“I am but a humble stair, upon which you may climb to reach the next level of consciousness,” the toad whispered. “My kind have for ages untold held this secret close, brewed it within our skins, sharing it freely with those who ask.”

“And I suppose you’ll tell us next that it is not a poison,” Codswallop said. “It certainly won’t paralyze us so that you can devour us at your leisure.”

“I certainly would never make such a claim, for to give such an absurdity voice is to plant it in the mind as a suggestion,” the toad hissed. “But if you wish to ascend, you must tred upon the stair. There is no other way.”

“And if we choose not to tred upon it? What then, O whispering stairtoad?”

“Then you die,” the toad said, in a tone of voice that suggested it was a matter of indifference. “So if my goal is to eat you, it really makes no difference one way or the other, does it?”

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