Have fun at the zoo!
***
Dumpy was plucked from his house and placed in a white room —even the floor was white! —but it was also wet, which actually suited Dumpy just fine. He was four months new to the world and had already known cruelty. He was picked on by the other Blue Dumpy Tree Frogs for being too small. They told him he was funny looking without a big, fat belly like them. It was true, Dumpy felt little compared to his companions, so he had always wanted to be taken by the levitating, hairless paw that periodically took the others.
The room shook; Dumpy stuck to the wall, riding the rocking motion as a jockey rides his horse. There was some strange, muffled voice and then a rush of air that dried Dumpy’s skin uncomfortably. A hairless finger poked his head and became stuck on his drying skin. Two large eyes peered at him from the sky. They were so big, Dumpy could see his reflection in them! He looked, to himself… well… he looked little. Dumpy caved in his eyes as he blinked, seeing the giant’s eyes through varying layers of eyelids.
“He’s sticky!” The giant announced. “I love him! Seriously, I am for real, literally, naming him Dumpy. What he is—well—it’s actually the perfect name for him.”
After a long ride in the white room, with the ceiling lifting once in a while to reveal the now familiar large eyes and a few pokes to his head, he arrived in a glass house with beautiful bark, moss, and an actual lotus flower (although, the flower seemed rather strong for a flower, but Dumpy shrugged it off, counting himself lucky to have a such a rare flower to sit on) that was attached to a log Dumpy could snuggle under.
The big eyes boggled at him from the clear wall of his house. Dumpy looked back. He wanted to croak to the eyes. He wanted to say, “What? What are you looking at, huh?” But all he could do was stare as he realized the eyes had given him this home, and the eyes were actually part of the big, levitating, hairless hand he had always dreamed of in his prior, obviously temporary house. The hand had never been levitating, it belonged to the big eyes, and a big body… It really was a giant!
Dumpy promptly wet himself and the eyes withdrew. Phew! He hid under the tree and looked out the other side of his new house.
Another house was beside him, although it was shaped more like a sideways pyramid. It was full of water too. Dumpy waddled over to the side of his house to get a closer look, huddling by the wall as though he could squeeze himself invisible. What is in there?
Suddenly, a mini frog with long scraggly legs spread in a permanent split bopped against the glass of the pyramid house. Its skinny body twitched and it was sideways, its little beady eye staring into Dumpy’s eyes. Dumpy hopped a bit, a little moment of fright flowed through his froggy limbs as he encountered a frog that was completely immersed in water… and the way its legs stuck out in all directions… it was simply the strangest kin Dumpy had ever encountered!
“Hey, you!” The spindly, water frog gurgled in a squeaky, girly voice. “What are you staring at, huh?”
Dumpy laughed inside. He had felt the same way towards Big Eyes. He shrugged to the mini frog.
“Can’t talk, can ya?” The little frog floated back into the wall and bumped off of it, again.
Silly, teeney frog, Dumpy thought contentedly. Wait… he was happy feeling. A little nervous being in a weird place… but happy, nonetheless. This frog was TINY. She was tinier than Dumpy could ever be! Dumpy was no longer too little. He was now the giant! Well, not the giant, but in reference to small brains over there—Gangly thing, silly enough to live in the water; it could never snuggle into a tree like Dumpy, or stick to walls and defy gravity—Dumpy was the giant in this territory!
The little frog stared at him as though she could read Dumpy’s mind. “I know I may be little, but I have seniority here! The male giant picked me out and named me Speckles. I’m his frog. So, you can’t be his frog. I suppose that means you’re her frog.”
Big eyes, Dumpy thought. Speckles continued rambling, “She’s alright I guess, but she taps my wall too much and it echoes horribly that I can’t even imagine how you are going to feel without water to muffle the sound and I bet she is going to tap your wall all of the time and ooooo I bet I know exactly how lucky you are because she can actually pick you up and that means that maybe you have it worse than her always just poking your house! Although–” She stopped suddenly, looking thoughtful. As if that’s possible, Dumpy thought sarcastically. “She does feed me a lot. I get extra ‘cause she feeds me after my giant like she doesn’t know I was fed. Double feedings for me!” She floated upside down, apparently happy in the memory of lots of food.
Dumpy sighed internally. Well, food is good. He nodded to Speckles and squinted at her, hoping she would stop her tinny gabbing. But, she didn’t. Great. She may be little, but she sure talks big. Wonderful.
Dumpy turned his back on her and began to walk to his tree only to be suddenly in the giant’s hairless paw, being stared at by two different big eyes. It’s Speckles’ giant! Dumpy looked at the male giant as Speckles' voice became, if it was even possible, whinier.
“Hey, there, Dumpy.” Dumpy rested in the warmth of the giant’s paw for a moment, planning his strategy. He was the biggest frog in town now, so he wanted to climb the biggest mountain, which was, apparently, this male giant. Dumpy just had to get to the top.
He sat. The warmth filled his froggy belly and loosened his limbs and with a sudden burst of movement, Dumpy hopped to the back of the giant’s paw, forcing the giant to turn his arm. Dumpy stretched out his curled up limbs and ran, full speed up the giant’s arm. “Aah!” The giant cried in surprise. “Eden! Did you see that? He’s just like the Matrix!” Loud laughing followed after Dumpy landed on his destination. He made sure his toes were secure; the giant’s face was not like the walls Dumpy was used to.
Calmly, the male giant said, “Ohhkay. Now, he. Is. On. My. Face.”
Dumpy had made it! He was on top! He was the biggest frog and he had climbed the highest tree… or mountain… to Dumpy, it was one and the same. He had asserted his place in his new home and simply puffed with pride.
“Oh…oh…” The female giant gasped in between laughs. “He likes you, honey!”
She scooped Dumpy off of the other giants face, who was now standing incredibly still. Dumpy was amazed by the patience the giant showed, but, then again, that giant picked out Speckles! He had to be patient!
Big Eyes, his favorite giant, gazed at him lovingly. “Wow. Dumpy, you are a perfect fit for our family.” He heard water running. Big Eyes’ hairless finger patted his head, this time it was warmly moist, and water seeped into his pores. He gazed at Big Eyes gratefully… maybe even enjoying the pat a little. Of course, he would never admit it! Her big mouth spread into an upturned half-circle. “Welcome to Zoomahouse.” She placed him on his lotus flower and crickets fell from the sky. He jumped down and munched one immediately. He was going to love it here. Whatever Zoomahouse was, he was obviously a part of it now!
Yum!
***And Dumpy is settling in just fine, besides the occasional wetting the bed issue... well, more like wetting my hand... But I'm sure he will be completely confident in time. Everyone else in Zoomahouse is!
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