Of all the forest creatures that dwell under forest eaves,

Perched upon the branches or feasting on it leaves,

There lives a mighty mite more mighty than them all.

It does not claw or scratch and stands only one inch tall.

It will not strangle like a serpent or stalk you like a cat.

It does not beat you like a bugbear or bite you like a bat.

It cannot crush its prey or maim it or drop it down a hole.
It has no deadly poison but is as a troll.

So what is this fell and mighty beast? And what terror does it hold.
That rules the sprawling forest and makes faint hearts of the bold?
Why, it is the purple spotted meep frog, a truly perilous pest.
And lest you laugh, I promise it is more fearsome than the rest.

For doughty knight may face a panther or the fiery dragon slay,
But if he sees the purple meep, he'll clutch his ears and run away.
For one little meeper is bad enough, its meeping song annoys.
But when there are ten thousand they will drive you mad with noise!

from The Rise of the Wyrm Lord (#2 of The Door Within Trilogy)

-Wayne Thomas Batson