Sam Saves The Day

Four frogs were hanging out together on a lily pad in a pond. The day was hot. The frogs had just finished up having a swim but they weren’t quite ready to jump back in the water and head to shore. 

The four frogs hung out fairly often. Usually during this period after their swims they would chat about this and that but for some reason, today, no one really had anything to talk about. 

They all sat drying in the sun together for quite a while. They had been friends for so long -- it seems they must have exhausted all conversation topics. 

At one point Sam, the newest member of the friend group (and feeling some pressure to be the one to spark a conversation), thought she had an idea. She opened her mouth and just as she was about to say something she decided, on second thought, that she didn’t really want to discuss the topic she thought of. 

But now, her mouth was open. All the other frogs were staring at her, expecting her to speak. But how could she do that? She had nothing. She herself had already lost interest in her own topic and it hadn’t even left her mouth yet. 

Oh gosh, what was Sam going to do now? How was she going to get out of this embarrassing jam? She kept sitting with her mouth open for what must have been less than a second but what felt like several hours with all the frogs expecting her to say something. 

Think Sam, think... Sam thought. 

Unfortunately she was thinking only to herself and not to all the other frogs. Which did not help her current problem. 

“What’s up Sam? Seems like you have something on your mind.” Offered Marcus, the oldest frog of the group. 

Along with being the oldest, Marcus was also the nicest and most empathetic of the friend group. He always wanted people to feel welcome and free and able to talk about whatever they wanted to talk about. 

This niceness however, really shone a light on Sam that was even brighter than before. Her mouth was still open and now that a direct question had been asked of her she couldn’t just close it now without saying anything. The time for that has long passed. What a fucking mess this turned out to be. 

But it was time, she had no choice, she’s just going to say whatever it is that comes out of her head right now. It doesn’t matter, just go for it, even if it’s bad everyone can laugh at her for a little bit and then this whole day will be over. Here goes nothing —

“Oh, um, never-mind actually... I figured it out...” 

The other frogs accepted this and went back to thinking about other things they could use to spark a conversation. 

Sam closed her mouth. Relieved that she was no longer the center of attention. The feeling that washed over her was better than drinking an ice-cold soda, on a hot day, in a cool movie theater. She had never felt such calmness in her life. That chapter is closed, finally. 

“Hey... does anyone want to see a movie?”

Sam said, involuntarily. Where did that come from? The idea had taken her completely by surprise. She did want to see a movie though, that was a good idea. 

"Yes!" 

"Yes!"

"Absolutely!" added Marcus, "Great idea, Sam!"

The four frogs headed back to shore. 

"That was so easy," Sam thought, as she went back to shore. Now, all she had to do was convince her friends to go see the movie that she wanted to see (you know, the one that just came out this weekend), and also remember that in the future, if she ever has nothing else to say, she can just suggest everyone go see a movie.

Wow! What a productive day!