A Day in the Marsh

A marsh changes constantly over the course of a day.

Spend enough time in a marsh, and you begin to notice how much life unfolds in the smallest spaces. Light shifts, insects rise and fall, and small lives move quietly between danger and opportunity.

The leaf was still cool from the night rain.

A frog lay pressed low against its surface, the leaf hanging from a thin branch above the marsh, limbs folded beneath it. Moisture clung to the broad green leaf and to the smooth skin of its belly. Pale morning light filtered through the branches above, and for a long time the frog did not move.

The marsh was quiet except for small sounds drifting through the reeds below. Dark water lay between the stems. Something rustled faintly among the stems near the water. Farther out in the marsh, a red-winged blackbird called.

The sharp note carried across the marsh. Another answered from deeper in the marsh.

The frog’s eyes opened.

The warmth of the sun had not yet reached him. His legs remained heavy from the cool night, the muscles slow. He waited as the light crept across the leaf.

A fly drifted through the still air beneath the branch. It wandered briefly in the narrow beam of sunlight before disappearing between the reeds.

The frog watched it go.

At last the sun reached the leaf.

Warmth spread slowly across the green surface. The frog shifted forward, lowering his body into the growing light.

Below him the marsh had begun to stir. Insects lifted into the air above the water, rising and falling between the tall reeds. A dragonfly crossed the open space beneath the branch, its wings flashing once in the morning sun.

Something small flickered in the air nearby.

The frog’s head turned.

A mosquito hovered beside the branch, suspended in the still air. It drifted closer, rising slowly until it passed in front of the leaf.

The frog held perfectly still.

The insect moved again.

The frog’s tongue flashed. The mosquito vanished.

For a moment, the frog did not move. Then he swallowed and settled once more against the warming leaf.

Far above, a shadow passed briefly across the branches.

The frog froze.

The shadow moved on.

For a long moment the frog remained pressed against the leaf. The branch above him swayed slightly and then settled again.

Nothing returned.

Slowly the frog lifted his body. The sun had climbed higher now, and the leaf beneath him had grown warm.

He moved along the branch, climbing toward thicker leaves where the light did not reach. The branch trembled faintly beneath his weight.

Beneath the leaf the air was cooler. Moisture still clung to the shaded surface.

The frog settled low against it and did not move.

The marsh had grown quieter. Fewer insects drifted above the dark water between the reeds. From time to time a dragonfly crossed the open space, its wings glinting briefly before disappearing again among the stems.

The tall reeds stood nearly still in the heavy air.

For a long while nothing moved but the dragonflies.

The frog remained beneath the leaf.

The reeds stood nearly motionless above the dark water.

Then a faint breeze passed through the stems. The leaf stirred slightly above him.

Slowly he lifted his body from the damp surface.

The sun had begun to lower, and the air no longer pressed so heavily over the marsh.

He climbed from the shade and onto the branch.

Below him the reeds parted.

Something narrow slipped through the stems near the water, moving with a smooth, silent motion. The surface of the dark water trembled once.

The frog froze against the branch.

The movement continued for a moment more, sliding between the stems and disappearing into thicker growth near the marsh edge.

The stems closed again. The water grew still.

For a long time the frog did not move.

At last he lifted himself once more and continued along the branch.

Above the water, a small insect drifted through the warm afternoon air. Another followed.

The light across the marsh softened as the sun lowered behind the reeds. Long shadows stretched between the stems.

More insects gathered above the dark water.

The frog watched from the branch.

One insect drifted close to the leaf. The frog shifted slightly.

His tongue flashed. The insect vanished.

For a time the frog remained where he was, watching the air above the water. Insects moved everywhere now, rising and falling between the reeds.

One drifted close to the branch. The frog struck.

Far out in the marsh a frog called. The sound carried across the water.

Another answered from deeper in the reeds.

The air cooled as the sun disappeared behind the marsh.

Still the insects drifted above the water.

The frog remained on the branch, watching.

Across the marsh the calls of other frogs rose and fell among the reeds. One voice answered another from the darkening water.

The last light faded from the tops of the stems.

Insects drifted through the cooling air, but the frog no longer moved.

After a time, he climbed from the branch to a broad leaf above the water.

The marsh had grown dark now. Only the faint movement of insects stirred above the reeds, and the steady calls of frogs carried through the night air.

The frog settled low against the leaf.

The air cooled around him.

The leaf beneath him was cool again.

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