We stood in the meadow. Birds chirped. Butterflies flitted lazily through the air. Nothing exploded for a full 37 seconds.
> "This feels... suspiciously normal," Lyria said, her eyes narrowing.
> "Nature doesn't do peace without a price," Arc muttered. "That's just science."
The grass was too green. The flowers were humming. Kevin sniffed a tulip and it giggled.
> "Nope," I said, stepping back. "Nope nope nope."
Suddenly, a squirrel popped out of a log. Not a normal squirrel. A bard squirrel. Wearing a tiny hat. Strumming a lute.
> "Greetings, weary travelers," it squeaked. "Would you like a ballad of your failures?"
> "Absolutely not," Greg hissed.
But it was too late. It began to sing. In perfect pitch. With interpretive acorns.
> "Why does this happen to us?" I groaned. "Because destiny has jokes," Grubnuk said solemnly.
The song ended. The squirrel bowed. Then exploded into confetti.
> "Is this just a thing now?" Lyria asked. "Exploding wildlife?"
The peace of the meadow broke. A nearby tree screamed. Another flower tried to bite Greg. The wind formed words:
"THE PEACE WAS A LIE."
> "Yeah we got that, thanks," I shouted.
And then—suddenly—the ground began to quake. The meadow split open. Out rose a massive toad in a top hat. It croaked three times and pointed at us.
> "YOU OWE ME A DEBT!" it boomed.
> "What kind of debt?!" Kevin yelled.
> "EMOTIONAL."
Cue the chase scene.
We ran. Screaming. Dodging melodramatic flowers and vengeful shrubbery. The toad gave chase, reciting emotional poetry.
Arc tripped on a daisy. Grubnuk tried to reason with a fern. Clucksworth led the charge with a battle cry that shattered two more squirrels.
Eventually, we tumbled into a crater. Landed in a pile. Groaned in sync.
> "Okay," I panted. "We're never trusting nature again."
> "Agreed," everyone chorused.
Above us, the toad glared from the rim of the crater. Wrote a strongly worded review in the air. Then vanished.
We lay there. Quiet. Broken. Covered in grass-related emotional scars.
---
End of Chapter 33 (Peace denied. Nature betrayed. Screams delivered.)