Micro Monday - April 7, 2025
Ribbit
Happy Monday! Let’s do a silly one.
Ribbit
Terry preferred to eat alone. He hated the sound of other people chewing, and always managed to take a bite right before someone asked him a question, which mortified him. As a rule, he avoided the office cafeteria and carried his packed lunch down the hill to the little bench by the river - no matter the weather.
One day, as he sat down and pulled the little Ziploc tab to free his daily ham and cheese sandwich, a frog hopped onto the bench next to him.
“Ribbit,” said the frog.
“Excuse you,” Terry said. Then he went back to eating.
The next day, two frogs hopped onto the bench - one on either side of him. They both acknowledged him with a short croak, then stared at him as if expecting a response.
“Sorry,” Terry said. “I don’t have any flies to share.”
The frogs stared at him while he ate, then turned to watch him as he walked away.
There were four frogs the next day, and eight frogs the day after that. On Friday, when Terry walked down to the river, the entire bench was covered in frogs.
“Um,” Terry said. He thought of the crowded cafeteria, the gruesome chorus of chewing and slurping noises, the busy press of tiresome elbows.
“Ribbit?” he ventured.
One by one, the frogs hopped aside and cleared a space for Terry to sit.
A lot of people probably think this is about the inevitability of social interaction in a world crowded with other living things, but it's actually just about being polite to frogs whenever you see them.
Cute.