the frog in the pond that overlooks the house

I am a frog. I am a green frog. I am a green frog with dark green spots. I live in a pond in a field overlooking a house. Or maybe the house overlooks the pond. I’m not really sure which.

There used to be a tree that would give me shade but the man who lives in the house came out one day with his two sons and chopped it down. The sons grew up in the house but I don’t remember them that way. I heard the man talking to himself on the swing that hung from the tree once. He cried a little because he missed them. When his wife called him in he wiped his eyes and pretended he hadn’t been crying.

I don’t know how I came to live in this pond. I think it was before I had memory. Sometimes I think about going to the house but then I get to the edge of the pond and the sounds scare me a little so I hop back down in to the water where it’s safe.

The man’s wife wanted fish so one day the man put fish in the pond. They don’t bother me much. The man does a lot of things the wife wants. Sometimes she comes out to the pond with her sisters. They walk around the pond and the wife tells her sisters with pride about all the things the man does around the house.

I like the man. I don’t know why or how but I do. He comes out to the pond every day. One day the man showed up with a child. She had yellow hair. The man beamed at her and when he smiled, she smiled, and they had the same eyes. They were both the color of the sky.

The man had a net with him and before I knew it the man was reaching out with the net and it caught me. The net was green but not green like I’m green. The net is much brighter and cleaner than me.

The man brought me to the child and as she squealed I could feel her joy as he put me in her hands. They were warm and sticky and felt funny on my skin. She traced a finger along my back. The man told her to be gentle. She listened to the man. It was clear they loved each other.

The man picked me up and dropped me back into the pond. I was happy to be back in my home. I was happy to have been there with the man and the child and their love.

One day the man didn’t come. The wife came to the pond and sat on the ground where the tree had been. She cried and cried and cried until finally one of her sisters came and got her.

I wait for the man every day and night. I miss the man and his sky colored eyes.