It was a freezing winter night, and watching the humans enjoying the warmth of sitting by the fire in cozy homes always kept us curious and wanting for comfort. The lady of the house would bring a pot of warm water to heat up on the fire for the daily chores.
The house was moderately warm and in the garden it was warm by the fire. As dusk advances, the family moves inside after the tea and snuggle into the cuddly interiors, leaving the glimmering hot coal outside to glow through the night. He watched this through the season, knitting up ideas to sneak into the interiors to get the taste of just one comfortable night.
We are a small army of wood frogs that has been living in a mud puddle next to the house for generations. Although, our cold blooded bodies can sail through the winters but, the ways of the humans often charmed us, especially him. The opportunity knocked in and one day and the lady left a pot of water on warm gleaming pile of cinders outside. Soon the lights were out and the family snuggled into beds.
The warmth from the cinders casted a spell that drove him towards it hop by hop. He stood by the warm orange hue and snugged into the garden chair imitating the ways of the household. The bright orange gleam of the cinders was a false endorsement. It was not enough to beat the chilly frozen night. All he had was a warm face and frozen back.
The pot of water caught his attention that is one big pot of tepid water. What a treat it would be to sink into a pool of warm water. Blinded by the drive for more comfort, he hopped into the water without giving a thought to the consequences. Ahh! The frog could feel the heavens; he could spend his entire life sunk in there. Minutes passed by and his cold blooded body adjusted the temperatures to that of the pot to reach an equilibrium with the ambience, the water no longer felt warm now. He hopped out frowning, fanned the cinders and dived back in. The heat picked up and he had an another spell of warm dunk. He was so used to the relaxed ambience and comfortable temperatures that hopping out to fan the air was now a task. To close this chapter of fanning now and then, he hopped out and slid the wooden plank close to hearth which was blocking the way of the wind to blow past the cinders. The scheme worked to make way for the air to blow and he hopped back in. Now there was no need to hop out. Every few minutes the chilled breeze would kindle up the cinders rising the temperature of the water in the pot. Soon, the hot coal fired and the temperatures started to pick up at a faster rate. The frog was happy with the heat “It feels like a noon in the summers amidst this frozen winter night” How ingenious I am. I truly deserve an applause", he said to himself. The fire went out and picked up off and on and the water had reached steeping temperatures now. The worked out, relaxed frog was too drowsy to notice the patterns. Soon the fire got a steady and the water was now close to boiling. Doped by the comfort and exhausted by the effort put in seeking that comfort, the frog was oblivion of the surroundings. Floating in the deadly water which was soon to turn into a frog broth, he could never care less of himself. The water had already started boiling when the frog has damaged nerves to even feel all that was going around; he wanted to hop out but could not muster the energy required. The frog was boiled to death, but the fire that he kindled had no plans to stop. The water boiled off through the night drying out the pot leaving the charred piece of metal on the heat with indistinguishable traces of the frog on it. Even the pot was of no use to the lady or anyone that we know of.
However the pot was, and still is just a piece of metal, it was the gentle simmer from the cinders, the pool of water and the hurdled blow of breeze that kept it thriving. It was not his job to kindle the fire or to make way for the wind. Just the same way , its not in your best interests to meddle with nature. Earth is just a planet in the universe, its the heat from the sun, the waters from the rain and the ocean that have kept the life thriving.
Do you think the sequence of events justifies the deeds of the frog? Do you find him guilty of the consequences? We really do not, because when we watch your lifestyle where you cannot afford to compromise on your wants, how can the frog be wrong. It is just that for you humans the pot is too big to boil off, and when the point of inflection will reach there will be no one to blame for the consequences. At least the frog hopped alone, unlike you have gotten all the species of the planet aboard to sail or sink together.
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