A Frog Story

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there was a frog who was more than your average frog. It was a magic frog that on the day & night of a full moon would change into a human man. No, not a prince, far from that in fact, he just an average man. Well, maybe average is not the right word for a man who is just a man for 24 hours each month, and a frog for the rest of the month. However, this man, Fred, cared a lot about his family and friends, so during his one day as a human he did his best to look after them. He was able to get the pond they all lived in declared a sanctuary due to the fact that they were a rare and endangered species of frogs. This meant that they habitat would never be disturbed now, so long as there was so much as one from living there, and that the local children were no longer allowed to collect frogs eggs or capture the tadpoles from that pond. The only thing that Fred had not been able to do was to find affordable life insurance for the frogs in this pond, or any other frogs either for that matter. In all the history of the world, no frog had ever been able to have life insurance of any kind, but of course, Fred planned to get it as a human, so in order for it to be paid out one day, his death would have to take place when he was in human form. Fred had much work left to do, and had no plans to die any time soon, but one never knows what could happen so Fred thought it better safe than sorry. One of the things Fred had planned was to set up a non-profit organization to protect the frog pond for many generations to come, both human and frog generations. Fred's plans also included getting that life insurance once the Frog Foundation was set up, and he would put the Frog Foundation as the beneficiary. Yes, Fred Frog had a mission, and a frog with a mission is something to behold.

Grumbling

Whoof!! Mom left me home today so I slept most of the day away in my dog house, out in my dog run. She has been leaving me home on Thursdays a lot lately and I'm not happy about that. She gives me a cookie to get me to go outside, then leave woofout me. She says it's cuz I'll have to stay too long in the truck while she's busy woof other things and can't let me out. What a drag.

Tonight she came and got me before she went to town, so that made me happy. I didn't get a walk, but I did get to go fur a ride woof her.

Even though I sleep lots outside during the day, I also sleep at the foot of Mom's bed all night. Mom made me a cushion fur on the floor in her bedroom, so that's cool, but it's getting old now and I want a new one. Actually, what I really want is a sleep number bed, cuz I've seen 'em on TV and they sound real cool.

Oh, by the way, did Mom tell you she gots 2 new critters again? She gots 2 chickens.

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3 Woof Thursday

3 Woof Thursday #7

Each week, Quilly gives us 3 woof, errrr, words, to write a store woof. This week's words are:
bacchante, queachy, & jibber.
What do they mean? Just click on the ones in the story below to go to their definitions. You kin even go visit Quilly (the inventor of this meme) and other players but not til you finish here.


Flo sat watching the news on her TV. Hearing that 22 people have died snowmobiling so far this season should have upset her, after all, her fiance had been one of them, but she was too drunk for it all to register for her. Since Jack's accident, she'd pretty much been acting like a bacchante. Each morning as she woke with a hangover, she would tell herself she had to stop this kind of behavior, then by noon the pain was too much for her and she'd have just one... then just one more, until she was blottoed and the pain of loss was gone for now. She knew no other way to make the hurting stop.

Jack and Flob were planning to be married on his snowmobile, then just one week before the big wedding he was suddenly gone. Flo's entire world had gone queachy, and didn't seem to want to stop.

One morning in early April, shortly before noon, Flo was just pouring her first drink of the day when the door bell rang. She ignored it at first, but when it didn't stop being rung, she finally decided to answer the door. She couldn't stand that nasty ringing with the headache she had this morning. Opening the door she found, standing there, Jerry. He was Jack's older brother and she hadn't seen him since the funeral 3 months earlier.

"Hi Flo. Can I come in?" he greeted her with a serious look on his face.

"Well, I was just about to ..." Flo started to make an excuse for not letting him in, wanting him to just go away. She needed that drink even more now than she had a minute ago... and the one after it too, but Jerry wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Flo, I made Jack a promise one day and I mean to keep that promise. Come on, lets go sit down and talk," he insisted.

Knowing Jerry, Flo knew there was no way he was about to go away, she knew she had no choice but to let him in. She offered him a cup of coffee which he declined. "I hope you don't mind if I have the cup of tea I was just about to pour," Flo said, then slipped into the kitchen and poured her drink into a coffee cup. She took a drink and suddenly felt a bit better, then another long drink. She topped up the cup and returned to the living room to face Jerry.

"One day, Jack and I were talking about what we would want when/if we died."

"I don't want to hear this, Jerry," Flow complained.

"Well, you are going to hear it, Flo. I made a promise to my brother and, like I said, I'm going to keep that promise. He made me promise that if he went, I'd look after you, make sure you were okay," Jerry went on.

"I'm fine, Jerry, I just want the pain to stop. I just want to get on with my life," Flo lied.

"If you believe that, Flo, you're worse off than I thought. Lying to yourself and believing it is pretty sad. I know what you have been doing since Jack's death. That's why I traveled all the way back here to come see you. I've heard from several people that are worried about you, so I know you've been staying home and ordering booze delivered. I know you do nothing but drink and cry. That's not okay, and that is NOT how Jack would have wanted you to live life."

The conversation went on and on, with Jerry doing most of the talking until finally Flo admitted to the truth, she confessed how she had been feeling and drinking out of control. She agreed to go for help, but only if Jerry would take her and stay there with her, at least for the first time. Jerry gave her the business card of a good grief therapist, given to him by a friend he trusted. He had already talked to the woman and felt she would be a good match for Flo. He thought of Flo as a member of the family, and always would, even though the wedding had never happened, and he knew this was what Jack would want.

Two days later, as they walked into the therapist's office, Flo suddenly felt the fear, she felt should couldn't go in, like the roof would fall in on her if she did. She started to jibber, nearly knocking over the beautiful table lamps sitting on the nearby end table. Jerry put his arm around her shoulder, giving her physical support, holding her together it seemed, as he whispered in her ear, "It's okay, little sister, I'm right here with you, and so is Jack. He's here supporting you in every way he can."

Flo looked up into Jerry's eyes, so much like Jack's blue eyes had been, and she knew that she was doing the right thing coming here. She knew that indeed Jack was here with her, wanting her to be okay. She smiled up at Jerry, turned, and stepped into the inner office, ready to take the first step in recovery.



Don't clap, just throw doggy cookies, arf arf arf.

The Week Eight words will be: propinquity; susurrus; nescience

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Three Word Thursday

3 Woof Thursday

Wow, this week went real fast, and it's already time fur Quilly's word game.

The Week Six words will be:
sternutation - /ˌstɜrnyəˈteɪʃən/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [stur-nyuh-tey-shuhn] - noun; the act of sneezing... A sneeze. {Dictionary.com}
zoilist - A rude, nasty, or dishonest critic that enjoys finding faults in others. {Yahoo Answers}
anopisthograph - [an-uh-pis-thuh-graf, -grahf] - noun; a manuscript, parchment, or book having writing on only one side of the leaves. {Dictionary.com}


Frank hurried out to buy a paper before he even ate breakfast. He could eat later, but first he had to get to the ads for jobs he might be able to apply for. He had been out of work since the company he worked for had been hit by cutbacks, nearly 6 months ago now, and he was nearly desperate to find work. One ad he read was for programming jobs, and he had some experience in this area. That had been part of his job at the company he'd worked for before.

Frank grabbed his toast as it popped up, spread some peanut butter on it and took a bite as he grabbed his jacket and keys, heading out the door. The ad had given an address where to go to apply for this job and Frank wanted to be there early, to beat the rush.

With luck on his side, Frank was the 4th in line when the door was opened. They were invited to be seated in the front office, then one by one were taken into the inner office for their interviews. Frank produced his resume from the inner pocket of his jacket, handing it to the interviewer, and from there things seemed to go down hill. The guy was obviously a zoilist, finding and expressing fault in everything from the crease in the resume to the size and style of font, and to the lack of experience Frank had in this area. He even complained that the resume was anopisthograph, a waste of paper he said.

When Frank let out a sudden and explosive sternutation, he just knew he had blown the job. He stood up, beginning to thank the man for the interview, only to be cut off. "Now, wait a minute, Frank," the interviewer said, "where are you off to in such a hurry? You don't have enough experience in programming for the available job, but I like the rest of your resume. I have another job that I think will be perfect for you. It not only is what most of your experience is in, but also it's one of the hobbies you have listed here. Sit back down and we'll talk about it."

That is when Frank realized he had been judging the man negatively. He remembered that you should not judge people, and look to find the good in everyone. "As you judged you will be judged." Wow, this had turned out to be one very productive morning. A new job and a good lesson in life too. You can't ask for more than that.


Now, if I was you, I'd leave me some very kind words and some doggy cookies... then go visit other people that write stories fur Quilly's 3 Woof Thursday.

Heads Or Tails

The theme/prompt for today, March 17, is:
HEADS - "Point"
Make any kind of post using "Point" as your prompt. You can point something out, get to the point, make a point, etc.
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The theme/prompt for next week, March 24, will be:
HEADS - "Common"
Make any kind of post using "Common" as your prompt.



I am here to tell you, there is no point to giving dogs ipods. We don't listen to them and they're no good to chew on, so keep them fur yur hooman kids. A much better gift fur yur dog is a long walk, maybe out to Rattlesnake Point, or Cousin's Bay, even just to yur nearest dog park. We dogs love to go fur walks woof our hoomans, and to run free, playing woof other dogs. It's the best way fur us to spend our days. I'm a rottenweiler, but if you have a Pointer, it will point you to some good places fur yur walks. To ride in the truck/car to the place we walk, then walk woof our hooman and play woof dogs, then ride in the truck/car back home, then sleep on the floor need our hooman... well, the point is that there just is no better way fur a dog to spend the day.

Love Yur Dog and God will Love YOU!

A Dog Story Fur You

The man sat at his desk, deeply concentrating on the paper work he was doing. Read, sign at the bottom, then stamp it with a custom rubber stamp to verify all was done, and that it was done by him. It was a time consuming job, and not the most exciting work one could do, yet it fed his family and that is all Frank concerned himself with just now. It was the middle of a depression era and one had to be grateful just to be able to put food on the table.

It had all started with a crash on Wall Street, then the government bail outs of banks, then of automobile manufacturers. From there, things had gotten worse. During the 'Dirty Thirties' people at least had home grown vegetables and other foods like chickens, but now in the 21st century, a vast number of people no longer had any idea how to grow their own food. It was long since that towns and cities of all sizes had outlawed having a few chickens in your back yard to grow your own meat and eggs, all that had to be purchased at stores, grown in large factory type settings where none of it was as healthy as that grown in people's yards. It was also illegal to have a clothes line to hang your wet clothes out to dry. You had to use machines to do all that kind of thing, and machines use electricity which costs money... when you can get it. The supplies of all things like electricity and natural gas had dwindled. Frank knew it was not due so much as to shortages of this things, but to large companies supplying less as a way to make you pay more for it. The greedy ruled the world, it seemed, and had obviously caused the depression the whole world was now in.

3 Woof Thursday

3 Woof Thursday

Quilly has started a fun new challenge fur those of us that like to write. What is it about? We are given 3 rarely used, or old, outdated words to find the meanings fur and then use in a story.



Here are the 3 words fur this week:

hitonious:
A word, usually used in a humorous context, that means beyond horrid. Use it when something is horrid, hideous, and horrendous combined.
As an adjective: hitonious
As a noun: hitoniousness, hitoniosity
As an adverb: hitoniously
(Urban Dictionary)

teterrimous:
most foul
(Save the Words)

mellifluous:

1.	sweetly or smoothly flowing; sweet-sounding: a mellifluous voice; mellifluous tones.

2.	flowing with honey; sweetened with or as if with honey.

(Dictionary.com)


The pretty dog sat on the bank of the river, listening to the mellifluous sounds of the water running past, heading to where the dog knew not. She not only listened to the music of the water, but also watched the flow... watched even fur the chance of a good stick to float past, close enough fur a good dog to reach out and grab without getting into the current. On a day like today it would just bee too much work to go swimming in the current fur a stick.

The sounds combined with the movement of the water passing on a warm, sunny day soon had the god, dog nodding off, so close to sleep. That is when it happened! That is when this sharp and beautiful K9 saw the body floating in the current. It had obviously been in the water for some time and to humans it would be teterrimous, but not so to a dog. She took no time to think about insurance questions, she just knew she had to go into the current to pull the body out, to bring it up onto the bank. That is the way a dog works, functioning purely on instinct.

SPLASH!! In she went, swimming strongly out into the current, battling closer and closer to the floating body. Finally, she was close enough to reach out and grad a good hold with her teeth, hoping that the body would stay together as she fought to regain the shore. By this time, the dog and body had been washed down the river past where the dog had even swum before, but that didn't enter her mind, all she thought about was taking one breath after another as she paddled hard towards the shore with her teeth holding tightly to the body. Finally, she felt her feet touch something solid. Two steps and she was on shore where she let go her grip on the body and just lay beside it, taking one heaving breath after another as she bid hear heart to slow back down. It had been a pretty incredible work out. She lay in the sun for a time until she felt fully recovered from her ordeal, knowing she'd very nearly become nothing more than a body herself.

The dog now stood up, looking down on the body. Ah yes, it was truly hitonious, in looks and in smell... and to a dog that is just the way they like their like their groundhogs! This is one rodent that will never predict 6 more weeks of winter! She looked at it once again, then down she went to roll on it. Ahhhhh, there is a heaven, and it is right here on Earth.


WHoof!!! There ya go, another story fur you to read. Now you can go visit other people that played 3 Woof Thursday today.