Frog and Toad

I'm sure you're burning with curiosity to know the story behind the toad themed birthday presents. Or perhaps not. If not, you should politely stop reading now. Better. Well, it goes back to the youth group's fall retreat. I had just finished my first week of work after the summer, and the kids' Spanish germs had already gotten to me. Sniffles, headache, fatigue, sore throat: I had a bummer of a cold. All this heading into a weekend where I knew I wouldn't sleep much, but I was determined to make the most of it.
The first evening, after deciding that I couldn't take any more that day, I laid down across some of the chairs in the gym and decided to rest a bit while the others played Sardines, the hide-in-seek variant where everyone ends up hiding in the same corner by the end of the game with the last lonely person wondering where everyone went. Isma sweetly decided to stay and keep me company. Enter Miki..or Micah if you want the English form of his name, the youth pastor's oldest son. With a toad.
I take one look at it and almost jump with excitement. I love animals. Even toads. Or perhaps especially things like toads, frogs, turtles, and pet insects. Wrinkling his nose, Isma looks at the toad disgustedly and says, "Touch it, and I'll have to leave." Do I listen? Nope. The rest of the weekend the others teased Isma about how I left him for a toad...that perhaps I could have kissed it hoping it would turn into a prince. And so now, it's just a funny memory between us. The day I left him for a toad.