The great rescue!

One day I came home

from playing at Stacy Michael's,

only to find the house empty.

Mom had gone to run an errand

and my older brother, Mike, was in the backyard.

We were alone.

(gulp)

When I went out to let him know that I was home,

I noticed that the pool cover was open

and

that he was sitting Indian-style next to the deep end

with his suitcase of Lego's open next to him!

Red Flag!

This was an unusual thing!

First, because Mike was in Middle school

and didn't play with Lego's anymore

and second, because

it was a strict, strict rule in our home that we

DO NOT OPEN THE POOL COVER 

without Mom or Dad's permission.

NEVER, EVER, NEVER!!!

(FYI, 4 out of 5 of us never broke that rule!)

So, to see Mike playing Lego's

by an open pool,

alone

 was alarming, to say the least!

I approached carefully and asked,

"What are you doing?"

Mike looked up and grunted.

(He wasn't one for words!)

"Why is the pool cover open?"

Again, "Grunt!"

(Which I knew meant,

"LEAVE ME ALONE!  I THINK YOU ARE

ANNOYING AND UGLY!")

"Why do you have Lego's?"

This time I didn't even get a grunt!

(I had obviously overstayed my welcome!)

I was super curious 

as Mike grabbed a Lego from the stash

and began to fidget with something in his hands.

I couldn't tell what he was doing!

Then, he tossed the object into the deep end!

"What was that?"

I asked with complete, little-annoying-sister curiosity!

He glanced at me with a look of
blissful mischief

then grabbed another Lego and started the process again!

When he tossed the second object into the pool,

I couldn't help myself

and knelt by the side

 to see what he was throwing in!

The water's freshly broken surface

was blurry and unclear.

I could make out several little
dots of color on the bottom of the pool...

Lego's, I presumed,

but there was something dark

attached to each colorful dot

that I could not recognize.

I waited patiently as the water began to settle.

Then, suddenly, I realized that the little dark 'things'

were in fact

FROGS!

We had a mini-infestation of

little, cute, adorable, green, hoppy froggies that summer.

They were all over our backyard!

I loved them.

I thought they were the neatest visitors we had ever had!

So you can only imagine my shock and horror

when I realized that my very own brother

was trying to drown them

using Lego pieces as

Anchors of Death!  

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

I screamed.

"YOU'RE KILLING THE FROGGIES!"

I was distressed.

Mike was not.

He continued to

tie and toss...

tie and toss...

tie and toss!

"STOP!  STOP!"

I pleaded

as I watched the little frogs
trying to swim to the surface in vain!

Mike ignored my pleas
with pure and utter delight!

I went into rescue mode

and for a

very, very, very 

brief moment

I thought about snatching the Lego case away from Mike.

Luckily, however,

my better judgement got the best of me

and I quickly opted against that knowing that if I tried,

Mike would use that Lego case

to anchor ME to the bottom of the pool!

Plan Two... 

a life saving device!

Frantically, I ran around the pool deck

searching for the skimmer.

Where was it?

I went to it's normal resting spot but

it wasn't there!

Then I realized that it was sitting on the ground

right next to Mike.

Mike knew what I was after

and gave me a

 "Go Ahead, I dare you!" look.

I didn't dare.

With my little ten year-old heart pounding in my throat

and knowing that time was of the essence,

I made a split second decision

and dove, head first, into the deep end

clothes and all!

This posed a problem, however, 

because the second

strict, strict rule in our home was that we

DO NOT SWIM

without Mom or Dad's permission.

NEVER, EVER, NEVER!!!

But I didn't care!

I had to save the frogs,

regardless of the consequence.

I was pretty sure
Mom would understand!

Heroically,

I swam down and grabbed as many froggies

as I could until my lungs began to burn

and my head felt like it was going to explode.

Then I pushed off the bottom and 

dramatically burst out of the water gasping for air!

Holding the froggies close to my chest,

I flipped on my back and kicked my way to the steps in the shallow end.

With an armload of frogs,

I sat in the water

and tried to think

of a safe place to hide them... 

far away from Mike and his dreaded Legos! 

Mike looked unamused

as he continued to

tie and toss...

tie and toss...

tie and toss!

"Where should I hide these frogs?"

I asked myself.

Then, as if the heavens opened, the answer came...

hide them in

Mom's beautiful, wooden puzzle box

hand made from Indonesia

that's sitting in the front hall

on the new wooden floor!

Of course!

Mike would never find them there.

It was the perfect solution!

However,
this posed another problem 

because the third

strict, strict rule in our home was that we

DO NOT COME IN THE HOUSE WET

even with Mom or Dad's permission.

NEVER, EVER, NEVER!!!

Again, I knew Mom would understand,

this once,

and forged ahead

for the sake of the frogs!

I jumped out of the water

and sopping wet,

 sloshed my way through

 the family room, kitchen and entry hall

until I came to the puzzle box.

I knelt down,

on the wooden floor,

and crammed handfuls

of frogs and Legos

into each small wooden compartment.

I then carefully closed the lids and went back for more.

By the time Mike had finally lost interest

and moved on to his next destructive activity,

 the little wooden box was

bulging with frogs!

Knowing that I had done right by the world,

I changed my clothes

and cleaned up the puddles of water throughout the house.

When Mom got home,

she didn't notice a thing...

(that happens when you have 5 kids

and you're really tired!)

and I didn't think to tell her.

In fact, I forgot all about it

UNTIL

several months later

when Mom asked me to dust the puzzle box!

Then, it all came back...

the frogs

the Legos

the pool

the box!

OH NO!

I wept as I opened the tiny wooden compartments

and saw the carnage!

After all my efforts to save my friends,

 I ended up killing them myself.

Oh, the painful irony!

But, not to worry!

I have since forgiven myself

and believe that

frogs, children and summer

go hand in hand...

or hand in slimy flipper, 

you choose! 

Amphibian bliss!