on his clothes and set off for the pond. The sky was still dark and in the distance, he could hear the sound of croaking. It sounded like hundreds of frogs, all croaking together.

When he reached the pond, the sound of croaking suddenly ceased and everything was deathly still. He crouched down beside the pond. He held up the net, ready to strike if he saw anything move. He shivered, and waited.

The surface of the water was dark and murky. Suddenly it began bubbling softly. He could smell a horrible stench, like rot or decay. There was a great big bloop, followed by another and another. Big patches of slimy weed were floating to the surface. The whole pond seemed be bubbling with foul-smelling gasses.

Then, he heard a dreadful slobbering sound and the noxious fumes overcame him. As he began to lose consciousness, he felt something pull the net out of his hands. He screamed, but there was no one around to hear him.

Around noon, a policeman was driving by when he caught sight of something very strange. He saw the old man crouched down on the edge of the pond, sitting very still. The disturbing thing about it was that the old man was completely naked.

The policeman immediately pulled over and got out of his car. He climbed over the wall and approached the old man.

“Hey! You there! What do you think you’re doing?” the policeman shouted.

The old man didn’t move.

“You can’t run around nude in a public place,” said the policeman gruffly.

He reached out and grabbed the old man by the arm.

As soon as he touched him, the old man fell over and the tiny green stitches on his belly burst open. To his horror, the policeman saw that his insides had been stuffed with wet grass, reeds and water-lillies.