It was dark when Thomas returned me to my home. As soon as he left, I was flooded with questions. Not only from Ghrruk, Rhugug and Figgug, but from all kinds of frogs – and some curious tadpoles, too.

“Where did you go?”

“What happened?”

“Where are all the others?”

“Why are you the only one to come back?”

“Are we all going to leave our home?”

I tried to answer them as best as I could, withholding some information for my three beloved frogs only. Once everything settled, we sank to the depths of our twin rocks hideout. The night was calm. Not even tadpoles would undulate by.

“I have more to say,” I said.

“That’s what I thought,” Rhugug said from atop one of the rocks. “It looked to me like you were avoiding speaking about certain aspects of your journey.”

I bopped my head up and down. “Correct.”

“Was everything you said true, though?” Figgug asked from his comfortable spot in the sediment. “I mean, the pond you saw. Was it really that big?”

“It was… beautiful,” I said, not having a better word in my mind. Then I described the whole scenery in detail. I could see their eyes widening as I went on, the longing of moving out of this cramped environment and swimming freely along our brethren.

“We need to leave this place,” said Ghrruk. “Soon the warm period will come, and after that it will be cold again. We need to escape before the cold sets in.”

Bubbles escaped my nostrils. “Easier said than done. I have no idea where that pond is, and even if I knew, it’s far away. Far, far away. I stayed in that car thing for a long time, Ghrruk, and I doubt four little frogs like us will be able to navigate our way there.”

“But there must be something out there,” she said. “Closer to us, I mean.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” I replied. “Our birthplace was destroyed, remember? I doubt Thomas would have brought us here if there was a nearby pond to throw us in.”

“So, you’re giving up?” a half-asleep Figgug asked.

“No. I just think we need to rethink our plan. First, the hole in the kennel. It’s been sealed, so we need to explore the hole under the door.” The three of them agreed. “If there is a passage to the outer world, we’ll need to find it, remember it, while avoiding potential rats and other predators.”

A faint trail of bubbles left Figgug’s mouth. “Can’t we talk about it tomorrow? I’m kind of tired, to tell the truth.”

“You can sleep,” Ghrruk snapped.

“Good night,” he said and became one with the mud.

“Always thinking about himself,” she grumbled. “Anyway, I agree that we need to explore more. We could try to dig a hole through the sealed kennel wall. Maybe we could get through.”

“Great idea,” said Rhugug, climbing down from the rock.

“I hadn’t thought about that,” I admitted. “Let’s get some sleep and figure out what to do tomorrow.” Ghrruk shot me a disapproving glance. “It’s been a long day for me and I’m tired.”

“Fine then,” she said. “First thing tomorrow morning is the kennel.”

Comfortably immersed in mud, I dozed off almost immediately. My last thoughts were Thomas’s last words: “You’re the only frog I really care about.” Though happy, I knew I couldn’t tell this to anyone. Ever.

 

* * *

 

The warm period was there. It felt much warmer than the other years. Even Thomas complained about it.

“Why do heat waves even exist? It’s too hot, all day long…”

Fortunately for us, we could jump in the water whenever we wanted to, and Thomas mentioned how much he envied us, time and time again. How he wished he could jump into the cool water and stay refreshed for the entirety of the day – and part of the night, too.

I was glad he couldn’t do that, because, even though he had returned many frogs and tadpoles back to nature, with the tadpoles becoming froglets, we were now overpopulated. Every single one of our hideouts was swarming with froglets at night, making it quite uncomfortable to speak about things we wished no other frogs to know about. Like our plans to escape.

Rhugug had volunteered to look through the hole under the door while we went to the kennel. The kennel hole was tightly sealed, with no way to dig our way in. However, water and dirt always pooled there. Even days after rainfall, there would be a puddle in front of it. Eventually, Ghrruk, who went there occasionally to try and dig her way in, told us that the wall had eroded a little. Which was a good thing, since Rhugug’s findings weren’t promising.

“It’s a weird place,” he explained. “There is a strange layer of grey stuff on the ground, as well as rat droppings here and there. I haven’t met a rat, though.”

“What about a way out?” Ghrruk pressed, impatient to know more about that potential escape route.

“Well, there’s a peculiar place that goes up, and one that goes down,” he continued. “I didn’t try to go either way, because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to easily come back up or down. There was also a door, one with, er, windows I think they’re called?”

“The walls we can see through?” I asked.

“Yes, that,” he said excitedly. “Well, I am happy to tell you that I could see the sky and the clouds. Not much else. The windows were a little high up.”

“Was there no hole in that door or in the window?” Ghrruk asked.

“None whatsoever.”

Ghrruk’s head drooped. “What about the place that goes up and down?”

Rhugug shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a way out. It probably leads to a human place. A dark human place. And I don’t like dark places.”

“That settles it, then,” Figgug chimed in, shooing one of the curious froglets away. “Our only way out is either through the kennel hole, which is slowly degrading, or through Thomas. Or…”

Ghrruk came right in front of Figgug’s snout. “Or what?” she asked with her big, hopeful eyes.

“Or we could settle here forever,” he suggested. Ghrruk walked back. “What? It’s as good here as the outside, I’m sure.”

“It’s cramped, though,” I said.

“Maybe, but I don’t mind,” Rhugug said to my and Ghrruk’s surprise. “We’ve been here for a while. There’s food, grass, two ponds, nets to protect us against birds and a sealed hole to prevent cats from sneaking in. Leaving this place would mean that we’d have to run into predators, constantly watching our backs and hunting for food even when we’re in danger.”

Ghrruk couldn’t believe her ears. “What’s happening, frogs? Aren’t you willing to see the true outside world? Only hearing Carmine’s description made my heart beat faster than ever, as if my little legs would kick the ground so hard I’d be able to leap over those walls, right into the pond. It seemed magnificent. I’m jealous,” she said, eyeing me. “I really am, Carmine. What an amazing experience. I… I don’t think I would’ve come back.”

If she had told me that before Thomas admitted how much he cared about me, I might have felt hurt. Not that I didn’t feel hurt at all. It was just that the impact had been damped by that new knowledge. But Ghrruk immediately regretted what she had said.

“I didn’t mean to say that, Carmine,” she said, coming closer to me. “I like you very much, you know I do. It’s just that I wish I could leave this place. I don’t feel at home here.”

“Neither do I,” I admitted, though I understood what Rhugug had said about the outside dangers. Past me would have found it a madfrog idea to try and escape this blissful place. I touched her fingers with mine. “Don’t worry. We will escape someday soon.”

While we were talking, Rhugug and Figgug were whispering something to each other. Then, Rhugug came closer.

“I have been thinking about this for a while now,” he began, and Figgug came to his side. “Especially after hearing the part of Camine’s story about the birds in the distance and that whole open area of water full of all kinds of things.” He glanced at Figgug, who waved his eyes. “And I think we will stay here.”

“You can’t be serious,” Ghrruk uttered, devastated by the news. I was saddened, but not surprised. Especially not about Figgug, who didn’t seem to care about anything but eating and sleeping as of late.

“We are,” he said. “It was fun to be with you two. But I think we’re perfectly happy as we are here. Our progeniture swims freely, we have food, we have protection, we have everything we need. Granted, it’s not as wide as the outside world. And if, ever, Thomas scoops us up like he did with Carmine, then I’ll leave this place as intended. I’m just not willing to do it willfully.”

There was an awkward silence. Ghrruk didn’t know what to say, Figgug didn’t seem to care, and Rhugug was waiting for an answer. When none came, he went on. “So it might be better for us to go on our own separate ways.”

“Why?” Ghrruk muttered. “We can still sleep together, can’t we?”

“We could,” Figgug said. “Though, we don’t really enjoy hearing about those plans all the time, plans that won’t lead to fruition. And then there’s the risks, like sending us here and there to see this and that. We much prefer spending time with our other, more, er, normal frog friends.”

“It was fun being around you,” Rhugug said, flickering his eyes. “But I think it’s time to go now.” Ghrruk didn’t answer. The sediment seemed very interesting to her all of a sudden. “Good bye then, Ghrruk. Carmine.”

I waved my eyes and they left. Ghrruk stayed low, staring at the sediment like nothing would ever be fun again in her life. I tried to console her, but she ignored me for the rest of the day.

That night, as I was about to sleep, I heard a murmur.

“Did you say anything, Ghrruk?”

Her eyes flickered slowly. “What about you, Carmine?”

“Yes?”

“Do you still wish to leave this place?”

I blew out some bubbles. “Of course, I do.”

She stayed quiet for a moment. “But you used to say you wanted to stay here, didn’t you?”

“That was long ago,” I said. “I have changed. A lot. You’ve said this yourself, Ghrruk. Though, I must admit I enjoy the safety of this walled garden.”

“So you do want to stay here.”

I shook my head. “I wish to leave. Go far away from Mrs. Whibbles, from Thomas, and especially from his father.”

“Even if that means to go to a more dangerous place?”

“Yes,” I answered without skipping a beat. “I have seen it, remember? I’m the only one here who did. The beauty of that world will never leave my mind. I was dumbfounded when I saw that glimpse of real freedom, unlike what we have here. Compared to the outside world, all this feels manmade. And I don’t like manmade things very much.”

She seemed more at ease, her eyes drooping a little. “Carmine?”

“Yes?”

“Can you describe what you saw there one more time?” she asked, bubbles leaving her nostrils. “I want to think about nice things now that Rhugug and Figgug have left us.”

“Of course,” I said. “The pond was –”

“Could you start from the moment you were scooped up?” she interrupted. “I want to picture the whole journey in my head. Maybe it’ll help us in our escape.”

And so I told her, once again, how I was captured, my journey in the car, the magnificence of the pond, and my journey home. I noticed that she was fast asleep before I even finished my story, but I kept talking. After all, a promise is a promise.

“Good night, Carmine,” I murmured at the end of my story. I booped her snout before tucking next to her, hoping that the following day would bring better news. Then I thought about the kennel hole, trying to plan how we would survive once we found our way through it. That’s when I realized that there was no way to plan something when I didn’t know about what laid beyond. Maybe there were more manmade things, or maybe there was no water at all, leaving us to dehydrate to death.

Those negative thoughts scared me a little. I wished I could wake up Ghrruk and talk to her, but she would have probably been scared as well. I missed Rhugug and Figgug already. Being with just one frog compared to three others made a world of difference.

“If only things could have been simpler,” I muttered before being relieved by dreams of happiness.