⇐ The Channel’s GigThe Butterfly Effect ⇒
The following night I ate chicken soup for dinner and tried to relax. I was fighting to stay awake, when I heard the voice: “Sorry ‘bout the birds. I got disconnected.”
“I thought you were shot in the back. Are you dead?”
“I was, briefly. But abbots have to pay a heavy price for their transgressions.”
“So, talking to me is your punishment. I thought it was for something I did.”
“Not at all. You’re my ticket out of this mess.”
“What sorta mess is that?”
“I’ll need to back up. After the Nepal incident, I got stuck in a series of incarnations, each one worse than the previous. The bottom was when I came back as a cane toad in Ventura, California.”
“I know how that feels. So tell me the part about getting kissed by the princess.”
“Well, I did get kissed, but it wasn’t all that glamorous.”
“Sounds like it didn’t go too well. What could happen to a toad?”
“It started as a pretty good gig. I learned to follow the dogs around, because their fresh turds attracted the best flies. That made for an easy lunch.”
“I won’t ask how they tasted. But you must know there is no free lunch.”
“I know now. The turds also attract other dogs. One day a dog noticed me and gave me a big lick on my back.”
“That must have been a trip.”
“Once I got over the initial surprise, it actually felt pretty good. The dog started walking around in erratic circles. Soon the other dogs caught on and they all tried to lick me.”
“I suppose too much of a good thing …”
“Exactly. I couldn’t concentrate on the flies with all the interruptions. I had to hide in the bushes and wait for stray insects so I wouldn’t starve to death.”
“So you were like every other toad. Why was that so bad?”
“You have to remember that abbots are accustomed to being catered to. I could have survived that, until some teen age boys found me. They picked me up and took turns licking me.”
“Still no princess. Did they put you back.”
“On the contrary. They built me a little house out of a cardboard box, poked some air holes on the top, and kept me in a bedroom. Every day, they would bring me a few insects and take turns licking me.”
“At least they didn’t shoot you in the back.”
“I wish. Eventually they got tired of the high and turned to Ecstasy instead.”
“OK. So they let you go back into the bushes.”
“Not really. They placed me on a metal pie plate and put me in the microwave. There were a lot of sparks and I got this real bloated feeling. That’s all I remember.”
“Wow, not a fairy tale ending. I’m surprised, though. I though Ecstasy was a Love drug.”
“Oh, they loved what they did to me. They were laughing the whole time.”
I found a frog inside a blue and white
dazzling egg,
Like a small bird’s egg
Of fine, crystalline substance.
Like the egg of the world.
I found it on the bottom of a
River of moving light-water,
Clear and pure, as though distilled.
“Hello!” I thought, “a hidden treasure
In the Holy Water!”
It was exciting.
I picked the egg up and held it in my hand.
Then watched it hatch with delight.
“What a trick!”
The rainbow frog lay exhausted on the stone,
I feared for its life.
I splashed it with water.
The frog did not move –
Almost as if it were dead or sulking –
But after a while it suddenly turned into a life-size man!
He seemed so much bigger than me!
He got inside a parked vehicle and stormed off.
I was amazed; why?
“Why storm off?”
Later I realized my mistake:
You should have kissed the frog…
Hmmm, frogs are better 🙂
http://alchemical-weddings.com/alchemical-weddings/precious-gems-kiss-the-frog
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