Sally and I are brother and sister. On our way home from our last day of 7th grade she asked me “John, when we get home, do you want to explore the woods next to the house?”
“Why not,” I said, not realizing that those words would be a changing point in our lives. We jumped off the bus, raced through the garden, and fought to be the first inside. Sally won and went in first. We dropped our backpacks on the floor and looked to see where our parents were. Mom was reorganizing her recipes in the kitchen; while dad was in the living room watching TV.
“Hey, Dad, can we go into the woods?” Sally asked.
“Ask your mother. Just to let you know, there are severe thunderstorm watches out for our area."
“You can go, but be home by 5:30 sharp for dinner. If it looks like it’s going to rain, start on your way back,” mom screamed from the kitchen.
“Sure,” we replied in chorus already halfway through the door. We ran through the backyard towards the woods. After wandering around, we found a stream.
“Sally, do you want to swim for a while?”
“Fine with me,” so we swam for a little while, until it started getting cloudy.
“John, I think we need to start getting back, it looks like it’s going to rain.”
“All right,” but as we got out I saw a mud frog. “Don’t move Sally, you’ll scare it away.”
“Scare what away?” She whispered.
“The mud frog, I’m trying to catch it.” I snuck up on it and, “I caught it!”
“Good job John, now release it.”
“No, I want to keep it.
“Fine, but put it in your pocket so I don’t have to look at it.”
“It looks like an odd coloring, I said.
“Let’s just go home now.”
On the way home it started raining. That caused the dirt to change into mud. We started running, but I tripped over a tree root. When I landed in a huge pool of mud Sally started laughing.
“I wish I had a rain jacket, I said as I got up. As if by magic, the mud lifted off of me and started spinning in midair. Then, it turned into a jacket and it fell into my hands.
“How did that happen?” she asked.
“I have no idea, but I might as well wear it,” I said putting it on. “It fits just right.”
“Come on, it’s 5:30 now, let’s get home before the rain gets worse,” she said.
We got home fast enough not to get in trouble for being late. Just before we stepped inside I took the jacket off and “it’s melting!”
“What are you talking about?”
“Look, as soon as I took the jacket off it melted into this puddle.”
“Mom is going to kill you for getting mud on the front porch.”
“It’s fine, she won’t mind it,” I said.
“Let’s just get inside.”
After dinner and a lecture about punctuality, it was time for bed. While I was changing I found the frog still sitting in my pocket. I stuffed it in my dresser and went to bed.
By the next, day I hadn’t slept at all. I had a nightmare where the frog had come to me and told me about a special power it gives its holder. It explained how the mud had turned into a jacket.
I put the frog in my pocket and went out with Sally to poke around the yard. There was still a huge pile of mud on the porch from the jacket so I decided to experiment with what the frog told me. I focused all my thoughts and said,”I wish I could move this mud off the porch.” Just then, I instinctively moved my right hand up and the mud started floating above the porch following my hand. I moved it off the porch and closed my hand into a fist and it fell to the ground.
After about an hour it started raining gently. We went inside for lunch so we wouldn’t get in trouble for being in the rain. While we ate, the rain kept getting harder and harder.
Just before the four of us finished eating, everyone heard a loud and low rumble, like a train. We all looked out the window to see what it was and a brown tornado appeared. Then I heard the frog’s voice from my dream come piercing into my head, “It is full of mud. Take control of it, use the power.” The twister was at least half a mile wide and heading straight for us. I got the frog out of my pocket and put it in my left hand to take control of the tornado with my right. The entire time my parents and sister were yelling at me to get under the table with them. I said, "I wish I could control the tornado.” Then when I held my palm up and open towards the tornado, and because of the mud it contained, it stopped! I moved my hand up and the tornado went up. With all my strength I sent it up until I couldn’t see it. Then I closed my hand into a fist and the tornado collapsed. Within seconds it was raining mud. We fed the frog and it became the family pet.