The day had finally come when the machines had left. Climbing atop the small hill above the stream gave me a great vantage point where I could barely see the destruction uphold upon the house. I couldn’t, however, see the garden anymore. Though, the big birch wasn’t there anymore. It was as if it had never been there in the first place.

Since we had arrived at the stream, numerous other frogs and froglets had followed suit. Some went downstream in hopes of finding a larger basin of water, while some stayed with us as a sign of gratitude for warning them of the imminent danger.

“Well, the humans are gone now,” I said one day when the sun was high. “It’s time to see what’s left of our ponds.”

“You’re really going?” one of the frogs asked, looking concerned. “I really don’t see why you would try to go there. All that is left is dirt. You can see it from that hill. No need to risk your life by being found by predators.”

“I know. It’s just that I feel like I need to go there. Like the first urge to leave the pond and explore the garden.”

“Urge that you didn’t have, remember?” Ghrruk pointed out.

“True,” I admitted. “But things have changed since then. And I think this is the last hop to our freedom, to watch our home, destroyed as was our true birthplace, and move on from there to a better place, I suppose.”

Ghrruk and a few other frogs shook their heads. “I don’t fully understand you, Carmine,” said Ghrruk. “But if you want to go, go then. Hurry and return so we can leave tomorrow morning for a better place.”

Eating a copious number of bugs, I climbed up the slope, into the grass, and hopped on the black stone path. It was so warm my hands actually hurt, making me hop even faster. This part scared me the most, since I was out in the open, free to be eaten by any big prey bird. I really hadn’t thought this trough, moving based on instinct only – and what a bad instinct, thinking about it.

Nevertheless, I reached my destination. Hopping over a few leftover rubbles, I finally arrived at the place where the two ponds used to be. Or so I supposed. Everything seemed the same, dull, brown-yellow and grey. Dirt and sand and debris mixed everywhere. No more trees, no more grass, no insects, no water, no frogs. All was gone, scraped to the bottom. Only two walls remained: one behind where the kennel was, and the one at the end of the once-lush garden.

Gazing at the destruction, I wondered if the tadpoles had suffered, like I suffered with my brethren under the blazing sun for days and days before I was rescued, or if everything ended quickly like when Mrs. Whibbles would gobble up frogs.

Mrs. Whibbles. Thinking about her almost made me miss her. Almost. It was a strange feeling to miss a predator. Yes, I had freedom, and was more than happy to be with Ghrruk and the others, playing in the water and eating plenty of bugs all day long. But having lived for so long in this garden, it felt sad to see it gone.

Then I thought about the sparrows, who had many nests and young around this period. Were they able to flee? Or did the humans also destroyed them, killing the few progeniture they had? And what about the storks? I nearly forgot that couple of predators, hanging high in the big birch with their enormous nest made out of branches and whatnot.

I stayed there for the longest of times, the image of the garden still vivid in my memory. I remembered when there was only one pond. The first time I met Mrs. Whibbles and how badly she had behaved. Then there was that time when Thomas’s father had mowed the grass and purposefully hurt my brethren. Those ducks and other avian predators that would come whenever the protective net blew away after a storm. I remembered the cat, the vile deeds of the father, and the creation of the second pond.

Then there was Tiffany, too, whom I disgusted. Yet at the end, she was happy to have found something that made her cry. At that time, I didn’t fully understand how one could cry because of mere flowers. Frogs don’t cry, so it’s not a feeling well known to us. But that day, standing there, where my home pond was, near the twin stone hideout, I began to understand the feeling. The feeling of being sad and wanting to cry, even though I couldn’t.

I heard various sounds around me. Of the wind, of cars, of bird even. I heard them as a constant background noise, so I paid no attention to them. My mind wasn’t in the present; it was floating in the past, imagining things that had happened and reminisce on all things I did, Ghrruk did, Rhugug and Figgug did.

I was so captivated by my own thoughts that I didn’t hear a car stop nearby and a human stepping out until he was right behind me.

“Carmine? No way.”

The familiarity of the voice startled me. I looked back and it was Thomas. Any other day I would’ve jumped away, trying to escape him, but this time I was too surprised to do a thing. In fact, I even felt happy to see him there.

“I – I can’t believe it,” he said, tears flowing from his eyes. “How did you even manage to survive this mess? And how is it possible we meet at the exact time I come here to rescue the remaining frogs?”

Thomas crouched and carefully picked me up. I didn’t resist. It was a silly thing to do, but my surprise was too big.

“You look great, Carmine,” he whispered, almost sobbing uncontrollably. He glanced at what was left. “There really is nothing left, huh? I though that, maybe just like in the past when I saved you there’d be some eggs or tadpoles. Maybe a frog or two. But, outside of you there’s really… nothing. I can’t imagine where my room was anymore.”

On the ground next to him I saw a dozen buckets. He really came to rescue us all. But it was too late. Some survived, but most were dead, tadpoles and frogs alike. Gone. Forever.

“You must be mad at me, huh?” he sobbed. “But I promise, I had no idea, Carmine. Dad told me about this yesterday, and I couldn’t come until now. I live far away, you see. Even then, I hurried, bought some buckets and drove like crazy on the highway.”

So it was the father’s doing after all… That vile old human being.

“But there was one thing he said that surprised me,” he went on. “Although he had to leave the house, he had no idea that it would be destroyed at first. Dad supposed that someone else would live there and take care of you guys. So, before taking Mrs. Whibbles and leaving this place, he sealed every hole in the garden so that no predators could come. I guess he must be really sorry about what he did to you.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that new piece of information. On the one hand, I was still not convinced that he did it for us. On the other hand, it did nothing to help us at all. In the end, I still saw him as a nasty creature.

“What are we going to do now, Carmine?” Thomas said, calmed down a little. “I didn’t expect you to be the only frog left. After seeing this mess, I didn’t expect to see any frog at all.”

I’m not the only frog left. But it doesn’t matter. The others are all free. As am I again, the moment you let me go.

Thomas looked around, then walked back to his car, still holding me in his hands. Instead of walking in, he kept going to the grass and near the stream.

He’s going to release me there, see the others, and wave us good bye.

“I don’t know, Carmine,” he said with a deep sigh. “I feel like it’d be too dangerous to release you here. The water flows constantly, and who knows where it leads? Then there are all the predators, like ducks and stuff.”

Thomas turned around. I supposed he would return me to where he had found me. Instead, he put me in one of the buckets, and put me in the car.

No. No! What are you doing? Let me out! Let me out! I want to go to the stream with Ghrruk and the others. Leave me alone!

Hearing the ruckus I was doing, jumping around the bucket with small thuds, Thomas said, “Don’t worry Carmine. I know a place where you will be safe and meet all kinds of old friends.”

Oh no. He’s talking about the big pond. I don’t want to go there alone. I want to be with Ghrruk. Go back and take her with us!

I hopped and hopped, making Thomas laugh. “Hey, calm down, Carmine,” he laughed. “I know you’re excited to meet your friends, but if you fall out of the bucket in this car you’re going to make a mess, and it’ll be harder to catch you. So keep it a little down, will you?”

After a while, I settled down. There was no point in escaping. Thomas would catch me again, and return me to this bucket.

Ghrruk, I thought, imagining how she would react when she didn’t see me coming by sunset. Or maybe she saw me when Thomas brought me near the steam and hopped after me. But what if she didn’t see me at all? What was she going to do? Keep up with the plan and slide down the stream to see where it leads? That’s probably what she would do.

I was devastated. Free at last, yet caught again. Why did I have to come back? I cried. Why did I have to ignore Ghrruk’s warnings instead of simply going with her to a better place?

The entire time, I was feeling worse and worse, part of me hoping that Ghrruk would find a way to the big pond. I didn’t have too much hope she would, since it was so far away and the stream went down the other way than Thomas went with his car.

“We’ve arrived, Carmine,” Thomas said, putting a stop to the dreadful roar. When he grabbed me out of the bucket, I didn’t put up a fight as there was no reason to. We then proceeded to the pond.

The sun was setting in the distance. Yet again here, by sunset, marveling at this magnificent place. I wished Ghrruk was by my side, excited to plunge into this new place we could actually call home for the rest of our lives. Instead, I was here, pressed in a human’s hand, waiting for my sole release.

At least, Figgug is here, I thought, though I wasn’t particularly eager to meet him again. Thinking of it, I never really liked him in the first place.

“What happened here?” Thomas uttered, his voice shaking. “The water’s almost entirely gone.”

I wiggled a little and had a better look at the whole thing. He was right: the pond was much smaller than I remembered, and many of the bushes and trees had been destroyed.

Thomas suddenly ran, holding me fast in his hands.

“Hey,” he said. “Hi there.” There was another human, one with grey hair. “Do you know what happened with this pond? It used to be much bigger.”

“Oh, the ole pond ‘o frogs?” the human said in a gritty voice. “They’re draining it.”

“Draining it?” I could feel the pulse in his hands beating faster. “Why would they do that?”

The human shrugged. “Increase of farmland,” he said. “Shame. I used to come here often when I was a kid. ‘t was much bigger then, too. Now it’s rapidly decaying like me rotten teeth.” He laughed wholeheartedly.

Thomas thanked the human and returned to the car. Without saying a word, he drove off, stopping moments later. I was surprised to see another, albeit smaller, pond.

There are so many ponds around here, I thought, amazed at all that water. It seemed surreal to me that I had no knowledge of all those bodies of water existing near each other.

“Amazing, isn’t it?” Thomas breathed, his nostrils flaring and eyes closed. He seemed to enjoy himself very much here. “This is another place I released some of the frogs in. Diversification, you know. Just in case. Unfortunately, I was right.”

He glanced around, as if looking for something. Instead he simply said, “Nature is beautiful, isn’t it? And so are you, Carmine. I’m going to miss you.”

I might’ve too if you had brought Ghrruk with me.

Strangely, his eyes began to well up. Tears never fell.

“Your skin is so white, and your red eyes… I don’t know,” he said, sniffling a few times. “Will you be all right here? I mean, there are a lot of predators, after all. Many more than back at home.” He raised his other arm as if to show me the birds in the sky. “Releasing you might be your death sentence.”

Then so be it. Just leave me alone. I was quite angry with him at that point, recalling all the times he had ruined something for me. Ghrruk would’ve probably said that he also saved us many times and it was even or something similar. But I didn’t think that one good equaled one wrong.

Thomas was scowling, glancing from me to the pond and its surroundings. I sensed doubt creeping upon him. “What if… what if this place also becomes farmland? What if they destroy this too? First my home, then the pond, and now… who knows?”

Then return me to Ghrruk and leave me be. I want to be a free frog forever, not only for a couple of days.

His grip relaxed a little. I was finally going to leave him and start my journey to find Ghrruk. Or Figgug. Then, at once, it tightened.

“I can’t leave you here,” Thomas said with determination. “I just can’t. You don’t deserve to be left here, potentially to die.” He paused, biting his lower lip and nodded. “Yes, I think I’ll bring you to my place.”

WHAT? No! Everything but that. Imprisoned inside another pond within four walls? And without Ghrruk?

If he could hear my cries, he ignored them well. We returned to the car and he drove off.

“I’ll go buy an aquarium,” he said after a while. “One just for you, so you won’t be having to worry about cats or birds or anything of that sort. Free at last from trouble.”

At that moment, I knew that I was the saddest little frog in existence. I would never see Ghrruk again, or my freedom for that matter.