Opowieść żaby/Frog Tale

Part 1

Dedykuję Scott'owi Base, za miłość do komiksów i nauki.

Short story based on "Neanderthal Secrets" comic by Scott Base from https://www.badspacecomics.com/

I found her in the library. As usual these days.

She grows so distant lately. I couldn't bear it anymore.

Maybe I was just selfish. Or lonely. I loved our talks. And her stories.

I went up to her and sat down. She didn't raise her head.

 - Lucy?

No reaction. I decided to be blunt.

- Lucy, what is bothering you?

She raised her eyes, but they didn't meet mine. She stared blankly somewhere on my forehead, or maybe behind my head?

Few days earlier I got an idea I needed to test, so I tried for the third time.

- Lucy... Listen... I realise you are smart. Way smarter and wiser than I am. I need you to figure out something for me.

Her eyes finally focused on me, the actual me. Old me. A shadow of interest sparked within.

- Can you tell me, what's wrong, without saying what's wrong?

That did the trick. A minute passed. Then, she started, without any introduction, like she sometimes used to.

***

A frog lived in the forest. And it was a beautiful place, full of green plants, mushrooms, and mighty trees. The weather was perfect and calm, sun shined brightly through colourful leaves, stars and big Moon illuminated the nights.

Frog had a vast family, many big tribes of frogs. Also in the forest, there lived many friendly animals, and a few predators. The latter, if any, attacked only not clever and very ill frogs.

The forest bed was rich with tasty grub. There were many interesting places for adventures and games. Inner ponds and small rivers were ideal for rest, play and starting a family.

Good was a life of a forest frog.

But this one curious frog was eager to find out – is the whole world – a forest? With nothing to actually hold it back, it started hopping in only one direction. It hopped, hopped, and hopped. During the day, it ate, drank and hopped. In the nights, it rested and slept in the roots of trees.

Finally, one day it reached the border of the forest. The frog was stunned by opened perspective. It so happened, humans used to live in these parts, and frog stumbled upon their abandoned settlement. And the first thing it actually noticed, was the well. Built of a grey brick, with a wooden roof, it stood just a few hoops away.

Curious, the frog climbed the stone lining and looked down the well. It recognised the smell of the water, but some tiny whiff felt odd and alien.

Who knows, what it was? A sudden gust of wind? Slip of soft foot? Or a brave jolt of explorer into the dark, deep unknown...

The frog fell into the well and plunged into the cold water below.

A little scared, but excided, frog swam to the surface and looked about the walls, unaware of its situation at hand. The water felt quite pleasant, only slightly stagnant. It was motionless, like in forest ponds. The walls around stood tall and firm. Beside a few protruding, mossy-covered stones nearby, there were nothing of interest.

Frog decided to climb on one of the stones, but then something swiftly moved below! All of the sudden it breached the water just next to the frog, which remembered in that very moment how it once looked into the mirror of a lake, many years earlier, deep in the forest, and imagined – what would it feel like, if reflection crossed to the other side?