Gerald was a pink toad. He knew it. His
neighbors knew it. It was no big deal. There were at least three
off-pink toads in the same neighborhood, but it would be stretching
the truth a bit to call these toad neighbors pink. Actually they
were pink only around their toes, mouth, and eyes. The rest of
their bodies were the same color as all the other toads that lived
nearby.
Now back to this business about Gerald also
being a pink frog. There were lots of frogs in the same neighborhood.
They were, almost all of them, green. There were a few frogs that
were gray with spots, but the majority was green. It was said
that farther south in Latin America there were even red, yellow,
and blue frogs (primary colors). No one could truthfully say that
they knew of a pink frog. There were no pink frogs.
Let's face it; Gerald was a toad. He was
a pink toad. But Gerald preferred to be called a frog. And therein
lay the problem. Frogs are green. Gerald was pink. Frogs live
in or near the water. Gerald hated the water. He didn't even like
to get his feet wet. A frog's house is a lily pad. A toad's house
is a toadstool. Gerald didn't like the word toadstool. He preferred
to call his house a mushroom, portabella was his favorite; and
pretend that it was a lily pad. A frog's skin is wet and smooth.
A toad's skin is dry and rough with warts.
Now mind you, there are some things that
frogs and toads have in common. Frogs hop. Toads hop. Frogs croak.
Toads croak. Frogs like warm weather. Toads like warm weather.
Frogs like to eat flies. Toads like to eat flies. Little frogs
are tadpoles. Little toads are tadpoles. If a princess kisses
a frog, it might turn into a handsome prince. If a princess kisses
a toad, the odds are just as good that it might also turn into
a handsome prince.
Despite the fact that Gerald could hop and
croak, liked warm weather, ate flies, was once a tadpole, and
even was a potential prince if kissed; he was not totally accepted
by the frogs. To complicate matters, not all the other toads accepted
Gerald as one of their own. The gray colored toad neighbors agreed
that he was likeable enough for a toad even though he liked to
call himself a frog. The real problem with Gerald was that he
was just too darn pink. They were uncomfortable being seen with
him.
Gerald sensed his neighbors' subtle non-acceptance
of him by the little things that never seemed to occur in his
life. No one ever invited him over to share a fly. No one ever
asked him to spend an evening croaking with the boys. No one ever
came over to spend a rainy afternoon under his mushroom. He loved
tadpoles; but when the little ones saw him coming, they would
swim and hide. He certainly had no hopes that a princess would
kiss a toad in his neighborhood, especially not a pink toad.
At five years of age (about twenty-five
in people years), Gerald had resigned himself to accept the realities
of his life. Then one day something unexpected happened in the
neighborhood. Miss Gingrich and her high school biology class
had selected Gerald's neighborhood as the site of her spring biology
field trip. The students' assignment was to find toads, tadpoles,
and frogs and identify them. You can imagine Miss Gringrich's
surprise when Sissy Truit, her numera una double A-plus
student, reported that she had found a very pink toad.
The excitement of the discovery quickly
rippled through the members of the field trip as they rushed to
view the very pink toad. Of course the very pink toad was Gerald,
and at first he was very frightened by all the sudden attention.
As the students gathered around Gerald's portabella, they took
notes and sketches of this significant find. They all marveled
at his shade of pink and his rainbow hue of warts. It was not
lost upon them that the discovery of Gerald was the first confirmed
report of a pink toad.
The more Gerald listened to the students
chatter about his uniqueness, the more relaxed he became. He heard
comments such as "Cool!" "Sweet!"" Awesome!"
and "Hey Dude! Check this out!" The other frogs and
toads heard the commotion and came hopping to see what was happening.
As they gathered and listened to Miss Gingrich and her students
list the unusual qualities of Gerald, the frogs and toads began
to realize how special Gerald really was. Gerald himself began
to puff with pride, and was unable to stifle a croak or two. The
other frogs and toads began to croak their approval.
Despite the bedlam of croaking, Miss Gringrich
was able to cell phone the local newspapers and television stations
of the discovery. Within hours, Gerald was the topic of conversation
from Mongolia to Mozambique. The other toads and frogs hopped
back to their lily pads and toad stools and spread the news through
the neighborhood about the now famous Gerald. Miss Gringrich was
named Teacher of the Year, and she gave all her biology students
A's for their field trip reports.
Gerald's life had been turned around.