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A group of friends recruits one of their dads, a biology teacher, to help them identify a strange creature they discovered after a freak storm hits their town.

Genre: Science Fiction

Excerpt:
Dani, Jon, Ameena and I had volunteered to help clean up the school after the flash storm hit our town a few days ago. We would get our community service requirement done for that quarter. And we would have been hanging out anyway.

“Safety first,” Dani said. And we all smiled and started working.

Above the sounds of my friends rummaging through the trashed lab and chattering with each other, I kept hearing a sound repeating, a high-pitched sound like cheeping. I frowned. “Is that a bird?”

What’s the Word (that inspired the story)?
Velutinous: having a soft, velvety surface, as certain plants. From the Latin “velutinus,” meaning “velvety” (source: dictionary.com)

The story was also inspired by an adorable little creature called the “Namaqua rain frog.” When I entered the little guy’s name in a search bar, some common information from the articles that came up is that the frog is found in South Africa, and possibly a few other places.  It’s tiny, about 5cm, or under 2 inches. Here is just one 30-second video where you can see and hear the frog’s behavior when distressed, a puffed up body, and a squeaky call.

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CREDITS
Story: “Velutinus” Copyright © 2019 by Nila L. Patel
Narration, Episode Art, Editing, and Production:  Nila L. Patel

Music:
“Trip-Hop Lounge Abstract Background” by Digital Emotions (Intro/Outro)

Music by ANDREW SITKOV (MuzStation Game Music)*
“Casual Theme #1”
“Dark Side”
“Casual Theme #2”
“Unknown Terrain”
“Casual Theme #6 (Triumph)”
“Freedom”
“Funny Horror”

Music by ALBERT FERNANDEZ (Audio Alchemist, Potion Studio)*
“Humorous_Exploration (loop)”
“Cue_Nature”
“Exploration_Cave (loop)”
“Humorous_Stealth (loop)”

*These tracks were part of a music and sound effects bundles I purchased from Humble Bundle and sourced from GameDev Market.

Music by Andrew Sitkov and Albert Fernandez is licensed from GameDev Market
Sound effects from AudioJungle and GameDevMarket

Find more music by Digital_Emotions at audiojungle.net
Find more music by Albert Fernandez and Andrew Sitkov at gamedevmarket.net
Find more stories by Nila at storyfeather.com

Episode Art Description: Digital drawing. On a surface, standing on a folded up newspaper is a creature. The creature, in three-quarters profile facing left, has the body of a frog and frog-like eyes extending to the sides on stalks. Frog-like fore limbs wrap around a corner of the newspaper. A set of four crab legs or spider legs are visible on the left side. Two legs are visible on the right side. Six glowing translucent feathers protrude from the creature’s backside. Under the legs, part of a headline is visible. The visible part reads “Freak storm hits.” The dim silhouettes of four human figures surround the creature.