Tiny Frogs

Last spring, we discovered tadpoles, otamajakushi, in a nearby park. We watched them develop and took delight in stopping on our way by to peek at them. In Tokyo, you have to enjoy the little details of nature when you can find them.
Needless to say, we were surprised and disappointed when they vanished. It was shortly after they started to bud legs, but before they were fully developed into frogs. Maybe a cat ate them or perhaps schoolboys had carried them off in jars. We didn’t know.
So this year, we’ve been watching the new crop with interest but expecting another vanishing act. Only they didn’t vanish. Instead, we caught them in the act of escaping the pond.
Dozens of miniature frogs, no bigger than a garbanzo bean, struggled out of the water yesterday afternoon. They weren’t hopping, exactly. They were more like froggy toddlers trying to keep their balance without toppling back into the pond.
They lined up along the border between the water and the land. Waiting for something, but what?