The Swamp Queen
My stories are copyrighted, so NO takee!!
The Swamp Queen
By William W. Kelso
The last thing I expected to find a swamp in Louisiana was an old temple. No, wait a sec, that's really not right; the last thing I expected to find was what was IN the temple. It was pretty close though.
I was actually looking for the legendary wreck of a Spanish Galleon that was supposed to have been driven deep into the bayous by a hurricane hundreds of years ago. An old trapper/fisherman that I'd talked to had sworn he'd seen old cannon on a remote island deep in the uninhabitable part of the swamps. Well, I had always had a thing for treasure, had plenty of time on my hands, and thought, what the heck? Of course I broke the first rule, never go alone, but I was a greedy little bitch. I figured if there was a treasure I wanted it all to myself, and in a way I guess I got what I wanted.
I'd always been the 'odd girl out', too much of a Tomboy to appeal to the boys, but definitely not a Lesbian despite the rumors. You know, flat tits, no waist, narrow hips, plain face, mousy hair, etc. But just because I wore my hair short and didn't have curves like Madonna didn't mean I was gay, I just got shorted in the good looks area. But that didn't keep me from looking at boys, they just didn't look back. So I was pretty much on my own, which was just fine with me. But I wasn't a virgin either, there were guys who were more than happy with less than the best, pretty much male versions of myself. But it was never anything serious, they didn't expect it and neither did I, we gave one another what we needed, and went our separate ways as good friends.
I rented an airboat, bought some supplies, about ten gallons of 'Off', got my gear together, and set out on my 'Expedition' which as a pretty grand name for something that was FUBAR'd from the start. I knew my away around the swamps and bayous pretty good, and was an experienced boater and camper, so that wasn't the problem. The problem was that everything that could possibly go wrong DID go wrong. Murphy's Law in action. From the start the boat had a slow leak; which of course was in a spot I couldn't get to for repairs. But since it was so slow I decided to go ahead with my one woman safari, I just had to bail it out every few hours before it got too deep. Then I ran up on a sunken log and flipped the boat partially over and lost some supplies including most of the bug repellant, and soon every skeeter for five miles around was in love with me. But I slogged on determinedly, cussing at the skeeters a lot and killing as many as I could, but my only relief was at night inside my little tent. Then the motor started acting up, looked like water had gotten in the reserve gas can. Most people would have turned back at that point, but not yours truly. Oh no, like Jungle Girl I didn't know when to quit. I can be stubborn to the point of stupidity.
By the fifth day I was deeper into the swamp then I'd ever been before, and pretty much lost as the stupid compass had fallen overboard with the bug spray and Twinkies. Just as I was pulling up to a small island the motor coughed and died for the last time. Plenty of gas, just too much water in it, or something was wrong with the motor. No matter what it was the engine was kaput, no matter how much I screamed at it the damn thing refused to even turn over. It was a pain, but I still had the paddles and a long pole, so could pole & paddle my way out if I had to, it would just be a major pain. Still had plenty of food at that point too, and it rained often enough so I had plenty of fresh water. Since it was getting late; and I was tired of feeding the skeeters, I pitched camp and went to bed.
During the night the boat drifted loose from the bank, and sank until only the very top of the safety basket around the prop was showing. And that was IT, I had a major class tantrum that lasted about half an hour and cursed the swamp, God, the jerk who rented me the SS Titanic II, and everyone else I could think of. Oh yeah, and the bugs too. I think it even scared them away for awhile. By the time I calmed down it was starting to rain, oh just perfect, so I got back in my tent and thought about my options. Only one really, hike out. But that was easier said than done, I was probably over a hundred miles from the nearest 'civilization', and right in the middle of terrain and climate designed to kill you as soon as possible. In addition to the swamp, quicksand, and wildlife there was also disease, heat, and other fun things. My best bet was to try and hit one of the main channels and find a trappers cabin or camp. There were still a fair number who lived back in the swamps and pretty much lived off the land. Being half Cajun I knew how to get along with them well enough, so could probably hitch a ride out. I could get my basic directions from the stars and sun, so figured south or west was the best choice. During the night the rain got harder, and by morning the island was almost under the water. It was one of those semi-solid floating ones made more from built up plant matter than anything else, and it was getting downright soggy. It was still pouring in the morning, but as soon as it was light enough I broke camp while standing in the downpour and an inch or two of muddy water, and set out. Of necessity I had to leave a lot behind, so took only food, a medical kit, and not much else.
I moved to the other side of the island, and could see another much large island fairly close by. It was the only way to go, so hoping for the best I very carefully waded, and partially swam, over to the island. It was a real island too, rising to at least five feet above the level of the water, much to my relief. So I dumped my gear and set out to look around. I was careful, avoiding clearings and probing with my hiking stick/pole. Around here one wrong step and you were up to your waist in quicksand, and after that it was only a matter of time unless you were lucky enough to have something to grab onto. Usually you didn't, or it was something that would break off. I was scared to death of dying like that. It was soon apparent the island was fairly large and it was fairly easy to move around as the trees were large enough to keep the underbrush from getting very thick, which also made it fairly dim under the canopy, and to my relief, somewhat cooler despite the humidity. I was hoping to find some trappers or fishermen's shacks, but no such luck. What I did find was an incredibly ancient stone temple in the middle of the island.
I walked into a clearing around a large beautiful pond of crystal clear water under an overhanging canopy of branches covered in Spanish Moss, and on the far side was a small stone building almost swallowed in the roots of several huge trees. It kind of reminded me of those old Buddhist temples see all overgrown in the jungles of India and Asia on the History Channel or in National Geographic. I certainly hadn't expected to see one in Louisiana! But first I waded into the pond still wearing my nasty dirty stinky clothes and left a sand bar behind I was so filthy, the cool water felt absolutely wonderful to my sticky sweaty bug bite covered skin. After my 'bath' I circled the pond, and as I got closer the temple was bigger than I had thought, and I could see the remnants of other buildings and wings of the main temple, but it was the only part fairly intact. The stone was plain, not a carving on it anywhere, except for some swirls that reminded me of flowing water for some reason. The main entrance was clear, and it beckoned to me with an irresistible call. Afraid I'm one of those idiots that always go down in the dark cellar to see what was causing that weird noise. But in this case at least there was no noise. So I popped a glow stick, and went to take a look.
It was nice and cool inside the temple, and the main passage was pretty clear. There were other tunnels that intersected the main one, but they were all blocked and/or impassable. Finally the passage opened up into a fairly large chamber, and I almost had a heart attack, there was gold and treasure, tons of it! I stood with my mouth open for probably half an hour staring in disbelief, then dropped to my knees in one of the piles and ran gold coins and jewelry through my fingers and drooled all over myself. Screw the Spanish Galleon I thought, this is a LOT better! I finally got up and looked around some more and there were piles and piles of treasure, it looked like it had been in heavy iron bound boxes or chests at some point, but the wood had succumbed to age and dry rot, bursting open to dump the treasure onto the floor of the temple. I didn't recognize any of the coins, they were big things and had more of the water swirls on them. It made King Tut's stuff look like costume jewelry and trinkets. Indiana Jones and Laura Croft, eat your heart out!
Then I caught the glint of a green glow reflected by the light from the glow stick, and following that glow found an altar; at least that's what it reminded me of, but without the pentagram or piles of bones and warning signs. It was just plain stone, and on it was small statue in the form of a frog woman. At least that's what it looked like, a naked woman with froggy features. She was standing with her arms slightly lifted and spread. Her body was basically human, but her head was that of a frog and her fingers and toes were long and webbed. Hello Kermit, I thought. The detail was amazing, and it was carved from some kind of dark green stone that looked like jade to me. And around its neck was a gold necklace with a pendant in the shape of a frog with emeralds for eyes.
I picked up the necklace lovingly, and said, "My, aren't you the most beautiful thing I've ever seen!" and put it on. Now that I'm the richest women in the world the boys will take a second look, I thought, and I'll turn them all down! The only ones I'll let near me would be the ones who hadn't turned their noses up at the plain Tomboy. I went back to the piles of treasure and dug out a golden diamond encrusted crown or tiara, some big heavy gold bracelets, and put on a big heavy belt made of gold links inlaid with huge emeralds and rubies, and the final touch was a great big scepter or club kind of thing. Then I sat in a large carved stone chair and struck a regal pose, look at me, I'm a Queen! I thought, bow down and worship me peasants!
I was loading up my pack with more loot when I started to feel strange, kind of hot and feverish, but at first didn't pay much attention as that wasn't all that uncommon, sometimes the heat and humidity just overwhelms you for a minute or two, or even kills you. Plus some of my impressive collection of bug bites were festering a little bit, the itching just about driving me crazy, and it was getting a lot worse, so I stopped and gave myself a good scratching. As I scratched my skin felt kind of soft in places, and when I reached up to scratch my nose with one of my hands I was shocked to see pieces of skin under my nails, white and mushy like when you've been in the water too long or have blisters. Looking down I squealed when I saw long tears in the skin on my legs where I'd been scratching, and underneath was new skin, a totally different kind of new skin, GREEN new skin that looked rubbery and slick.
With a scream I ran out of the temple shedding all the treasure as I went, the tiara, bracelets, belt, everything, except the necklace. The damn thing wouldn't come off! I tore at it, but it was stuck to my skin! I could feel it tingling and burning, could feel it changing me! As I frantically tore at it more of my skin sloughed away like dead white rubbery plastic, to reveal more green mottled skin, slick and shiny.
"Nooooo, please! I wailed, what's happening to meeeee?!?"
My clothes felt unbearable; and I had to see what I could feel happening to me, so I tore them off until all I had on was that damn necklace. I moaned when I saw my body, it was changing, all over! The skin on my chest and belly had turned a whitish tan color, fading into dark and lighter green along the edges, and the upper layer was peeling off in soft strips. It looked painful, but there was no pain, just growing horror and disbelief. The new skin was soft and rubbery looking, and I recognized it, it was the skin of an amphibian, of a FROG! Squealing I tried to tear the damn necklace off again, and felt the strange tingling reach my hands and my fingers cramped. With a hiss of pain I held them up and watched as skin grew between my fingers until they were webbed, and they began to lengthen, and small pads formed on the tips. Then I had to sit down with a painful grunt as the tingling reached my feet, and could only watch helplessly as they too changed, I still had five toes but each one became much longer, thick webs of skin connecting them.
I tried to deny what was happening, it was impossible, I was hallucinating, I had heat stroke, it couldn't be REAL!!!
I was crying now, I hadn't been that great looking before, but now I was turning into some sort of fucking monster, it wasn't fair! My outer skin, my human skin, had almost all sloughed off now leaving soft rubbery frog skin, but I was still mostly human in shape except for my hands and feet, but that didn't last long. I felt an really odd feeling in my head as my skull suddenly became soft and begin to flatten, my mouth stretching wider as my nose flattened into my face and my eyes began to bulge, and finally, driven by total terror and desperation, I managed to tear off that God damned cursed necklace and throw it to the ground, and the shock as the transformation stopped caused me to pass out.
I woke up lying on my back in the grass, and at first didn't open my eyes. It had to be a sick dream or heat stroke, I thought, but I knew it wasn't. I could FELL that I was different now, and with a sob sat up and looked at myself, at the, the frog woman I'd become.
"Noooooo!" I moaned, I took the necklace off, I should change back! It's not fair!
I looked at the soft whitish tan skin covering my breasts and belly, becoming thicker looking along the edges, a medium green with darker green splotches and spots. I held up a hand it and it looked more like a frogs then a humans, as did my feet. I wondered if I could even walk anymore, so managed to stand up and thankfully it's wasn't that hard. It looked like most of the rest of my body, and my skeleton, was still more or less human shaped. I still had hips, and if anything my tits were even a little larger, my nipples pink. And to my surprise I still had hair, though my pubic thatch was thinner. I realized I must have stopped the change by managing to tear off the necklace, I had NO doubt I would have changed all the way into a frog if I hadn't managed to do that. But I guess I was stuck like this, partway between one form and another. Beat being a frog entirely though. My skin was still itching, and lying in the sun had dried it out despite it having a kind of natural slick coating, so I staggered down to the pond, and looking into the crystal clear water saw my reflection. Damn it, not as human as I'd hoped. I lifted up a hand that was alien to caress a face that was a caricature of a human one.
My head had flattened and broadened a little, my nose merging with my upper jaw as my mouth had grown wider, my lips thinner and rubbery. I still had teeth and while my tongue was definitely longer it wasn't anywhere near as long as real frogs, but it was sticky on the tip. And my eyes were larger and wider apart, but still, thankfully, human. The weirdest thing was I still had my tangle of unruly black hair. I think if I didn't I might have looked more, well, natural. I opened my mouth to say something, half expecting to hear 'ribbit', but found I could still talk, thank God for some favors.
"This is fucking bullcrap! I said, this kind of shit is impossible!" But it wasn't, it was very real, and I was living proof.
The cool water felt wonderful, so I took a deep breath and dove into the pool. When I hit the water I instinctively flared my fingers and toes when I made a stroke, then pulled them together to reduce drag before stroking again. And I was fast; I was shocked at how fast I moved through the water, like a torpedo. I reached the bottom of the pond and rested; my arms and legs splayed out, and I could move my legs much rather forward then before without discomfort, and realized my hips much have changed too. And I also didn't need to take another breath yet, even though I'd been under the water for several minutes now. My lungs capacity must be larger, or maybe they're just different now, I thought. And I could see perfectly, it was like I was wearing goggles, and knew I must have some sort of clear coating over my eyes now, just like a frog. I'm a frog; or more correctly, a frog women, I finally accepted, there was no denying it now. It was real, horribly real. With a kick of my legs I rose to the surface, took a breath, and swam to the shore. While I was swimming I had noticed other frogs in the pond, but they were regular ones.
I tried to put on my clothes, but it was impossible. They irritated my skin and my natural coating of protective 'slime' made them stick and rub. So with a frustrated yell I tore them off again and threw them to the ground. Looks like I'm going 'natural' from now on, but somehow it didn't feel as embarrassing or wrong as I thought it would. Frogs don't have much modestly, so why should I? It's not like I was running around in public. I looked down at the necklace I'd thought was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, and picking it up with a stick I took it back into the temple and put it back on the statue. My hopes I'd change back if I did that were in vain. I sat on the stone throne again and stared at nothing for awhile, pondering my options. They weren't much. Stay here as a frog woman, or try and get help. Well, I sure didn't plan on spending the rest of my life living in a swamp and eating bugs! One benefit though, the bugs left me alone now. Evidently slimy frog skin wasn't appealing to skeeters or leeches, or they were scared I'd eat them.
The next morning I took another swim, the water feeling so good, and after climbing out I stuffed my pack with some treasure and what remained of my food supply and clothes, and then headed out into the swamp. I figured I'd go back to where my boat had sank and see if I could salvage anything since I was a natural 'frogwoman' now. I didn't need goggles or an air tank anymore. I did find the island where I'd left the boat, but it was gone. I think it sank completely into the mud as it was thin and very deep there. At least I could move through the swamp much easier now, the insects and heat no longer bothering me much. If I got too warm I just 'hopped' into the water and cooled off, not having to worry about leeches. The water was natural for me now, I was no longer scared of it no matter how slimy looking it was. And it was easier to walk on the mud and waterlogged ground now too; my feet splayed out and supported my weight so I didn't sink in. I probably walked right over quicksand bogs without even realizing it. At night I found I preferred a large dead tree trunk or some other moist warm sheltered place to sleep. The nights weren't that much cooler, but I was more sensitive to temperature changes now.
I should have realized I wasn't going to get off all that easy, curses don't work like that. By the second day on the march I realized I was still changing, only much slower now. I didn't want to accept it anymore then the initial change; so tried to deny it, but finally sat on a stump and cried in resignation. My hair was falling out; it was already all gone from my vagina which was now just a slit. I spread my legs and stretched my pussy with my fingers, and it was just a wet slit, no labial lips or anything. I have a frog's pussy I realized. And my navel was just a fading dimple, and my breasts were flattening. I folded the fingers of one hand together and ran them up inside of myself and grunted in pleasure as I masturbated, at least that still worked, for now. I wanted to cum again before I was no longer able to, to feel that special pleasure a final time or two. It felt a little different, and took longer, but I finally got the desired results and gave a loud gasp of pleasure as I had a violent orgasm, and when I pulled my fingers out they were coated in clear thick gooey jelly. Ohhh, gross!
I spent two days in my last camp, hoping it would stop or I was imagining it. But when I woke up on the third day my hair was entirely gone, and my neck and shoulders were merging as my head became wider, my mouth a long toothless slit now. My breasts were mere bumps now, but for now my nipples remained, still sensitive. My stomach was smooth with no sigh of my navel, and my hips had started narrowing and it was getting harder to stand up. I masturbated again; sobbing in frustration as it took so long, somehow knowing that this was the last time. Lying on the ground writhing in the mud with my legs spread wide I finally orgasmed for the last time as a human, and again my fingers were covered with thick clear jelly. Jelly that will soon be full of eggs I knew. I pondered my horrible fate for a while longer, looking at my now much less human features reflected in a puddle; the loose skin under my chin swelling slightly as I breathed through my large nostrils, still human eyes staring at that reflection in despair. By the time I could reach civilization the change would be over, and what would a giant frog be able to do? Work in a freak show or live in a zoo? And would I even have any human memories left? No, I was a creature of the swamp now, it was where I belonged. With a sad croak I turned and started back to the temple.
By the time I got there I could hardly stand upright, my legs had lengthened and begun to bow and bend differently, becoming heavily muscled, and my arms had moved down and stuck out more to the sides now. My breasts were entirely gone, as were my nipples, and an attempt at masturbation was a waste of time. The human mind wanted that remembered pleasure, but the frog body was unable to supply it. But I refused to drop to all fours, not yet, not until it was impossible to do otherwise. Damn it, I'm human, NOT a frog no matter what I might look like now! I cried in my mind. I had to, I couldn't speak anymore, couldn't make any intelligible sounds, and any attempts at speech produced only croaks, grunts, and peeps. And I definitely looked more like a frog then a human now. A frog that was trying its best to walk upright, and I probably looked ridiculous. Something in me whispered 'just give in, accept it, stop fighting', but I stubbornly refused to. I paused at the shore of the pond, the reflection of a frog looking back at me. I stared at the large head and wide mouth, the large bulging black reptilian eyes with strange horizontally slitted pupils and spots of gold with no emotion showing, nothing human about them, the rubbery slick green skin with black spots outlined in lighter green like a Leopard. I 'closed' an eye, the whole thing sinking into my head before popping back up. With a loud croak of despair I jumped into the pond with a big splash and swam to the far shore in seconds I was so fast. Reaching the other side I clambered out and managed to stand up, and in an awkward crouch shuffled into the dark opening of the temple entrance.
There, in the dark, I groveled and pleaded at the base of the statue of the Frog God, begged it to end the horror, to make me human again. I said I was sorry in my mind, told it I would do anything, only please, please! And I finished my transformation there, in the dark, the uncaring God watching. After realizing it was useless, there would be no mercy, not last minute reprieve, I hopped back out into the sunlight, nothing more than a giant frog now, no trace of anything even remotely human remaining. But the cruelest part was my human awareness and mind remained intact. I was a giant frog with a human mind. I was a sleek creature, huge powerful legs tucked in a permanent crouch next to my body, two noticeable raised ridges dividing my back and bumps where my hips had been. My large bulbous protruding eyes gave me excellent vision, including to the rear as I could swivel them independently. With a kind of squeak I hopped down to the pond, gathered my legs under me, and with a huge hop flew a good twenty feet out into the pond and swam to the bottom and rested in the cool water. After awhile I surfaced, the top of my head and eyes just barely breaking the surface as I took a breath before submerging again. Then I had to accept something else, I was starving!
What the Hell does a giant frog eat anyway, I thought? I knew a 'real frog' ate bugs and stuff, but due to my size they were just too damn small. I'd starve to death eating nothing but bugs. But I quickly found out frogs are not picky diners, they'll eat anything as long as it moves and is alive. One thing I'd noticed was I had a 'following' of sorts, ever since I'd returned to the temple several large frogs; but nowhere near my size, had been following me around. They would just sit and look at me with their frog eyes, and I would stare back, none of us showing any emotion, we can't. I knew I could have eaten them easily, my tongue can shoot out several feet, too fast to see. But for some reason I didn't want to despite my hunger. So I left the pond area and hunted in the main swamp. And found plenty to eat, other frogs, turtles, snakes, rats, anything I could catch with my tongue went into my belly, once even a small alligator. It was horrible and gross to eat living creatures that struggled inside my stomach even after I swallowed them, but the need to eat is a strong motivator. I had to eat like this, I had no choice. It was that or starve.
Then came one final horror and degradation, I began to shrink. Despite stuffing my mouth all day long I began to get smaller, fast. After the initial change I'd been about four feet long with my legs folded, a week later I was two feet long, then one, then about finally stopped at about six inches, rather big for a frog, but still so very small. And I was absolutely terrified; it was bad enough being a frog, but to be this small! Everything was so large, so huge, and bigger then I was. The transformation was finally complete; I was a frog in every way but one. My mind was still human, which was the true horror of the curse. I think had I had the mind of a frog as well it would have been less...traumatic. My mind still thought of itself as human, and saw things from a human perspective. And there was no way I could ever tell anyone what had happened to me.
But at least the food was easier to catch. I could sit in one good spot and catch dragonflies and other bugs all day long; and soon got used to eating them. Bugs are actually quite tasty; I especially like the big blue ones. And I wasn't alone; the other frogs were still following me around. It was somewhat disconcerting at first, and annoying, and it creeped me out. Get out of here! I thought, I'm NOT a frog! But finally I came to understand, they had all been human once too, and were welcoming me to our own private Hell. Like myself they had been cursed to spend the rest of their existence as lowly beasts, unable to communicate, unable to live as civilized people, living the most simple of lives. And in a way it's comforting to have company even in Hell, to be alone would be much worse.
Somehow the pond is ours, no other frogs, snakes, or life other then fish and insects intrude on our 'sanctuary'. We could leave of course, but why? Where would be go? What would we do? We were frogs, nothing else. And I soon found out another reason they were glad to see me, they were all male, I was the only female. And I soon found out that sex as a frog isn't that bad, but of course we have to wait until mating season. When that time comes they take turns mating with me, climbing on my back and griping me, rubbing me and caressing me, stimulating me to lay my eggs so they can fertilize them. It's different, but still very pleasurable, and gives us a release we need so very badly. But our 'children' are frogs, nothing more.
At night we raise our voices to the Frog God, croaking and chirping, begging in the only way we can for release from our torment, to be human again, to walk upright again, but our pleas are never answered. And I've noticed that none of us ever die; or even grown old, and I wonder how long some of my fellow frogs had been here, how many centuries. For it now seems that the curse is even crueler than I had thought, its forever, for eternity, immortal life as a frog, the final terror. The temple is slowly sinking back into the swamp to remain hidden again for who knows how long this time, but we remain, our laments filling the night. We will always be here, waiting to welcome others.
The End
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