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Peter[_6_] Peter[_6_] is offline
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Default OT -- Tiger Frogs


"The Ranger" > wrote in message
...
> "Dad!!"
>
> "Dad!!"
>
> "Com'ere! Quick!"
>
> There was no mistaking the tones. They resonated with that edgy panic, the
> type that causes parents' hearts to constrict in fear and one's
> Imagination to careen out of control envisioning "the worst."
>
> I dropped the onions and knife into the sink with the remaining vegetables
> and turned at a dead run to the garage door. As I reached for the brass
> knob three excited, yet seemingly unbloodied and unbroken, daughter-units
> were jostling to get through the doorway. We all skidded to stops.
>
> "Who's hurt? Where's Miguel? Did you dump something? Why are you acting
> like someone got hurt?" I bellowed over their raucous chorus.
>
> My three magpies stopped their chittering and three jaws clacked shut;
> clack, clack, clack.
>
> Daughter-unit Beta looking down and scuffing her toe on the tile floor of
> the kitchen, her hands clasped tightly behind her back, ventured, "We got
> a frog."
>
> "YEAH! YEAH! We gotta uh uh uh FWROG!" Spawn yelled excitedly.
>
> I closed my eyes and started to count quietly. To calm the racing pulse
> that was keeping a beat in my temple. I took a deep breath and exhaled it
> slowly. "Good. Go out and see if the other seven are ready to morph," and
> I turned away to finish dinner.
>
> "But, Dad? You gotta come see him, first."
>
> I turned back towards Daughter-unit Alpha and saw the other two bobbing
> their exaggerated affirmations. I sighed again and dropped my chin to my
> chest, "Alright. For just a moment."
>
> This experiment in wildlife observation was turning out better than I'd
> hoped. We'd started with a capture of over 40 tadpoles, two snails, and
> several dozen other assorted creek-dwelling inhabitants. I'd even learned
> a valuable lesson on tadpole-ology; the suckers are vicious carnivores and
> voracious cannibals!
>
> The four of us squatted down around the tank that housed the remaining
> eight tadpoles we'd liberated from a nearby creek. I watched as a prime
> example of Darwinian Progress climbed out of the water and onto the side
> of the tank, almost a frog (except the remaining nub of a tail.) "Wow..."
> I breathed. "Cool, huh? You going to call up your uncles and friends about
> this?"
>
> "Can we??" three faces peered up as I walked back inside.
>
> "'Course," I frowned. "I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't serious. Each
> decide who calls who and you can start now."
>
> "ALRIGHT! I get..."
>
> We're on our seventh phone call and it would appear that we're going to
> have quite a crowd around the Clan Ranger International Amphibian
> Aquariums tomorrow. I guess I'd better make an effort to clean out my
> Catch-All-Clutter-Containment Center (aka "two-car garage").
>
> The Ranger




Nice story. I'd like to forward it, and gice credit. Do I give credit to
"The Ranger:"? Or another name?