Lilly-Anne let her hand break the surface of the river’s red water. It was cold. She quickly moved her hand back in to the canoe. How could the water be so cold, when the air was so hot? She brushed her hair back and looked in to the sun. The sun seemed to be so close she could almost touch it. She heard a weird noise and peered to see what was happening further down the river. On her right side an enormous blue frog were sitting on a rock. It had big eyes that stared on her which made the hairs on her back stand up. And then suddenly, the frog took a giant leap towards her and seemed to grow bigger the closer it came. The surprising movement towards her almost made her scream. Luckily, the frog missed with about a meter, but the splash of the giant body breaking the surface gave the canoe a push that increased the speed considerable.

As the canoe was racing down the river Lilly-Anne turned her head to se were the frog went, but she couldn’t see it. She prayed that it had disappeared. Then the canoe bumped in to something. She quickly looked back forward and saw a blue elephant in the middle of the river. It was picking some purple flowers in the middle of the stream, but was interrupted by the collision. It whipped it’s tail violently and turned it’s head toward Lilly-Anne and looked at her. It had the same creepy eyes as the frog. Lilly-Anne apologized to the elephant and hoped it wouldn’t smash the boat with it’s trunk or try to stab her with it’s tusks. As the elephant raised it’s head Lilly-Anne held her arms in front of her face hoping she would survive the attack. Then she heard a croak. Surprised she looked up as the elephant continued to croak loudly. Now the frog was in front of her, but with a trunk and ears just like the elephant had. She put her hands into the water to try to get away from the frog, but the water’s heat burned her hands. How could it be changing temperature like that? She looked in the canoe to find something else to row with, but before she found anything the frog started to tremble and dropped right down in to the river and disappeared again.

When the frog disappeared the canoe could keep on moving along the stream. Still shaken by the frog’s peculiar behavior Lilly-Anne once again turned her head around to see where it went, and yet again she couldn’t see it. She looked forward again but instantly heard a croak. She turned back again to see where the frog had gone and saw the contour under the red river surface. As it got closer and closer it croaked higher and higher. She didn’t dare to put her hands in the water to paddle, but when she looked at the canoe’s bottom this time she found a big pole. She hurried to put it into the water and make the canoe go faster, but the frog was still closing in on her.

When the frog caught up with her it jumped straight up out of the water and she reacted instinctually and hit it with the pole. It surfaced almost instantly again with a loud croak, but this time it was in the shape of a serpent. Somehow the serpent jumped into the canoe right next to Lilly-Anne and twined around her. The serpent squeezed harder and harder and Lilly-Anne couldn’t breathe. She found a knife in her pocket and pushed it into the serpent’s body. The serpent stiffened and then got slack. It fell into the water and sank. Lilly-Anne leaned over the rail and looked at the serpent’s body sinking. When she couldn’t see it any longer she climbed back into the canoe. Right in front of her was the giant frog again! It jumped right at her and the last thing she saw was it’s mouth and teeth.

Lilly-Anne opened her eyes wide and looked straight into darkness. She panicked and started to wave her arms around her. The blanket moved away and she saw the ceiling of her own bedroom. “Oh my god, what a weird dream she thought”.

Annica Lennartsson