The shrouded frog

The shrouded frog

The day had come for the dreaded ceremony and all she could do was hiccup the tears back. She was not at any point okay with what was to happen today but had been informed there was no way around it. If she wanted to keep her GPA at such a perfectionist status she had to perform the autopsy and it had to be today or she would not receive credit and wouldn't be allowed to continue in the program. She had been accepted into a summer science program but this was one of the requirements, not to mention she wouldn't graduate without it. 

 She awoke as normal and had performed most of her morning rituals as if she was riding along an assembly line. As she was about to leave her bedroom that was desperately seeking a makeover, which was a battle for another day, she tripped slightly on the bathroom rug, and in trying to catch herself she stubbed her little toe on the bed leg, she toppled over to the floor. She was so nervous for today and she was doing so good, now with tears in her eyes, she was sure she had broken her little baby toe. She sat there rubbing her foot as her mother opened the door, sticking her head in, with her gloriously white-toothed smile that always made her feel better.  Not today, things were too serious and now she had injured herself. Maybe she shouldn't go. She looked up whipping her cheek “Mom this isn't fair, why are they making me do this?”

“Hon if you think you are going to be a doctor someday then you better get used to doing yucky stuff like opening up a dead frog and exploring the inside so you can learn the body. It does seem a little over the top sometimes but how else are we going to gather information and facts if we don't dive right in?”

“Yeah but mom this is stupid it is just a slimy frog, what am I going to learn from a stinky slimy frog?” she pouted as she rose from the floor.

“Yes ma'am,  it starts with a frog and then works up to the human body. You have to do it in steps so you can learn first hand, and if you think you're going to have issues with a little frog think how bad it would be if they put you in front of a cadaver. You have to experience it to learn the true flesh of it all, and when we learn little by little we gain more knowledge.  Now hurry your breakfast is getting cold.”

Melanie had been dreading this day for so many years, ever since the day her brother came home and bragged about his dissection day and how they all ended up in a frog body part fight. The whole class was in detention for a week. This is the very reason she ditched the day her class had dissected and now it was morning and her last chance at getting the credit and moving on. 

She walked down the hallway and was almost at the stairs when her little brother jumped from around the corner and scared her, in the startling jump she hit the wall with her sore toe. “OUCH, Conner why are you up?  It's Saturday go back to bed, you silly kid?” She didn’t even yell at him and his face showed great sorrow that her reaction wasn't more, but she had too much to think about today.

Sitting at the kitchen counter where she and her brothers had eaten every weekday breakfast she moved her pancakes around soaking up all the syrup on the plate. “I'm so nervous mom, what if I cant do it?”

“Nonsense we have gone over this too many times for you to falter in the least. Just go in there as rehearsed and get it done.” She tipped her cup up and winked at her. “Remember what your grandmother told you about her issues,  look at her now! She is one of the top surgeons at not one hospital but three! And you have so many more advantages than what granny had when she was your age. Now quite playing, finish up and get your stuff so you are not late.”

The whole car ride felt like she was on a slowly moving track like the ones at the airport that they used to play on while waiting for the plane every year when they would go visit their grandparents. Only it seemed as if they slowed them in anticipation of today's events. She wanted to jump out of the car at every stoplight and stop sign.  The last mile to the school was the worst, she felt her breathing catch and she gasped a few times. She closed her eyes, said a silent prayer, and felt the car stop. They were there and now all she had to do was open the door and go in. She would be the only one in the lab today and she wasn't nervous but felt a bit uneasy at the thought of it being alone in the lab, just her and the frog that she was about to be forced to mutilate. She reached out for the door handle feeling around with her eyes closed still she squeezed them shut and took a heavy breath.

“Okay have a great morning I'll be here around lunch, I'm sure you will be very hungry and we can go somewhere special”, she winked her famous open mouth wink and Melanie got out of the car struggling to move forward when she heard from across the courtyard. “Good morning Ms. White I'm glad to see you this morning. We have a new student that is going to start attending next week and she too needs to complete the frog assassination as well”, he said with a chuckle but Melanie was not impressed. She waited for Mr. Crocklan to catch up. 

“Where is the new student coming from?”

“She is the daughter of one of my oldest friends and they are moving back home from the city, I'm so excited although wish that circumstances were different. Anyway, they will be here in about 15 minutes, I'll help you get everything ready.”

It was really weird to be in the school with the halls so empty and quiet. Usually, the noise was so deafening that reasonable conversations were almost impossible. The halls were so big, but you wouldn't know that during a period change, especially during lunches.

Entering the room Mr. Croclan turned on the lights even though the sunlight was always shining brilliantly in through the bulking metal blinds hanging in the window. He never opened them and she wasn't sure why but didn't care too much today she just wanted to get the credit that was deserved and get out of there.

Melanie went into the stock closet and gathered all the objects needed to perform this dissection, in her mind she was still calling it an autopsy, her granny had given her a few pointers to help her along the way and this was the one she was most impressed with. Entering the classroom with all the items she saw the new student was coming her way and the two men standing by the white erase board doing strange hand gestures with each other, she never knew Mr. Crocklan was so cool. 

“Hi, I'm Gloria and my family is moving here to take care of my grandparents and I missed out on this incredibly gruesome ritual and have been since notified that I have to have it on my academic record, so when I heard that Daniel, oops I mean Mr. Crocklan was going to have his best student here on a Saturday I couldn't pass up the opportunity. He assured me that you were a pro!”

“I wouldn't say I am a pro at this assassination stuff, but I know it is something I have to do so I'm here to get it done.” Her face was very somber and now with someone here to watch her she was even more nervous.

Mr. Crocklan and Gloria's father came across the room towards the girls and both simultaneously asked the girls if they needed any help or if it was okay if they went off to the gym to shoot some hoops. The girls agreed that they would be fine and they would take the necessary photos providing evidence of their work.

The girls became comfortable almost instantly and jumped right into the dissection, they both knew every step to be taken and in great amazement to them both they enjoyed every moment. They drew out the necessary diagram labeling all the main parts. They both agreed the tongue was so cool, and they wondered if this frog had been a product of a gender change. They had talked about how some frogs change in different settings and how weird that would be to wake up as a boy someday just because of stimulations in the environment.

Melanie stood and retrieved a plastic bag from her backpack on the chair. She started pulling out the items she had brought there was a cheesecloth from her mother's linen drawer in the pantry and a few oils that she had read were used in ancient burials. Melanie had planned this all in her head and never imagined she would be sharing the moment. Gloria looked at her in disbelief but she knew what Melanie was about to do. Without words or sound, Gloria started preparing the body removing the pins they had used to keep the skin spread and Melanie sprinkled some oils.  They did not help with the pungent smell of the formaldehyde that had filled the room, but it was a noticeable difference any way that smell wasn't easy to get rid of. They poked all the organs that were salvageable back into the frog's body, which was much larger than either girl had anticipated. They looked at each other, “I think we should barry this guy outside in the courtyard”, Melanie said as she was laying the cloth out to wrap the stiff and lifeless body of Mr. Ribbit the frog in. They had been referring to him as Mr. Ribbit, which seemed fitting for the moment. They giggled a bit when they layed Mr. Ribbit into the shoebox that they found in the backroom and then headed towards the courtyard.

As they walked down the vastly empty hall they could hear the echo of the guys in the gymnasium. “That is amazing”,  Melanie said “I didn't know it to be possible to hear anything from the gym all the way here on the other side of the building.” 

 The two of them emerged from the building into the warm sunshine and walked the courtyard until they found a respectable and easy place to dig, the only thing they could find for digging into the earth was a small spade shovel and a three-pronged hand rake with sharp spikey ends that looked perfect for breaking the surface. There were some new flowers over by some tables that were always in use and they decided that this would be the place they would meet for lunch, crossing their fingers that they would share the same lunch period. Melanie had the perfect blanket they could use and suddenly she was actually feeling excited about lunches this year. 

They dug a big enough hole towards the middle of the flower patch. They were both on their knees and when the whole was big enough Melanie lifted Mr. Ribbit out and tossed the box aside. Gloria offered a hand but Melanie needed to do this, she needed to be the one who put this glorious frog in the ground to rest, he had done an amazing job even if his only job was to die and be cut apart.  He taught them all they needed to know and both girls were very pleased with the work they had performed. As Melanie lay Mr. Ribbit into the ground she said, “Thank you Mr. Ribbit for a respectable job your life has been. I am thankful that I had this opportunity with my new best friend even if I had to come to school on a Saturday.” 

“Well, the new best friend I am also glad that I had this experience and I can't wait to explore the world with you. I was really sad to leave my friends in the city but the Universe has brought me right here to you so I am not so sad now!” 

Melanie lay Mr. Ribbit down and started saying the famous words that are at the end of every funeral, “ashes to ashes” as she threw the first handful of dirt onto the hole. The two of them pushed the dirt over the hole and patted the earth flat. They both rolled over on their backs and lay there on the ground looking up into the sky until they heard the purr of an engine. Sitting up Melanie saw her mother's car coming towards them and she remembered her invitation for lunch as she stood she felt her stomach rumble and she ran toward the car. , “Mom can my new friend come and eat lunch with us?” 

Her mother stopped the car, got out,t and walked over to the girls, “What are ya doing out here, aren't you supposed to be mutilating a pour little frogger?” 

Gloria stood up and introduced herself to Melanie's mother and then they all walked into the building hearing the guy's laughter as they went to the gym to see if they were also hungry.  From that day on a new family was formed, they were all inseparable and referred to themselves as the Ribbit assassins.