Chapter 10 - A seemingly dead frog
Rachel’s good feeling ended before she reached the home yard. Just close to it she almost stepped on a dead frog!
- Yuck!, let Rachel out trying to avoid stepping on the frog and after managing that, bent over it to take a look. Even Harry left his “hi” unsaid and snuffled the frog with his muzzle. - Ringel, why is this frog dead? Why did it have to die? Rachel has asked such a Profound Question of Life that Ringel decided to take a timeout. - Let’s think about it, he said and flew to the yard. The hammock was the only place to think of Profound Questions of Life, so Rachel, Harry and Ringel all headed straight to it. - Why was that frog dead?, asked Rachel when she and Harry had found comfortable positions on the hammock. Ringel balanced on the edge of the hammock. - Because its time was full. It had completed all the things in life that were set for him, answered Ringel. - What things can a frog have? - A lot. It has to grow from a tadpole to a frog and learn to breath and all kinds of things. Then it will take care of the environment by eating bugs that otherwise would conquer the whole world. Rachel contemplated a while on what the earth would be like if bugs invaded it and was happy that frogs kept the bugs in control. Then she came back to the subject at hand. - Does everything end when you die?, continued Rachel her questioning. - Of course not, nothing ever ends. Everything just changes. If you cannot see something, it does not mean that it does not exist. There were so many not words that Rachel could not understand. Ringel tried another approach. - Do I exist?, asked Ringel. - Yes, of course, replied Rachel. At that moment Ringel made himself invisible. - Do I exist now?, Rachel heard his voice. - Yes, when you are talking, otherwise not, Rachel answered a bit unsure. - So, when I am silent, I do not exist, but when I talk I do exist, is that really so?, questioned Ringel. - I am not really sure. This is difficult! - Okay, let’s make it easier. Close your eyes. Rachel closed her eyes. - Does Harry exist?, asked Ringel. - Yes, replied Rachel. - Does Mom exist? - Yes. - Does Dad exist? - Yes. - Do you exist? - Yes. - Do I exist? - Yes. - How do you know? You have your eyes closed and you cannot see any of us. - Sure, I cannot see, but I feel so. Ringel was pleased with Rachel’s answer. - You know, Rachel, sometimes you see better when you close your eyes. - Then blind people see more than others, thought Rachel. - Yes, they do, confirmed Ringel. - Blind people see better because they trust their feelings more. This was such a big issue that even as adult Rachel often thought about it. But now she was just a little girl, only six years old, and could not understand everything. But luckily the hammock was there, offering the world’s best place to think things in peace. - If I feel that the frog still exists, does it? - Of course! Life never ends! Only what you see, changes. Now Rachel understood the “no” sentence. - If I feel that something exists, it does exist, even if I cannot always see it, right? - Right! - And if someone dies, they don’t really die but just change so that I cannot see them, right? - Right! At this point Ringel thought that they had progressed enough with the Profound Question of Life for one session, and decided that it was time for a break. He started zigzagging around the yard and immediately got the buggies following his trail. Rachel found it nice to think that if someone died, they would still exist. It made her “feel good”, and she knew that even if she could not taste or smell the feeling, it did exist! Little by little the grand questions left Rachel’s mind as she followed the air show provided by Ringel and the buggies, while Harry cuddled next to her watching dog dreams and learning his new name. 