Toad forts

I lay in bed thinking about my ride with Salem to the Nile. In my mind I saw the heads of the toads that hid in the water. They were huge. I wondered just how many there were. Out side the night birds began their lonesome song. Ateya said that they were “Hood Hoods” but I secretly imagined that the night song I heard was what a nightingale sounded like. Of course I never heard a nightingale and no one ever said that they were one and the same.... when you said the word nightingale, but I could IMAGINE it sounded like the night bird’s song. A breeze blew through my window bringing with the the smell of jasmine. With the breeze, the toads began croaking in the ditch. They sounded like an army of toads singing in high tones and low tones, some far away some very close. It was a musical chorus. I smiled. Yes I thought I am going to see how many toads we have in the yard.

I woke early, and got dressed…except for my shoes…I never wore shoes if I could help it. My mother was always telling me that I would catch some Nile disease called Bilharzia. Today I would definitely not need them. Today I was going to play in mud.
I quietly snuck out of the house and went into the gardener’s hut on the side of the house. Here Salem kept all his tools. I took a small hand shovel and his boots and went to the irrigation ditch. Using the hand shovel, I piled the mound of mud that blocked off the water from our yard into a barrow and moved it to a nice shady area under the mango tree. There I created a huge castle out of the dirt. I piled it higher and higher. Sultana, the washerwoman's daughter, saw what I was doing in the mud. She came down and pointed to the huge dirt fort I was constructing and spoke to me. I help up a huge toad that I had already captured for the fort. She laughed, and asked “Kam?” (how many/much) to which I replied “Kull” (all). Sultana looked a bit puzzled. Using a waving hand motion that covered the entire visual area of my back yard she repeated “Kull?” I nodded and said yes and Sultana fell down laughing. She pointed at me and said “Inti magnoona”. As I shrugged my shoulders to show her I did not understand, Tareq's voice came from behind. “She says you are crazy! Ya magnoona and I agree with her! Tareq stood there with my brother Kirk. They had been playing soccer in the street with the street boys from the next block over.

Well you can agree with her all you want, but are you gonna help me? I asked indignantly. “Sure I will, we both will”, replied Tareq still laughing at the prospect of capturing all the toads while Kirk nodded.

Since Sultana had to try and not get muddy, she kept the toads in the fort with a big stick; Tareq and Kirk caught the toads while I made the fort bigger and stronger. I had to resort to using sticks and the decorative bricks that Salem used in the garden to edge the flower beds. When I finished with the fort, I helped Tareq and Kirk catch the toads.
Tareq yelled, “You have over 50 toads now…don’t you think its enough?
“No” I yelled back ,” I want them all for the “Toad Fort””
Sultana said something and Tareq translated, “She said that its not a toad fort, it’s a toad hotel and asks if you serve the very best food!”
They laughed again. “I don’t care,” I huffed back at then “I want to see how many we can catch before it is time to go in for breakfast”
Sultana replied, “its almost that time now, and I have to help my mother pack up our things to go home.”

Oh, my heart fell. I really wanted to catch all the frogs in the yard. Sultana picked up Salem boots that I was not using any more, and said something to Tareq.
He translated, “Sultana said that we can fill the boots with toads and dump them in the fort instead of putting them in 2 at a time.”
Sultana kept guard on the fort, while Tareq and I used the boots to catch toads. We hopped and jumped and slid thru the yard catching them. Filling the boots and dumping them in the fort. In no time at all, Kirk yelled “I think you have 200 toads now!” With Kirk’s shout, Tareq and I ran over with the last of the toads in Salem’s boots.
“200! That’s amazing!” We dumped the last of the toads in and began counting. It was hard because they were all moving around trying to escape. We could not track of which we counted those that had yet to be counted .
“Taaaaaaaaaaahreq!!” called a voice. Tareq looked at his watch. “Oh my god I promised I would be right back for lunch! My mother is calling!" and he ran accross the road to his home. Sultana, my brother and I looked terrible. We were all muddy and soaking wet. She pointed at her mother waiting in the road with the metal washpan on her head, and said “Maasalama” (goodbye) and ran off. Maasalama I replied and went in to wash up and eat as well. The toads behind me used this opportunity to make their great escape. Toads were going every where. I probably could but a toad crossing sign on the road but I doubted that the crazy Egyptian drivers would know what that meant!
I put Salem’s tools back in his room and carefully cleaned and replaced his boots by the end of his cot, and snuck back into the house. Ateya’s back was turned and I flew past him, up the stairs to the bathroom.

Cleaned and dressed Kirk and I entered the kitchen fully intending to find something to eat, when I heard a loud scream of surprise followed by loud shouting voices from the gardener's shed. Ateya was at the open kitchen door trying to calm a very agitated Salem who was waving his rubber garden boots in the air. On the ground were 2 very fat, very squished toads.
Oops I thought as I tried to slink away. “Mazmazelle! Kooky” called Ateya waving at us to come to him. I turned around and walked bravely to face the enraged gardener with the confused cook. Kirk gripped my hand, "what are you going to say he whispered." I squeezed his hand back.
"Mazmazelle, do you know how the toads came to live in Salem’s boots?" He asked.
‘Yes sir’’ I answered, “ I built a lovely toad fort by the irrigation ditch but it seems that those toads preferred Salem’s boots to the fort.”
Ateya translated to Salem. Salem pointed his finger at me and very angrily started scolding me, I could not tell you what he said, but I have a very good idea what it was all about. As Salem was scolding me, I tried to explain to him the wonderful idea I had to house the toads in the garden. Kirk was momentarily unnoticed and he made a clean get away while I had to get out of there. I didn’t know how to placate Salem so I took Salem’s hand and dragged him and Ateya to the toad fort in the back yard. He started lauging at the sight of the escaping toads leaping over the edge of my mud walls. “How many toads did you catch mazmazelle?" He asked. I laughed….”we think about 200!... You should have seen the toad fort when it was full!!!" i laughed out......then mentioned that when I came in for breakfast, the toads were all escaping into the road!. Ateya and Salem laughed. Salem went back to the garden shack to clean out his boots. Ateya looked down at me and said in his slurred English, “I sink ya Mazmazelle that you must be hiding in your room before Salem finds your mischief in the ditch….”
O my goodness, in all the excitement about the toad fort I forgot what I had done to the irrigation ditch,
“I think you are right Ateya” I said as I left at a run, but as I passed through the garden gate I heard a yell so loud that I ducked and ran ducked behind the hedges so Salem would not see me escaping. He noticed the irrigation ditch after all.

Later that night there were still many frogs in the fort. Salem left them in there for me. I could hear them croaking loud and deep all through the night.
I took a deep breath it was a very happy sound!