Ribburta and the Run-Ragged Babysitting Adventure

“What do you mean — I’ve got one hundred new brothers and sisters?!” cried Ribburta the frog. “I already have more brothers and sisters than I can count!”

But Ribburta’s mum wasn’t listening. She was gazing down at a big ball of frogspawn, floating there in the pond, with a very goopy look in her googly eyes.

“Aren’t they just adorable?” she cooed. “They look just like you, when you were little.”

Ribburta was absolutely sure she had never looked like that — all wibbly and wobbly and round.

“I’ll need you to help babysit when they’re a bit older,” said Ribburta’s mum.

“O.K.,” said Ribburta. “How hard can it be?”

The one hundred new brothers and sisters stopped being just round blobs very soon, and became more like one hundred little fishes with tiny, squeaky voices.

“Tadpoles are so sweet,” cooed Ribburta’s mum.

“Do you want me to babysit yet?” asked Ribburta.

“When they have legs,” said Ribburta’s mum.

And then, one day, they did. Every last one of them had new, green legs.

“Ribburta, it’s time for you to babysit!” exclaimed Ribburta’s mum.

“Sure,” said Ribburta. “How hard can it be?”

And then she found out.

“RIBBURTA!” squawked the mother ducks. “Tell your brothers and sisters to stop nibbling on our ducklings’ feet!”

“RIBBURTA!” groaned Old Man Turtle. “Tell your brothers and sisters to stop spoiling my nap in the sun with their squeaky songs!”

“RIBBURTA!” splashed the beavers. “Tell your brothers and sisters to stay away from the dam or they’ll be swept downstream!”

One hundred brothers and sisters, in trouble all over the pond — that was how hard it could be! But finally Ribburta managed to get them all together in a shallow bit of the water.

“What is the matter with you?” she scolded them. “Why are you causing all this trouble?”

A chorus of tiny squeaky voices cried:

“BECAUSE WE’RE BORED!”

“BORED!”

“PLAY WITH US, RIBBURTA! PLAY WITH US!”

Ribburta sighed. “All right. What do you want to play?”

“HIDE-AND-SEEK!”

“NO!” cried Ribburta, but she was too late. Every last one of the little frogs had scattered!

There were little frogs hiding in the pond-weed. There were little frogs hiding under the lily pads. There were little frogs hiding amongst the pebbles. There were little frogs hiding in every nook and cranny of the entire pond.

It took Ribburta FOREVER to find them all, and by the time she’d done that, she was completely, utterly, totally run ragged.

“I’m going to have a rest now,” she said sternly as she lay down in the grass beside the pond. “And I want you all to be good. I don’t want to hear one peep out of any of you — do you understand? NOT ONE PEEP!”

“YES, RIBBURTA,” said the little frogs in the water, but she didn’t hear. She was already fast asleep.

And were they good? Were they quiet? They were, until... they spotted something dangerous slithering toward their babysitter sister, something with supper on his mind.

It was a frog-eating snake!

“RIBBURTA! RIBBURTA! WAKE UP, RIBBURTA!” all the little frogs cried out in their squeaky voices. But Ribburta kept sleeping soundly.

The snake slithered closer.

“RIBBURTA — WATCH OUT! WAKE UP, RIBBURTA — UP!”

Ribburta didn’t stir.

And the snake slithered even closer.

There was only one thing left to do. Ribburta’s one hundred brothers and sisters took one deep breath and all yelled together, “CHARGE!”

The snake had never seen anything like it! Ribburta’s one hundred brothers and sisters used their new green legs to jump out of the pond and all over him! They came at that snake from right and left. Everywhere he looked, there were tiny green frogs popping up and hopping away, under his nose and over his tail and here and there and up and down.

Not having any ears, the snake wasn’t troubled by all the squeaking. But he did have eyes, and they kept crossing wildly — he couldn’t focus on any one frog at a time, and he was starting to get a headache.

“SSSSSTOP HHHHHHOPPING!” he hissed, but one hundred excited little frogs just hopped faster. The snake was feeling dizzy — instead of spots in front of his eyes, he had frogs!

I’m not hungry anymore, thought the snake. I’m getting out of here!

Just then Ribburta woke up. She yawned a big wide yawn and opened her eyes — just in time to see the snake slithering away as fast as his belly would take him.

She leapt to her feet in a panic. But a chorus of tiny, squeaky voices called out:

“DON’T WORRY, RIBBURTA!”

“WE SCARED THE SNAKE AWAY!”

“WE SAVED YOU!”

Ribburta looked down at her brothers and sisters in amazement.

“You saved me? But...I was supposed to be looking after you!”

“YOU ALREADY LOOKED AFTER US, RIBBURTA. THIS TIME IT WAS OUR TURN!”

“IT WAS FUN!”

“YEAH, WE BABYSAT THE BABYSITTER!”

“YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE WOULD BE FUN? TO SIT ON THE BABYSITTER!”

And so they did.

And Ribburta’s run-ragged day ended with one hundred — and one! — happy green frogs in a great big, giggly, wiggly pile.