There are mushrooms--fleshy, aromatic, heady, delicious fruiting bodies of fungi that grow in the forest. They come in all sizes and shapes and colors and tastes. They are a delight to search for and even more of a delight to eat! And gathering them always makes for a fine hike in the woods, a good meal, and a good rest.
But then there are toadstools. Stools for toads. Toads who sit on stools. I’m told that toads are a member of the frog
family, but I choose not to believe it.
They’re drier creatures. They
have leathery skin and tiny legs and big snouts. Instead of hopping, they slink about in the
forest. They’re warty with poisonous
glands behind their eyes. And everyone
knows that bad witches can turn themselves into toads and sometimes get stuck
in the process, while good witches wouldn’t dream of such a thing.
So it only stands to reason that these creatures (who are
probably a visible part of the Unseelie
Court--think about that) would need special
seats. A doorstep wouldn’t do at
all. A flower would be too
colorful. A log would be too wholesome. A rock in a pond would be too clean. A garden ornament would be too pretty. Nope.
Warty, leathery creatures need special places to put their leathery fannies.
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| An ugly toadstool. |
Enter the toadstool, aptly named. The word first appeared in the late 14th
century from “tadde” (toad) and “stole” (stool). Because toads can be poisonous, their chairs
apparently have to be equally poisonous.
The terms “toad’s cheese” and “toad’s meat” also refer to these special
chairs. A toadstool is always poisonous,
while a mushroom may or may not be. A
toadstool is large, oddly shaped, and frankly, ugly.
Where you find these toad thrones, you will often find
toads. And where you find toads, you
will likely find unfriendly faeries and witches who have gone down the wrong
path. I find that as the days grow
shorter, the toadstools seem to appear more.
The creatures that prefer the shadow begin to make themselves
known. Find the toadstool, then, and
make a choice: leave at once for
brighter territory and faeries who are only mildly annoying, or delve deeper
into the secret parts of the forest. But
don’t say you weren’t warned.
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| A toad throne. |
