Buddha sits peacefully at the bottom of our garden.....he used to sit overlooking the pond........now he looks onto a filled in pile of rubble where the pond used to be.
The pond was hurriedly built by the previous occupant.......badly built......lopsided.......uneven slabs around it......loose slabs......under deciduous trees......with frequently manky water.....but that's not why it had to go.
The pond was full of wildlife.......water snails crept around.......families of newts sunbathed......and toads.....dozens of them......possibly 100s.......in fact they populated our entire garden......congregating round the water butts.......huddling behind plant pots......shading themselves under plants.......chattering by the shed......and eating slugs by the score.
I liked them.....but here lies the story.......DD2 did not.....apparently DD2 has a phobia about frogs.....and doesn't differentiate for toads......a phobia so bad she becomes totally hysterical if one comes near her.......I didn't recall this phobia......she always used to like frogs I thought.......I mentioned this fact to her.
DD2 "That was before they attacked me"
Me "Frogs attacked you!!.....in the garden!!" [cue raised eyebrows]
DD2 "No.....when I was walking home at night"
Me [cue lightbulb moment] "Ah....you mean when you'd been out drinking??
DD2 "NO....I was just walking home in the dark through the grass and 2 of them attacked me.....they leapt at me and scared me to death"
Me "You had probably scared them and they were jumping away"
DD2 "No they weren't....they were leaping at my throat!"
Me "Frogs don't go for your throat"
DD2 "Oh yes they do.....I had to run for my life" [cue hysterical laughter from DD1]
And no amount of logical argument could persuade her otherwise......it was her or the toads.......so the pond had to go.....and sadly with it the wildlife.......so now the slugs reign supreme.......and we don't see toads anymore.......well......just occasionally the odd one or two......but they don't seem to be of the killer variety!!!!
This story was brought to you courtesy of Sian's Storytelling Sunday........read the other stories here.
22 comments:
This made me smile - killer frogs! Pity you had to lose the pond.
I loved this story - just the title was enough to make me want to read on. You see I have a friend who is terrified of frogs. Petrified. She has gone from being a keen gardener to someone who cannot weed under large leafed plants - just in case a frog is hiding under one. And the strange thing is that up until last year we had a large pond in our garden. We had about a dozen koi in it, it was a fair old size. But we never saw any frogs. You would think that frogs would love to come and visit. But no. Yet my pondless friend has dozens of them. If you sit in her lounge at twilight and look into the garden you can see them hopping and skipping about in the grass. Why did they like her garden and not mine with it's own personal froggy lakeland heaven? So I fear that even though the pond has gone in your garden, the frogs may not ....
I must be more careful round frogs and toads now, I didn't realise how dangerous they were!
Jacky, thanks for this story, it had me laughing out loud especially the bit where you assumed that there might be drink involved! When I was little I fell into someone's pond and I was mercilessly teased about it for years - but at least the frogs didn't get me. Great story!
I haven't seen any frogs around here. But I'd be freaked out if I encountered the ones you did! Thanks for the story! It was great fun!
Oh I love this story! I didn't know that frogs would attack drunken teenagers, Oh what fun I could have had with the lot that used to come here for bacon butties in the night!
We took our pond away, the frogs don't go away...sorry.
That made me laugh! We don't have a pond, but we do have a little toady visitor who likes to hide under the slide.
Great story Jacky! Super funny, and I love the way you used dialogue to tell it. It's funny how even big kids get scared by certain things.
Rinda
Thanks so much for the chuckle this morning. I had no idea frogs/toads could be dangerous - always knew there was a reason I didn't like them. :)
Great story - although I'm sure I share DD2's sentiment that the last photo was not necessary - hope to get that out of my head soon!
I'm not really a fan of frogs or toads, although I've not heard of killer ones lol ... So funny
thanks Jacky for giving me a good laugh!!!
My sister was always frog and toad crazy she loved them and still does! We never met any of the killer variety, not yet anyway! We have a small wildlife pond built by hubby a few years ago and we wish we had frogs or toads... any tips to encourage them to move in???
One of the nursery teachers next door is POSITIVE that your DD2 is correct... It's taken a long time for me to convince her the frogs (especially the wee baby 1cm long ones) aren't dangerous. I'm glad she's not read about them going for throats....
Oh my word, this made me laugh! The title grabbed me straight away, and the story didn't disappoint :) I think I'd have suspected alcohol, too!
I loved your story - brilliantly told!
Loved the story. and while I understand your daughter's phobia of frogs, I'd much rather have them than slugs. Ugly, slimy creatures.
LOL...I love that picture of the frog with a full set of teeth.
Hilarious and that last picture is a bit terrifying!
I have to admit that I was glad to get rid of our pond, as I was a bit afraid of the frogs when they suddenly leapt in the air...but I didn't feel that they were actually attacking me!...funny story, Jackie
Alison xx
What a great story! Love the idea of frogs going for your neck!
Finally catching up with Sunday Storytelling and this one really made me laugh! Love your final illustration too!!!
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