Little Sister

The Pollywog

     I sat there for a minute trying to listen to Mr. Clarke speak, but my vision constantly blurred, my head falling. Though I was half asleep, it was never hard for me to feel eyes staring in my direction. I opened my eyes again and realized I had my head resting on my arm, I sighed and shook it a bit trying to regain feeling, then that's when I realized I was feeling the eyes on me. I looked away from my area and up by the group of boys, one in specific. Will.

     He was turned in his seat looking at me. I think he wanted to say something, but it was a matter of not knowing what to say. In response, to keep myself from getting uncomfortable, I looked away, putting my attention out towards the window.

-

     I stood in a small room with the rest of the party, Dustin walked over putting the ghost trap he made for Halloween down on the table. He then opened the doors letting the rest of us look down into the box, revealing a tiny, gross looking creature.

"His name is D'Artagnan." He reached in and picked it up. "Cute Right?"

"D'Artagnan?" Mike questioned, his brows raised.

"Dart for short."

"And he was in your trash?" I asked, a little concerned. Who knows how many diseases that thing could be carrying.

"Foraging for food. Do you wanna hold him?" Dustin asked, leaning in towards me.

"No, no." I shook my head.

"Don't worry he doesn't bite."

"No, I don't want-" He gave it to me, my first instinct was to hold it and make sure I didn't drop it. "oh, god, he's slimy!" I quickly went to Lucas and passed Dart off to him.

"Ugh, he's like a living booger." Then he went and passed it on to Will.

"Ugh, oh god." He reached and dropped it into Mike's hands. He held it and brought it closer to get a better look at him.

"What is he?" Mike asked.

"My question exactly." Dustin said, grabbing some books out of his bag and dramatically slamming them on the table. "At first, I thought he was just some kind of Pollywog."

"Pollywog?" I asked.

"It's another word for tadpole. A tadpole is the larval stage of a toad-"

"Dustin, I'm pretty sure she knows what a tadpole is." Lucas interrupted

"Alright then, Well you know how tadpoles are aquatic, right?" I nodded. "Well dart, he isn't, he doesn't need water."

"Yeah, but aren't there non-aquatic Pollywogs?"

"Terrestrial Pollywogs? Yep. Two to be exact. Indirana Semipalmata. And the Adenomera Andreae. Ones from India, ones from South America. So how did one end up in my trash?"

"Maybe some scientists brought it here and it escaped." I implied.

"Do you guys see that?" Mike stopped us, pulling our attention down to the odd lizard. "Looks like somethings moving inside of it." We all looked closer. Mike grabbed the lamp and turned it to shine down onto Dart. The creature screeched loudly, startling us all. He leaped over the wires surrounding him and jumped off the table landing in Dustin's hands.

"Whoa. It's ok, I got you little guy. I know you don't like that. It's ok." He said in a cooing voice. "And there's another thing, reptiles, they're cold blooded, ectothermic, right? They love heat, the sun, but Dart, he hates it. It hurts him."

"So if he's not a Pollywog or a reptile..." Lucas started.

"Then I've discovered a new species." Lucas and I looked at each other then back at Dustin who stared down at Dart in awe. Suddenly the bell rang, making us jump. We all grabbed our things and hustled out the room.