The Castle in the Pond, Part 2

March 13, 2025 — 8:58pm

Dear Reese,

After your hair is shampooed, we do a little recap and then follow you and your duck guide on your journey through the pond. Your first task from The Great Bullfrog: clean up the Giant trash. In this installment, you swim through the reeds and cattails and find a large boot, a broken oar, too many discarded cans — and then outlined by their glowing lamp on the shore — the Giants themselves.

You debate calling out to them, but you are small and they turn their stereo on, polluting the pond kingdom with noise alongside their litter. You climb to the top of a cattail for a better look at the bare-chested brutes and then make a plan with the duck.

In the end it involves a soaked stereo, some ghostly noises, your intimidating voice hidden in the reeds, and the faithful duck biting a few ankles before the giants are scared away. Then the work begins and you clear the water of debris, persuading some passing bats to help carry large items away. By morning, the task is done and you can make your way back to The Great Bullfrog . . . but not before you take a nap.

I write this down for you darling, because I don’t think you listened at all. Your primary task tonight was holding onto the washcloth so you could suck the soapy water out of it. But I’m hoping you enjoy my fumbling storytelling more than when I have us listen to my D&D podcast. Though someday I hope you enjoy that too.

Love,

Mama