Exploring According to Og the Frog

by Betty G. Birney

  We’re so happy you’re here,

  Happy hatchday to you.

  (And many more!)

  Frogs have big families, so we sang that song a lot!

  “Can we take Og to the party?” Willy asks.

  That boy thinks like me!

  “No, I don’t think it would be a safe place for him,” his dad answers.

  Since when does a brave prince have to worry about safety?

  “Then when are we going to build his castle?” Brenda asks.

  I like that girl!

  Mr. Morales thinks for a moment. “I can ask Mrs. Brisbane if we can bring him home again next weekend,” he says.

  Brenda and Willy jump up and down so much, waves start to form in my tank water.

  “YAY!!!!!” they shout.

  “YAY!!!!” I agree.

  “But she could say no,” Mr. Morales warns us.

  I hope Mrs. Brisbane agrees, because I’m starting to like the idea of having a castle a lot.

  Once the family has gone off to the party, I think about looking at those drawings again, but to tell the truth, it wasn’t so easy peasy to get to that sofa and back.

  I take the well-known advice Uncle Chinwag gave me back in the swamp.

  Float. Doze. Be.

  And you will live so happily.

  I have a hoppy day, even without magicians, piñatas and games.

  But I must admit, I’m kind of bothered by the way Brenda treats Willy. He may be younger than her, but he’s a smart young tad with good ideas. I’ve gotten a lot of good ideas by listening to all kinds of creatures. After all, it’s Humphrey (a rodent) who inspired my wish to get out of my tank and explore.

  I wish I could explain that to Brenda, but my boings aren’t enough. There must be another way!

  Trouble in Humphreyville

  Did Sir Hiram ever meet frogs like us?” I asked once. Uncle Chinwag nodded. “Yes, many times. He met green frogs, and frogs that were blue, yellow, striped and spotted. There were frogs of all sizes. Some had horns, some had hair, and some were poisonous! But most of them were downright nice and helped him survive the strange places he visited. Except, of course, for the bullying bullfrogs!”

  * * *

  Mr. Morales takes me back to school very early. He’s a hard worker. I guess that’s one reason he’s the principal!

  “You were a good guest,” he tells me. “I hope you’ll visit again next weekend,” he says as he leaves me on the table.

  “Me too!” I reply.

  Mrs. Brisbane comes in early, too.

  “Good morning, Og.” She peeks in my cage. “Looks like the Morales family took good care of you.”

  “Of course,” I say. “BOING-BOING.”

  Then the big tads come in, and Mr. Payne carries Humphrey back to our table. Mandy is at his side.

  “Come back soon, Humphrey,” she says. “Please!”

  Later, when there’s less commotion, I ask Humphrey about his weekend.

  “SQUEAK-SQUEAK-SQUEAK!” He sounds excited when he answers.

  I wish there was a way for me to tell him about the castle drawings, but there’s not. And he probably has no idea that I might be a prince.

  But I try to talk to him anyway, because that’s what friends do.

  “BOING-BOING! BOING-BOING!” I explain.

  “SQUEAK? SQUEAK? SQUEAK?”

  I still can’t understand him, but at least we’re both trying.

  * * *

  The morning starts off with a BING-BANG-BOING as Mrs. Brisbane announces that all the big tads’ families will be coming next week to see Humphreyville when it’s completed.

  Great! I’ll get to meet a lot of humans at one time and see what they’re like.

  Then Mrs. Brisbane assigns jobs for the week.

  Miranda looks sad when Gail is named the new animal keeper. And I don’t blame her, since it wasn’t her fault that Humphrey got out of his cage. He looks unhappy, too.

  When Paul comes in, Mandy suggests that he should have a job. Even if he only comes to class for math, he’s part of Room 26. Art backs her up.

  Mrs. Brisbane agrees and makes Paul the class accountant. That’s a great choice, as he will be good at adding up the points the big tads are earning with their jobs.

  Except for Miranda’s situation, everything runs smoothly in Room 26.

  Monday goes so well, I look forward to Tuesday, but am shocked when Mandy, Art and Heidi don’t show up for school. Three big tads are absent on one day—that has not happened since I’ve been in Room 26! Where could they be?

  When the rest of the big tads are at lunch, Mr. Morales comes in to talk to Mrs. Brisbane.

  “Hi, Mr. Morales!” I boing at him, but he doesn’t seem to notice.

  He doesn’t even smile when he greets Mrs. Brisbane.

  I think something is very wrong.

  Unfortunately, I am right. Mr. Morales has had a complaint from a parent . . . about Humphrey.

  “SQUEAK?” my neighbor shrieks.

  I am speechless. Or boingless.

  “Apparently Mandy and her whole family are sick. Coughs, runny nose, watery eyes. And Mrs. Payne blames it all on Humphrey,” he explains.

  “No way!” I protest.

  “Humphrey!” Mrs. Brisbane exclaims. “Why on earth would she think that?”

  That’s what I want to know!

  “Well, he spent the weekend at their house, and now they’re all sick.” Mr. Morales shakes his head. Then he says that Mrs. Payne has been calling some of the other parents. “She even threatened to start a petition to get all classroom pets banned!”

  Snakes alive! I’m a classroom pet. Am I going to be banned, too? Am I going to have to move back to the swamp just as I’m beginning to explore? I still have lots more to learn. As sad as I was to leave, I’m not ready to go back now!

  When I glance over at Humphrey’s cage to see if he’s listening, his whiskers are drooping and he’s squeakless for the first time since I’ve known him.

  Humphrey and I aren’t the only ones who are upset. Mrs. Brisbane is fuming, and Mr. Morales looks miserable. They decide to do research to see if other students at school have gotten sick after handling classroom pets.

  And Mr. Morales suggests that Mrs. Brisbane take Humphrey and me to her house for a while.

  I like going to visit the Brisbanes’ house. But I don’t think I’d like being banned from school. Especially for something I didn’t do!

  While Mrs. Brisbane packs up our food after school, Sayeh stops to say good-bye. “It isn’t right,” she says in her soft voice. “They’re our classroom pets. They’re important. We named a whole town after Humphrey!”

  “They’ll be back,” Mrs. Brisbane tells her.

  I’m not sure . . . and when I look over at Humphrey, he looks even smaller than usual.

  * * *

  Mr. Brisbane gives Humphrey and me a warm welcome. He comes out to the car to greet us in his wheelchair and carries my tank on his lap. It’s a nice, smooth ride.

  I’m hoppy to find out that he’s on the side of us classroom pets! Once Humphrey and I are settled in the house, Mrs. Brisbane gets on the phone calling the big tads’ parents.

  After each call, she tells her husband, Bert, what was said.

  Art’s mom says her son has a bad cold, but her husband had it first. “Everyone in his office has it,” says Mrs. Brisbane.

  “See? Humphrey didn’t make the Payne family sick,” I say.

  “SQUEAK-SQUEAK-SQUEAK!” my friend responds. He sounds as relieved as I am.

  Mrs. Brisbane calls Heidi’s house next, but Humphrey didn’t even stay there. Her mom says Heidi has a bad cough.

  I’m as jumpy as a jackrabbit when Mrs. Brisbane decides to phone Mrs. Payne. Even Bert agrees that she’s a tr
oublemaker.

  But when Mrs. Brisbane calls, she talks to Mr. Payne. It turns out that his wife works at night.

  Humphrey tries and tries to tell the Brisbanes something. He squeaks his tiny lungs out.

  “SQUEAK-SQUEAK-SQUEAK!” he repeats over and over, but they can’t figure out what he’s saying. Neither can I, but I think I can guess.

  Later, Mr. and Mrs. Brisbane make a little maze for Humphrey to run. It cheers me up to watch the little guy cleverly racing past all the obstacles. I think it perks him up, too.

  While we’re watching him, Aldo calls. He was worried when he came to clean Room 26 and Humphrey and I weren’t there.

  Good old Aldo. It’s nice to be missed. I miss him, too.

  Even though I’m upset about everything I’ve seen today, when Mr. Brisbane feeds me a cricket, I relax . . . a little.

  * * *

  Humphrey and I are both on edge the next day, especially after Mrs. Brisbane leaves for school. It doesn’t feel right to think of Room 26 without us there.

  It’s so quiet here, I think it’s the perfect time to Float. Doze. Be.

  But it’s not easy to Be when you have an excitable hamster pacing back and forth in his cage all day.

  I love the Brisbanes, but this is not what I had in mind when I decided to explore uncharted territory. Where’s my big adventure? The way things are going, I’ll never become a legend like Sir Hiram Hopwell.

  Humphrey heads into his hut for a nap, so I let my mind roam free, and suddenly, I’m humming a little tune.

  I’ve been yearning for adventure,

  All the livelong day!

  I’ve been yearning for adventure,

  How I long to get away!

  I could scale the highest mountain,

  I could swim the deep blue sea,

  I could have a great adventure,

  An explorer I could be!

  I would like to roam,

  I would like to roam,

  I would like to roam so far away!

  I would like to roam,

  I would like to roam,

  I would like to roam today!

  Mr. Brisbane is busy in other rooms of the house for most of the day, until he decides to clean Humphrey’s cage. That’s when he makes a shocking discovery.

  “Humphrey . . . I don’t think you’ve been eating your food. You’ve been hiding it!” he says.

  I’m upset at that news, too. Usually, Humphrey is as hungry as an owl who’s had bad luck all week.

  I wonder if a juicy cricket would improve his appetite. Probably not.

  “If you don’t eat, you’ll get sick,” Mr. Brisbane says. And when he thinks about it, he wonders if Humphrey is sick.

  “Why didn’t we think of this sooner?” he says. “You need to see a veterinarian!”

  I have no idea what that is, but when Mrs. Brisbane gets home and talks to her husband, I figure out that a veterinarian, or a vet, is a doctor for animals.

  I keep a close eye on my furry neighbor, who looks unhappy, worried and thin.

  When they whisk Humphrey away for his appointment, I feel a little bit sick myself . . . from worry.

  What if there is something wrong with the little fellow? And what if he’s banned from Room 26 forever?

  That would disappoint the big tads. And it would leave me as their only classroom pet!

  Until now, I’ve been hoppy to let Humphrey do the toughest jobs. He has a knack for figuring out the big tads’ problems and how to solve them. How would I manage?

  Truthfully, I’m not sure I am up to it. Not yet.

  * * *

  While the Brisbanes and Humphrey are gone, I try to Float. Doze. Be.

  But how can you relax when your best friend might be sick?

  At last the door opens and Bert Brisbane rolls in with Humphrey’s cage on his lap. Mrs. Brisbane is right behind him with the biggest smile on her face.

  “Og!” she calls. “Humphrey’s fine! He’s completely healthy!”

  “SQUEAK-SQUEAK-SQUEAK-SQUEAK-SQUEAK!” Humphrey adds.

  “Tell Mrs. Payne that!” I suggest loudly.

  “Bert, I’m so glad Mr. Payne and Mandy met us there,” Mrs. Brisbane says. “It was good for them to see for themselves that Humphrey’s not sick.”

  I hope that Mr. Payne will tell Mrs. Payne what the vet said.

  Once Humphrey’s settled back on the table, Mrs. Brisbane brings him all kinds of good things to eat: an apple slice, some raisins and some of his favorite yogurt drops.

  Humphrey gobbles them all up. He doesn’t even bother to store them in his cheek pouches!

  He looks better, too!

  “I guess it’s back to school for the two of you,” Bert says to Humphrey and me. “I’ll miss you here, though.”

  “I think Humphrey should stay here tomorrow,” his wife says. “He can rest and eat normally. Og can go back, since he was never at Mandy’s house, but I want to show Mr. Morales and Mrs. Payne the veterinarian’s report before I bring Humphrey back.”

  I’m hoppy to hear that I’m returning to Room 26. But without Humphrey? That takes some of the hop out of my hoppiness.

  Right before I doze off late that night, I remember the time Granny Greenleaf appointed Jumpin’ Jack spokesfrog for the green frogs. He was chosen to present a request from us to the bullfrogs for some quiet time every day.

  Jack was nervous, but Granny Greenleaf said, “Put your mind to it, and you can do it.”

  I’m nervous about being the only classroom pet in Room 26 tomorrow. I’m not like Humphrey at all, and I haven’t been in school for very long. But I’m going to put my mind to it and try to be helpful in my own way.

  I hope I’m more successful than Jack, because the truth is, the bullfrogs only got noisier. But then, as we know from Sir Hiram Hopwell, bullfrogs are like that everywhere.

  On the Job

  Once, Sir Hiram Hopwell stayed too long up north in the Great Unknown. He fell fast asleep when the temperatures dipped. It was a long, long winter, but one day, a loud cracking noise woke him. The ice was breaking up! Sir Hiram couldn’t wait to get back to his family and friends. He quickly hopped onto a large ice block, but as he floated south, the ice began to melt. He was riding a tiny sliver of ice when he heard a roaring sound. He was heading for a steep waterfall! Sir Hiram had the adventure of his life whooshing down a mountain in that waterfall, and he made it back to the swamp. Now, that’s a hero!

  * * *

  “Where’s Humphrey?” A.J. asks loudly on Thursday morning when he sees that I am the only classroom pet around.

  Heidi gasps. “Did something happen to Humphrey? Where is he?”

  “He’s fine, calm down,” Mrs. Brisbane tells them. “He’s at my house, and the veterinarian said he’s completely healthy.”

  The big tads relax a little, but Garth asks, “Then why is Og here and Humphrey isn’t?”

  I wonder if Mrs. Brisbane is going to say, “Because Mandy’s mom raised a big fuss over nothing.”

  She does not. After all, this whole mess isn’t Mandy’s fault. Maybe it’s not anybody’s fault.

  “Humphrey will be back as soon as Mr. Morales gives the okay,” our teacher says. “I gave him the vet’s report this morning. Meanwhile, my husband is happy to have him at home today.”

  Sayeh glances toward my tank and looks worried. “Won’t Og be lonely without Humphrey?”

  Mrs. Brisbane smiles. “He probably will. But we’ll keep him busy.”

  I miss him already. I miss the squeaky voice. I miss the screechy wheel. Most of all, I miss having such a lively neighbor.

  But I can’t sit here feeling sorry for myself, because I have work to do. One thing I’ve noticed about Humphrey is that he constantly watches and listens to everything that goes on in the c
lassroom.

  I do that, too, but sometimes my mind drifts. But today, I’m as alert as a hungry hawk circling the swamp. I’m determined not to miss a thing.

  When Paul comes in for math class, the first thing he says is “Hi, Og!” But he glances over at the spot where Humphrey’s cage usually sits and adds, “Where’s Humphrey?”

  Mrs. Brisbane explains, and Paul seems satisfied, but he doesn’t budge.

  “I believe it’s rare for humans to get illnesses from pets,” he says. “I’m not sure about hamsters, but I can do some research on that.”

  Mrs. Brisbane nods. “That would be helpful, Paul.”

  He lingers by my tank and then he asks a question. “Excuse me, but when was the last time Og’s tank was cleaned?”

  “I think Miss Loomis cleaned it before Og moved to our classroom,” Mrs. Brisbane says.

  I keep my mouth shut, but I know that Miss Loomis didn’t.

  Paul sniffs. And he sniffs again. “There’s kind of a smell,” he says.

  That’s funny, because I don’t smell anything.

  Mrs. Brisbane joins Paul next to our table and sniffs. “It does smell a little . . . swampy,” she says.

  What’s wrong with that? Nothing says “home” like a nice, swampy smell!

  “The tank probably needs cleaning,” Paul says. “Every month or two it needs cleaning, because frogs shed skin—”

  “Ewww!” was the cry from the big tads.

  Paul shrugs. “It’s just natural, but in a tank, germs can start growing.”

  “Oh, dear,” Mrs. Brisbane says. “That’s not good.”

  Truthfully, I have no idea what they’re talking about, although I now realize that the view from my tank isn’t exactly clear.

  “Do you know how to clean a tank?” Mrs. Brisbane asks.

  “I have a general idea,” Paul says. “But I can find out the exact steps to follow.” He glances around Room 26. “You’ll need a big sink.”