Slice of Life: A Resilient Frog

 The school year has started, and my slicing life is back on track. All are welcome! Join us at Two Writing Teachers!

"Oh no," Bryan said. "The frog!"

I didn't realize how upset Bryan actually was as he leaned over the cushion trunk in the corner of his deck. The two of us were working on identifying all of the youtube videos in our elementary curriculum (a task that's fodder for another post) and he was trying to add cushions to our somewhat uncomfortable chairs. 

"What happened?" I asked, still not sure how seriously to interpret the situation.

"I squashed him when I closed the box," Bryan said, hovering over the not-moving frog. 

From my seat at the table, I could only make out the lump on the edge of the box. I moved closer. The throat was still moving up and down-- that fast beat that frogs do. 

"Is it a pet?" I asked, still not sure of what to say. There was no terrarium of any sort around. 

"No," Bryan said, even more distraught. "But my son loves this frog."

The obvious answer seemed to me to involve picking up the frog if it really was beyond repair, hiding it, and pretending he knew nothing about the disappearance. Bryan's son could just assume a wild frog had found a new home. There were a lot of trees in the backyard that could entice an adventurous tree frog. 

 "He lives in the box with his buddy," Bryan said.  

Bryan was pointing to the other side of the deck box. Another frog clung to the opposite side of the box. 

"That frog must be so upset, too," Bryan said. "I've taken out his buddy."

I was pretty sure that Bryan was coming to terms with potential next steps, but I chose not to point out how much emotional credit Bryan was giving the frogs, but I did appreciate how upset his son would be. As a kid, I was involved in a lot of frog catching, and I remembered those frogs being capable of swimming away after some pretty rough handling. 

"Frogs are pretty resilient," I said. "Let's give it some time."

The two of us sat down to our Great Youtube Hunt. It wasn't a particularly engaging task, but we did forget about the frog for a bit until I came across a video in one of the science units. The video reminded me of the frog, and I got up to check on it. 

Bryan was so relieved that the frog had moved. 

"Whatever you did," I said, "you didn't crush him on the spot."

I'm not sure who has the best story, but there are a lot of perspectives in this one, with presumably happy endings for all.