Chapter Six
One Month and Two Weeks Later
August 13, 1964
Kermit and Melinda walked down a dark, quiet street. His arm was around her waist, and her arm was around his neck.
“Hey Kermit,” Melinda said quietly. “Look- there’s a new record store.”
Kermit stopped and looked at the store windows. “Oh yeah,” he said. “We should look around there some time.”
Melinda nodded and glanced at the neighboring shops. “Didn’t this used to be a diner?”
“Mm-hm,” Kermit said.
Melinda looked at the store thoughtfully. “Wasn’t that the diner where we met?” she whispered.
Kermit pulled her close. “Mm-hm.”
Melinda looked at him. “You brought me here on purpose, didn’t you?”
Kermit nodded. “Mm-hm.”
Melinda set her head against his chest, and he stroked her long black hair. As he did so, he slowly pulled out a few small wildflowers he had been hiding in the sleeve of his sweater. He let her see them, and tucked them into her hair.
“Melinda,” he whispered, “Will you marry me?”
She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. Then a smile began to creep across her face. “Yes, Kermit,” she whispered slowly. “I will.”
`````````````````
One Year, Four Months, and One Week Later
December 25, 1965
The apartment was most notable for its size, or rather, the lack of it. But it was big enough for Kermit and Melinda. They sat on the floor near a sparsely decorated tree, and Kermit put his arm around Melinda’s shoulder. “Merry Christmas, dear,” he said.
“Merry Christmas,” Melinda sighed as she let her head rest on his shoulder.
He held her in silence for a moment. “We’ll have to get ready soon,” he said quietly, “To go to Jim’s for dinner.”
Melinda nodded. “It was nice of him to invite us,” she said, “Since we don’t have family out here. Do you think he’ll still invite us to these things when we have tadpoles?”
Kermit hesitated. “Tadpoles?”
She looked up at him. “We
are going to have tadpoles, aren’t we?” She frowned. “Don’t you
want tadpoles?”
“Well… Gee, I- I guess I hadn’t really thought about it,” Kermit said.
Melinda folded her arms across her chest. “Well,
think about it,” she said.
Kermit looked around the small apartment, and let his gaze drift out the window. After a moment, he nodded and kissed her head. “Yes, Melinda,” he said. “We’ll have tadpoles.”
She smiled and kissed his cheek. “Good!”
“But where will we lay the eggs?” Kermit said. “We need water.”
“Well we’re already saving to buy land for a house, aren’t we?” Melinda said.
“Well yeah, but-“
“We can put in a pond,” she insisted. “One of those little ones people make for landscaping. That would work, wouldn’t it?”
Kermit shrugged. “I guess so,” he said. “You’ve put a lot of thought into this, haven’t you?”
“Well, it’s important to me,” Melinda said.
“All right,” Kermit said, “Then it’s important to me, too.” She giggled at him, and he scrunched up his face. “What?”
“I win,” she said.
“You
always win,” he said. She laughed, and he kissed her.
“We both win,” she whispered.
He shrugged. “Sometimes.” And she laughed.
`````````````````
Three Months and One Week Later
March 31, 1966
Kermit proudly looked around at their land. They hadn’t built a house yet; just a small shed in the back corner of the property. But they had a fence, and there was a great big tree with branches to shade the small pond, whish was as far from the road as possible. They would build a house someday. But for now…
He frowned up at the clouded sky and a gust of wind blew through the branches of the tree. He shook his head, walked over to the pond, and sat down next to Melinda.
She was bent worriedly over the water, looking at their eggs. “Today’s almost over,” she said. “They’re supposed to hatch today. Aren’t they supposed to hatch today?”
“Today or tomorrow,” Kermit said. “I hope they hatch before the storm comes, but…”
Melinda looked at him. “Will they be okay, Kermit?”
He put his arm around her. “If they hatch, they will be,” he said.
“But what if they
don’t hatch?” she asked.
He was looking at the sky. “Then I don’t know, Melinda,” he said sadly. “If they don’t hatch before the storm, then… Hopefully the wind won’t get to them…”
“They
have to hatch!” she said.
He shook his head. “Melinda,” he said softly, “They might not hatch until tomorrow.”
“But they HAVE to!” she said.
The wind picked up, and a big raindrop hit Kermit between his eyes. The tree shuddered in the wind.
“The storm’s coming,” Kermit said.
“But they have to hatch!” Melinda said. “They HAVE to!” Her eyes darted across the eggs, hoping. “They HAVE to!”
Raindrops plopped into the water. Lightening streaked across the sky.
Kermit looked at his wife. “Melinda-“
Thunder crashed above them. The rain steadily beat the ground.
“Melinda, we can’t stay out here,” he said.
The wind blasted them.
“But Kermit, the tadpoles!” she said. “They have to hatch!”
He stood up, tried to pull her to her feet. “Melinda, we
can’t stay here! It’s not safe!”
“The tadpoles-“
“MELINDA!”
Lightening flashed, thunder boomed, and wind whipped the rain at them.
He grabbed her arms and half-dragged her away from the pond. “IT’S NOT SAFE!” he shouted over the wind.
“But the TADPOLES!”
“Melinda, it’s NOT SAFE! COME ON!” He grabbed the door to the shed, yanked it open, pushed her in with him, and forced it shut, fighting the wind all the while.
Melinda stood in the dark shed, frantic, tears streaming down her face. “THE TADPOLES!”
Kermit put his hands on her shoulders. “Melinda,” he said pleadingly, “There’s nothing we can do. We have to save ourselves.”
“But… Kermit…” she sobbed, “The tadpoles…”
He pulled her close and she cried into his shoulder.
Outside, the storm raged long into the night, trapping them in the dark shed. Melinda curled up on the floor, resting her head in Kermit’s lap. She eventually fell asleep to the steady rain and the sound of thunder rocking across the land.
Kermit stroked her long black hair. He listened to the wind and the rain, all night, waiting for the storm to subside. And he did not sleep at all.
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