A Frog’s Tale

Four frogs met on a tree stump in the forest overlooking a pond. The first leaves of autumn had just fallen and landed in the water. They drifted across the surface, hiding the fish and tadpoles swimming below.

    “Winter is coming,” said the elder frog, Thomas, who’s once green skin had faded to gray. “We need to make provisions for the cold.”

    “We need to find a way to keep the insects alive,” said a brown toad named Eli. “We need enough food to survive. “

    “There are no provisions,” argued the young frog James. “Winter will kill all of the bugs and we will starve.”

    “Is there nothing we can do?” asked Eli.

The four frogs sat in silence until Thomas finally asked, “What if there were no more winter?”

His companions leaned in to listen. “As a tadpole, I heard the legends of the long summer. One brave frog who climbed the great mountain and defeated winter.

    “That is just a story,” argued Eli. “We have all heard it. Someone made it up to give hungry frog’s hope during winter.”

    “Maybe. Or maybe not. Sure, it might just be a story, but it might also be our only hope.”

The frogs discussed the legend before deciding that the fourth frog, Quackers, should take on the quest. The others didn’t like Quackers. They thought his name was more suitable for a duck and felt awkward around him. Sick of feeling uncomfortable in his presence, they decided to send him away forever. The other frogs didn’t believe in the legend. They just wanted the weird one to go away.

    Quackers left the pond, hopping his way up the mountain. Arriving at the trailhead, he met a bird, who flew down onto his path.

    “Hello there mighty traveler,” said the bird. Quackers stared at him. “I have traveled far to find you.” The bird paused for Quackers to speak, but Quackers continued to stare in silence. “I have heard about your mission to end winter. The whole forest is talking about your quest.” The bird paused again for Quackers to speak, but he continued to stare in silence. “Really? Nothing?” asked the bird. There was another long pause. Quackers continued to stare. “I want to join you brave frog,” said the bird. Quackers did not answer and began to hop past the bird and up the mountain. “Okay! Fine!” Yelled the bird. “I didn’t want to come anyway! Rude!”

    Quackers ascended the rough mountain terrain alone. At the first ridge, a small white mouse stopped him.

    “So you are the brave frog that everyone has been talking about,” said the mouse. “My name is Snowball. I am here to aid you in your quest. You see young frog, if you are going to climb the mountain, you are going to need a guide and…” The mouse stopped talking, seeing that Quackers had continued climbing up the mountain. Snowball tried to run after him but could not catch up.

“Fine!” yelled Snowball out of breath. “I didn’t want to help you anyway!” The mouse watched as the frog hopped away, hoping that he would turn around. To his dismay, Quackers continued on. “God,” said the mouse. “Some people.”

    As he reached the top of the mountain, a thick layer of snow began to cover the ground. Jumping in and out of the frosty white, Quacker could only catch glimpses of his surroundings. Despite this difficulty, he perservered eventually coming across a small campfire.

    Approaching the fire, he found two tents on either side. A family on their way up the mountain had made camp there. A little girl walked out from one of the tents and went over to Quackers.

    “A Frog!” she gasped. She picked him up and held him near the fire. “Mom! Dad! I found a frog!” Her mother and father came out from the tent and sat by the fire.

    “What are you going to name him?” asked the mother. The father added branches and logs into the fire watching it grow into a substantial blaze.

    “I’m going to name him Ribbit,” said the little girl. “Because frogs Ribbit.”

    “That frog doesn’t seem to Ribbit,” said the father while adding another massive branch to the fire.

    “You’re right dad. This is a weird frog, isn’t it?” Quackers stared silently at the girl. “Come on frog. Say it! Ribbit. Ribbit!” Quackers continued to stare in silence.

“Maybe give Ribbit a rest,” said the mother. “You don’t want to scare Ribbit.”

The little girl placed Quackers onto the ground. He hopped forward towards the fire.

“Hey, what’s he doing?” asked the little girl. Quackers hopped further towards the fire.

“Quick! Stop him!”

    The little girl attempted to grab Quackers, but she was too late. Quackers hopped towards the campfire and knocked over one of the burning branches. The branch fell onto the tent, which lit into flames. The fire soon spread across the campsite. Quackers turned around and began to decend the mountain.

    By the time he reached the bottom, The entire mountaintop had been set ablaze, creating so much smoke that it blocked out the sun. As It turns out, The mountain housed one of the world’s largest coal reserves on the planet. Scientists predict that the mountain would continue to burn for hundreds of years. Quackers the frog had created the largest coal fire in history.

    Winter never came to the pond that year, or anywhere else. The fire caused the earth to warm so rapidly, that there could never be another winter again. Quackers the frog had saved the pond. The cold never came for the bugs, which meant the frogs had a limitless supply of food. The water level of the pond even began to rise, giving room for more frogs to make their homes.