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Clarence's Summer
Leap
by Bob Meier
illustrated by
Jan Meier
Clarence, Dusty and Penelope
held hands in a circle as they floated on a lily pad. Gently
gliding toward the shore, they stared together at the mosquitoes
in the moonlight. "What a terrific summer this has been!"
Clarence spoke out in the cool summer air. The others sat in
silence and nodded their heads, enjoying a moment they wished
would never end. You see, their cousin Clarence would be
leaving tonight on a journey to a distant land.
A loud honking sound rang
out across the lake, breaking the peaceful calm of the evening.
It was a sound powerful enough to bring the summer to a close.
It was the distinctive sound of a turtle taxi, waiting to take
Clarence home.
" HONK HONK," said
the turtle, as he polished his shell beneath the glow of
lightning bugs. "Come on you little froglet; I haven't got all
evening," shouted a grumpy Mr. Turtle.
Clarence leaped off his lily
pad with a treasured photograph of his parents tucked beneath
his arms. "Fried toad squash, it's my ride!" he shouted.
The three froglets quickly
huddled in a circle sharing one last summer memory. "Gosh, I
sure am gonna miss you guys" Clarence said with a sniffle as he
removed his wire rimmed glasses to dry his eyes.
"Don't worry, Clarence;
there'll be plenty of summers for swatin' flies" replied Dusty.
"And just remember that we
love you Clarence" Penelope added with a sweet smile.
"Here I come Mr. Turtle.
Sorry to keep you waiting," Clarence shouted.
"Wait, Clarence; don't
forget your Alligator bags!", Penelope cried out with
excitement.
Clarence quickly turned his
head only to find Dusty and Penelope standing behind him holding
his bags.
"Gosh Dog! How silly of me
to forget my belongings. Perhaps a part of me wants to stay.
Well, I'll miss you both," Clarence said as he threw his arms
around his cousins one last time. After a lengthy embrace
Clarence was officially on his way.
"Now Clarence, I can only
take you as far as the island," blurted the Turtle. "I'm
getting much to old to make the full journey. You might say I'm
running out of gas".
Keeping this in mind,
Clarence hopped on the turtle's back feeling a little nervous
about his trip. A familiar voice kept creeping into Clarence's
head. Over and over he could hear his mother warning him never
to cross the island alone. " It's a dark and dangerous place
for little frogs," she would say. "Once a friend of your Grand
Pappy's crossed the island and when he returned he couldn't
speak or even catch a fly.
Poor Clarence had no other
way to return home. Flying was just too expensive and besides
his glasses would fog up whenever he leaped through the air.
As the sun began to shine
over the lake the next day, a distant cry could be heard.
Clarence jumped up on the turtle's back and yelled "Oh, Flying
Fish Sticks, I miss my friends". Clarence would shout Flying
Fish Sticks whenever he was nervous or sad. I think Clarence was
sad. Everyone was a little sad today.
On the shore Dusty could be
seen removing his bandanna to wipe Penelope's eyes. "Please
don't cry, Penelope," said Dusty." Just think of all the good
times we had with Clarence. How he used to make us laugh and
tell us bedtime stories. And besides, if you keep crying you'll
ruin your new daisy petal dress". Penelope closed her eyes
tightly and thought of Clarence. After a few seconds her tears
of sadness quickly turned to droplets of joy.
"Well, here we are,
Clarence," said the turtle as he placed Clarence's luggage under
a big old shade tree on the island. "That will cost you two
porcupine hairs". Clarence handed the turtle two porcupine
hairs and a jar full of bugs and told him to keep the change.
"Gee, thanks, Clarence," said the turtle as he set off into the
darkness. Clarence watched the turtle grow smaller and smaller
in the distance, until he became just a tiny speck. Clarence
was now all alone with his thoughts.
Stretching his arms high
over his head Clarence let out a loud yawn. "I'm sleepy, Mama,"
he said in a soft voice as he placed the picture of his parents
upon a tree stump. "Maybe I'll take a nap."
 "Click, click " went the
latches to Clarence's alligator bag. Clarence dug his hand to
the bottom of the bag and pulled out his spider web hammock and
favorite night shirt. A few minutes later Clarence's head was
filled with dreams. Sweet dreams of returning home.
Now Clarence slept for what
seemed to be days until a strange noise in the night woke him
up. "RIB-BUTT, who's there?" Clarence shouted in his
deepest frog voice. "RIB-BUTT,
RIB-BUTT,
RIB-BUTT, who is it?" A stream of light came from the
woods and shined in Clarence's eyes. "Flying Fish Sticks!"
Clarence yelled as he covered his eyes in fear.
As the light grew closer the
shadowy image of a boy appeared. It was a dark and scary shadow
holding a flashlight and a red polka dotted shoe box. Clarence
sat motionless as he felt a hand squeeze at his sides and lift
him up in the air. Plunk! Crash! Boom!
Clarence saw stars as he and his belongings were thrown
carelessly into the box.
The boy ran lightening fast
with his prize, toward his bicycle resting against a tree. He
tossed the shoe box in the basket secured to his handlebars and
boosted himself up onto his bike.
Like a gust of wind he took
off down a dirt path cut through the woods. Barely able to
control his bike, he dangled his feet at each side as the
peddles went round and round. His yellow bike soared through the
air. His license plate flapped in the wind. "Stevie", it read.
I believe that was his name.
Meanwhile, Clarence was
tumbling and fumbling, tossing and turning at even the slightest
bump. It was even worse than the Tadpole Twister ride he rode
at the fairgrounds last summer. Just as Clarence slid on his
belly into a corner of the box, the ride began to come to an
end.
Stevie left his bicycle on
the front lawn and ran into the house with his shoe box by his
side.
"And what do we have here,
young man?" asked Stevie's mom, Sarah, at the front door.
Stevie skidded to a stop at
the foot of the stairs, surprised to see his mom. "Oh, nuthing
Mom, just some pebbles and junk I'm collecting."
"Okay, well go up stairs and
wash up. Dinner will be ready in 15 minutes."
"Whew! That was a close
one," Stevie thought to himself as he headed for his room.
Stevie sat at the edge of
his bed and slid back the lid to the box. Just enough so he
could peek inside at Clarence. Slowly he put his eye up to the
box and looked inside. Clarence shook in fear as the huge
eyeball stared down at him. "I am not afraid, I am not
afraid," Clarence mumbled to himself. Still the eyeball watched
over him. "Rib-but Rib-but I am not afraid!" screamed Clarence
at the top of his lungs.
Clarence's scream frightened
Stevie so much that he dropped the box, bouncing Clarence onto
the bed. Clarence bounced up and down on the mattress five or
six times before coming to a stop on a fluffy pillow. "I'm
sorry I dropped you, little froggie," Stevie said as he came out
from behind the window curtains.
Stevie opened up his top
dresser drawer and carefully placed Clarence inside. "Here you
go, little frog. I think you'll find it cozy in here. Now I
have to go eat my dinner. Oh, don't worry; I'll bring you back
something good to eat."
After a few minutes Clarence
began to realize that he wasn't in danger. Clarence jumped
around Stevie's room looking everything over. He was really
excited about all the books Stevie had, especially the
encyclopedias. Clarence loved to read encyclopedias.
After dinner Clarence and
Stevie played for a while. They played hide and seek, go fish,
and stared out Stevie's telescope at the stars. Stevie even put
Clarence in his jet fighter airplane and flew him around the
room. It didn't take long for Clarence and Stevie to become
good friends.
At first sight of the sun
the next morning, Stevie jumped out of bed. "Wake up, frogger,"
Stevie announced as he shook Clarence wildly. "Wake up, wake
up, it's a happy day to go out and play."
Stevie quickly dressed
himself for breakfast. He searched all his pockets for a place
to hide his little pal so he could go, too. "Now, froggie I'm
gonna put you in my sweater pocket so you won't get squashed.
And please don't make any sounds 'cause my Momma might hear
you."
"Good morning sleepy head,
did you sleep well?" asked Stevie's mom.
"Yes Momma," Stevie replied
as he let out a big yawn. Everything was going as planned until
Momma poured the orange juice. Just as it swished over the
bottom of the glass Clarence let out a loud sneeze. "Ah -Ah - Ah
- Ah, Rib-But!" Stevie looked so surprised. He had no idea
that his friend was allergic to the color orange.
"Stevie, are you feeling all
right?" his mother asked.
"Yes, Momma," he replied as
he sunk deep into his chair.
"Well, I hope you're not
getting sick, especially with school starting next week."
Stevie quickly finished his
plate and ran for the back door. "Yippie yea, yippie yea, now
we can play," Stevie yelled as he leaped off the steps into the
yard.
Stevie grabbed his bike out
of the garage and placed an old blanket in the basket. "Let's
go, froggie, we have so much to do," Stevie said as he placed
Clarence in the basket.
Stevie peddled hard through
the center of town, as little Clarence laid back in his blanket
and enjoyed the ride. "Over there is my school and right down
that street is Mr. Thompson's candy store," Stevie pointed out
to his little green friend. Clarence sat up and leaned over the
basket, smiling at all the beautiful sights and waving at all
the people.
Stevie wheeled into Dewdrop
Park. There they lay in the grass and gazed up at the clouds.
"That one looks like a big googly spider," Stevie said as a
fluffy cloud drifted by. "And that one sort of looks like a
baseball," Stevie added.
Clarence had all of his
attention focused on a cloud way off in the distance. It was a
soft and gentle cloud that reminded him of his sister Julia.
"Rib-but, Rib-but, I miss my family," Clarence cried out.
"Huh? Frogger, did you say
something?" Stevie questioned as he patted little Clarence on
the head. "I wish you were a little boy like me, so we could
talk and dig for worms and throw balls and things," Stevie said
to Clarence. "Gee, even though, you're still my best friend in
the whole wide world."
The next few days were
filled with fun and games. Clarence and Stevie hiked in the
woods, spied on grownups, licked ice cream cones, shot marbles,
played leap frog on the beach and camped under Stevie's front
porch. As the days passed Clarence grew ever more homesick; at
the same time, he also became best of friends with Stevie.
Then one sunny Thursday,
Clarence just knew it was time to head home. I think Stevie
felt it too. "About your little friend," his momma said, " I
think it would be best if you let him go."
"Friend?" Stevie questioned.
"You know, your little green
friend that you carry around in your sweater."
"Gosh!" Stevie replied; he
had no idea his momma even knew about Clarence.
"But, Momma he makes me
happy. Can't I keep him? Please ?"
"I know, Stevie, but he has
a home and family just like you. Now you wouldn't want to keep
him from that, would you ? "
"I guess so, Mom, but can't
we just play for one more day ?"
"I suppose that would be
okay. Just make sure your home for dinner."
It was a happy day, their
best day yet. Stevie packed lunches and they had a picnic by
the lake, the same lake where they first met. They skipped
rocks across the lake and Stevie fished as Clarence caught
flies. Together they stared across the lake and made wishes. "
I wish that one day I'll meet a boy and become friends like I
have with you," Stevie whispered.
"I hope that I never forget
all these wonderful memories," Clarence wished silently.
As the sun slowly began to
creep away, both Stevie and Clarence knew it was time. Stevie
placed Clarence on a lily pad and gently pushed him out across
the lake. Not a word was said, but the feelings between them
spoke a thousand words.
Drifting off into the
distance Clarence looked back and waved. "I'll always remember,
I'll always remember," Stevie shouted as a tear rolled down his
cheek. "I'll always remember you, my little froggie."
As Stevie peddled home, he
thought over and over about all the good times that they had.
Then as he rounded the corner to his driveway a soft voice spoke
out.
"Neat bike you have there."
"Thanks," Stevie replied.
"Oh, my name is Charlie.
I'm new here. I just moved in to that big old house across the
street."
"I'm Stevie!" Stevie replied
with a huge smile. "Want to play catch?"
"Gosh, sure," replied
Charlie.
It was some time during that
childhood game of ball that Charlie made a diving catch. "Way to
go, Frogger!" Stevie called out without even thinking. Stevie
and Charlie became friends that day and they have been friends
ever since.
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