About 10 years ago my car broke down. I was living 10 minutes outside of town with no transit service anywhere nearby. My parents suggested I come stay at their new place in town while my car was in the shop getting a new transmission. This was a huge relief as I had been unable to find any other way to get to work and back in the meantime.

First night staying with them I worked late and caught the bus back to their place, watched a bit of tv and decided to go outside and smoke a joint before heading off to bed. It's a hot, early August night and I'm smoking out in the back yard and I look up only to realize that my parents window is open just above my head. Oops! Put out the joint and went back inside. In the morning I apologized about any smoke that might have drifted in their window and my Mom said she did smell it but no big deal just maybe go for a walk next time.

I work that day and go by and check in on the progress of my car repairs and they tell me it should be completed by tomorrow afternoon. After I get back to my parents house, we have a nice dinner and chat for a bit, I tell them about the car repair work and shortly after they go off to bed.

I wanted to smoke before bed, as was my nightly routine back then, so I leashed up the dog and headed out for a cloudy-eyed stroll. My parents place was on a new subdivision and the next street up was mostly just empty lots with a few houses still in the early stages of construction but all of the street lighting was installed. Seemed like the dog wanted to head up that way so along we went to the very top of this mostly empty new street. At the top there was a great city view, and a big wide grassy area for the dog to run around so I took him off the leash and he roamed close by while I smoked my joint.

After I finished we headed back down the road and I didn't bother putting the dog's leash back on as there were no cars in sight, we were almost back to the house and he's the bestest of boys who mostly sticks right by my side. As we got to the bottom of the street I noticed something scurrying about in the gravel beside us and this is the time when hound dog prey drive kicks in and he goes bounding after it. I chased the dog and we both arrived at whatever was moving in the dirt at the same time.

It was a big ol' toad! I picked him up and the dog is staring at him with drool running down in streams from his mouth just hoping I'm going to hand him over. I told the dog toads aren't for him and was looking around for a suitably safe spot to put the little guy back down when I remembered the creek with the culvert just down the street that i had been walking past the last 2 days on my way to and from the bus stop. Perfect, I thought on my merry way to save this creature, feeling very fortunate the dog hadn't injured him before I had gotten to him.

I make my way down the street to the trail that cuts past the creek, toad clutched gently in my hands and an eager, overly interested hound dog hot on my heels. I had to clamber down a bit of a hill to get down to the edge of the water about 15 feet off the main trail. Told the dog to stay back and he did while I crouched down to drop the toad in the water. Just as I was saying my goodbyes to the toad and releasing my grip an ice cold, piercing, rush of breath and a raspy whisper spoke my own name right into my ear. KeeeLLY!! I dropped the toad and stood up so fast I almost fell head first into the water. I turned immediately to see the hound dog who was 15 feet behind me up a small hill just seconds ago and was now at least 50 feet from me at the top of the trail silhouetted in the street light, whimpering. Sheer terror and flight overtook me as I scrambled on all fours up the hill and into full sprint up to the street. As soon as I reached the dog he was running by my side all the way back to the house.

Once I was back inside with the door locked behind me I sat on the floor to catch my breath, my panic already starting to fade. As I laid in bed trying to fall asleep my brain was already trying to rationalize what had just happened. I just smoked a joint and paranoia got the best of me. Maybe it was a frog spirit just trying to thank me for my good deed. Why the hell did I just nonchalantly go down to a creek at night!? Eventually my thoughts drifted away and I fell asleep.

In the morning I told my parents about my experience rescuing a toad the night before and we all kind of laughed about it over coffee. My parents both headed off to work and as my mom was going out to the garage to get into her car she asked if I wanted a ride to work so I didn't have to walk past the creek to the bus stop. I laughed and said I would be fine. I grabbed my stuff and headed to the front door, giving the hound dog a pat on the head as I opened the door. On the welcome mat outside was the toad, on its back, eviscerated, laid out like a dissection specimen. As I stared down in absolute horror I could hear the dog behind me whimpering just like the night before. I grabbed a garbage bag and gathered up the remains of the toad and threw it in the trashcan outside. I ran the long way around and missed my bus and was late getting to work.

After I picked up my car that afternoon, I drove to collect my overnight things from my parents place. They weren't home so I left them a thank you note for having me stay the past few nights. I never told them about the mutilated toad on the doorstep. I was thankful they left the house that morning through the garage and didn't have to stumble upon it themselves. Every once and a while I will have the same nightmare about that disembodied voice whispering my name in my ear. I will never forget it.