*Beep* *Beep* *Beep* Giana groaned, and rolled over. She nearly destroyed her alarm clock, slamming it to turn it off, and stumbled out of her room. She rubbed her eyes sleepily, and checked the calendar. August 7th. First day of babysitting. First day of babysitting! FIRST DAY OF BABYSITTING! Shoot. I’m gonna be late! Giana thought frantically, tugging her clothes on, I can’t leave a bad impression!

Giana tore her room apart looking for her car keys. She found them under the pile of laundry she had been putting off for weeks, and held it up like a trophy. And with a glance at the clock, she bolted out the door. She started the engine and drove as fast as possible without actually breaking the law. 

“175, 175, 175, Aardvark Street…where’s 175!?” Giana’s eyes darted around, trying to find the address, “I’m already eight minutes late!” After another minute, Giana’s eyes fell on a yellow house with purple flowers winding up the sides. The grass was wild, overgrown, and unkept. It seemed like a jungle. “Oh dear,” Giana said, making her way through. She knocked on the door, praying they wouldn’t be mad that she was ten minutes late. The door opened and a large man with an oily mustache peered down. 

“Are you the babysitter?” He said, rubbing his eyes.  

“Y-yes,” Giana replied. 

“Mary! The sitter’s here!” He yelled. Another person came rushing out, a woman with auburn hair and glassy blue eyes. 

“Oh! Hello dear! Come! Come in! Here, you can meet the children! Here’s Oliver! He’s fourteen years old.” She said, gesturing towards a boy with brunette hair, and green eyes. “This is Raven, they’re eleven.” Raven had dark eyes and a black wolf cut. They had a purple necklace on top of a black outfit. “And here is our trouble maker, Niki.” Niki had curly blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. “She’s only eight.”

“Hihihihihi!” She jumped about. 

“Oh gosh. This will be lovely.” Giana sighed. The parents left, and it was just them four. “Hey! I’m Giana, your new babysitter!” There was silence. The kids stared at her blankly. “So, which one of you guys is the baby? I need to sit on you!” The kids gave her strange expressions. “Get it? Like babysitter? You sit on the baby? Sitter? Get it…? Ah, nevermind.” 

“Are you okay?” Raven asked, concerned. Giana cleared her throat and ignored the question. 

“So…do you wanna play a game?” 

      ***

After seven rounds of hide and seek and a bunch of popsicle sticks, it was time for dinner. 

“I want MacNCheese!” Niki said.

“Ugh! That’s so boring and gross!” Oliver groaned. “I want a burger.” 

“I want to eat dead souls for dinner.” Raven mumbled. 

“What was that?” Giana said. 

“Nothing.” Raven replied. 

“Haha, you’re so funny, Raven! She’s joking. She does that a lot.” Niki giggled, ”Anyways, let’s have MacNCheese!”

“No! Burgers!” Oliver retorted. 

“MAC N CHEESE!”

“BURGERS!”

“DON’T MAKE ME USE THE KNIFE!”

They had MacNCheese. “Okay…haha. Let’s, um, go to bed now!” Giana smiled. Everyone, go brush your teeth!” They went reluctantly. 

“I don’t wanna!” Niki pouted. 

“Oh yeah? Well if you do, you get magic powers from the ancient frog goddesses!” Giana said to Niki. 

“OMG! Really?” Niki raced to the bathroom. Giana chuckled, and went into their bedroom. Once they were finished, they got into bed sleepily. Gianna tucked them under the covers, and turned off the light. 

“Goodnight!” She whispered. 

“Wait!” A voice called from the darkness, “I… I don’t wanna go to sleep.”

Giana sighed. “Niki…” She went back into the room, “Why don’t I tell you guys a story?”

“Yes! Yes!” The kids cheered. 

“Once upon a time there was a green frog. But this frog wasn’t any normal frog, he was a magical frog. He lived on a large green lily pad in a lake near a local village. Everyone in the village knew that he was magical, but no one knew what his power was. Anyone that went on a journey to go find out, never came back to tell the tale. After a certain while, people just… stopped looking. They figured whatever everyone else found was bad, otherwise they would have come back, and they didn’t want to take that chance. But one day, one brave soul gathered a group of pioneers and set out to discover this magical frog’s powers. Grayson and his comrades set out around midday, hiking up the hill and then back down. After a hard day, they set up camp a little over a mile south of the lake. They had planned to wake up bright and early, in fact, they did wake up bright and early… for them. It was 10:00. They traveled through the harsh conditions, until they reached the lake. In the middle of the glassy still water was a singular lilypad with a small green frog perched upon it. They all surrounded it, and planned to capture the frog. 

‘Three, two, one, go!’ Grayson shouted. They all threw ropes to the frog. But suddenly, the frog stuck out his tongue and fried all of the ropes. And once again, the frog stuck out his tongue, and grabbed all of the people, except Grayson, in one grasp! His tongue was so big, it could go on for miles! But that wasn’t all. It was also…electrick! He zapped all of the people, and threw them back. Then everything was quiet again, the lake was still, except for one ripple in the water. Grayson knew he had to gain the frogs’ trust. 

He shouted ‘Hello Mr. Frog! I am from the village south of here! Our village had heard rumors of you, this wonderful, mysterious, magical frog! But most of us just believed it was a myth! So I, this brave, courageous, generous, and adventurous person gathered a group of comrades and settled out on this foreign journey! So would you please come back to the village with me? You will be the town’s most prized possession!’

‘Well. That speech was well improvised. I will come back with you to the village… on one condition. I am not brought by force, and I will not be humiliated, or hurt back in your village. And if you even try to hurt me, I will zap all of you with my tongue. Got it?’ The frog asked. 

Grayson thought about it. He knew that if he brought the frog back, he would be a hero! So he quickly agreed to the frog’s terms, but planned to go against them later. When they arrived in the village, everyone crowded among the frogs and Grayson, shooting questions at them. The one question that seemed to stick out was, ‘What’s the point of you being here?’ 

The frog answered, ‘I could be used for two things. One a weapon. Two a prized possession to make your village seem better than all of the other nearby villages. However if I am not treated with the same respect and equality as every other human here, I will leave. And if you try to stop me, you will be hurt by the power of my zap!’

So, from there on, the frog  was treated with the utmost respect and he was a very valuable resource,” Gianna finished. She looked at the children. Raven was already fast asleep. “So what do you guys think the lesson was?”

“Always treat someone with the same respect you want to be treated with,” Oliver suggested. 

“Yes! Good job Oliver!”

“Even slimy frogs?” Nikki asked.

“Even slimy frogs,” Gianna booked Nikki on the nose, “Alright, Goodnight you guys!! Sleep tight!”

“Don’t let the bedbugs bite!” Nikki responded.

Citations:

https://www.istockphoto.com/illustrations/frog-and-lily-pad-cartoons