Passing Words: A Little Frog

It sat very quietly and very still - just the one, with no others to soothe it or wish it well. It liked the sounds of outdoors even if no other called to it in a voice it recognized. Long the shadows growing at midday, and now a kind of grey washed upon all things once dazzling and bright. "I wonder what I should do," it thought to itself without fussing too much, "or I wonder what will eventually be done with me." It was almost asleep when a pop of color came into its view - a similar shape and size to its own, but much more worthy of awe. "What are YOU?" it asked, intrigued. "A friend," the Golden Toad (extinct 1989) answered. "And I'm here to take you where all of the last go, with full honors, to join the first and the many many many in between." It had been alone so long that it had forgotten its lineage and was happy to leave ... to see the others. "I should like to sing very loudly," the little frog whispered to the Golden Toad (who simply smiled), "and hear all of them join in like a kind of choir." "Oh, just you wait," said Toad. "It will astound you.”