The Frog

  The morning dew covers the ground and the forest is misty and grey, full of the sounds of my kind, our prey and those that would prey upon us.  As my skin soaks in the moisture, I reflect upon the world I live in and my being…

  I do not remember my parents, although I have been told that some of my brethren do…nor do I remember being an egg, but that is a thing that no frog remembers.  I remember the Before; the time when I was solely dependent upon the water – for life and breath, when I was but a tadpole.  Although I did not realize, I was incomplete then.  My world was big then – bigger than it is now in many ways but so much smaller in others.  I remember the dangers, bird and fish, but the predominant danger was from your kind…humans.  They would come and watch, always watching…some would come to take us away; to steal the unlucky…the unwary…the weak.  I never knew what became of the taken, if they were harmed or not, I only knew that they never returned.  I lost many of my siblings to these dangers and I always felt their loss with both sadness and joy.  I would miss them – swimming together through the reeds, the easy currents of our home, feeding on the carrion and algae the waters provided.  But then my instincts of self preservation would kick in; reminding me that the fewer there are of us, the better the chances are for the strong to survive.  Life lessons are learnt from the unwary and weak.  It has always been so…and it shall always be. 

  If you do not go through metamorphosis as you grow, then I cannot begin to describe how it feels.  I could, of course, explain the biology but not the utter awesomeness suddenly gaining limbs and organs where once there were none.  I cannot explain the horror of losing organs that you have known for all life either.  As a tadpole, I had believed that I was complete but then a whole new world opened to me…one that I could have never imagined and I realized how truly incomplete my life was before.  To suddenly know that this…this is what you are supposed to be made everything to that point seem almost dreamlike.  I cannot fathom how one would feel to have limbs their entire life…it is such an alien concept. 

  There are so many firsts that define my existence now…my first breath of air, so obviously different than the watery world from which I came.  It is almost magical the way it carries my song through the wooded lands.  It is crisp and dry, almost painful after a lifetime of gills.  Most of the air that I breathe comes to me through my lungs but I also breathe through my skin.  It is a brilliant adaptation of my kind.  But because of this, air can both be my friend and my enemy.  The dryness makes it dangerous to a creature that needs a moist skin to survive but it is almost magical how it carries the sounds of other creatures, predator, prey and kin alike, back to my waiting ears and lungs.  Ah yes, another difference, oddity if you will, I hear with both my ears and my lungs…it is protection from my own song, I could deafen myself with the loudness of my cry without this adaptation and it allows me to locate my potential mates and the food on which I prey.   

  That reminds me…my first insect.  As a tadpole, I had lived off of algae and carrion so that first taste of fresh meat will stay with me always.  I was built for the hunt…long legged, sticky tongued…and my bulging eyes that allow me to see in almost every direction at once.  I cannot turn my head so my ability to see is of utmost importance and although I do not judge distances as well as other predators, I rarely miss a strike, whether I am still or leaping.  I see as well at night as I do during the day and I will hunt throughout both, although I do prefer nocturnal hunting.  Amusing, you humans…never do you think of us Frogs as predators, underestimating us.  I began my life as a scavenger but now I am as much a predator as the wolf or the eagle; we just choose different prey but in the end, we are all Hunters. 

  For the sake of my survival, I must stay near a source of moisture.  I reside near the stream where I was born and although I spend most of my time out of the water, I still enjoy the sensuous feeling of gliding through the water.  It is more than just self preservation that holds me close to the water, it is survival of my species.  I stay for the rights to breed and the competition can be fierce.  We bring new life to the forests and gardens and deserts of this world…our song will be heard for generations and shall never fade…We are Frogs.