Frogger

When I was a kid we found these frogs living in a big puddle in the neighborhood. I thought it would be funny to make a frog dizzy and see if he hopped all crazy, so I talked the other kids into a scheme. We found an old Folgers can in my garage, and took it to the top of the court, where the drop was steep. Frog went into the can, plastic lid went on. I punched some air holes… I mean, we weren’t monsters. I set the can on its side, gave it a gentle roll, and off it went, tumbling, bouncing, clanking off the asphalt. And there we went, giggling manically and chasing it in our Chuck Taylors. That can really moved, I mean wow. It finally hit the gutter and bounced about a foot in the air, then landed on the edge of the lawn. We caught up to it, hitching in our breath in between our laughs, and I popped the lid and tipped it. I expected a seriously dizzy frog to slide out and go nuts hopping all crazy. But instead what came out… let’s just say it was a mess. And very much not alive anymore. We all stopped laughing and it got real quiet. Even the robins held their breath. Someone picked up what was left and chucked it into the bushes, and we didn’t talk about it ever again. We all decided it was a good idea to maybe leave the frogs alone. So yeah, I’ve heard it said I’m a nice guy, and I try my hardest to be one. But I think everyone has within them the capacity to do some evil, from time to time.