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“Did you know if you put a frog in water and slowly bring it to boiling, it won’t hop out?”
Chris had brought this story up after Buck had picked him up after school- a few days before the start of winter break.
Buck did know. His English teacher from middle school told this story while giving examples of metaphors. She had also told it as a warning in hopes of preventing her students from becoming the frog.
Later, he did not know if it was because of the story or something like the desperation in Maddie’s eyes when she handed him the keys to Jeep, he had decided to leave without her not knowing why she did not show up. He thought he had successfully jumped out of the pot before it was too late.
“My teacher said that if you put a frog in a pot, you have to make sure it’s not immediately boiling.”
But Buck had not known that it could be placed back into the pot until Abby left him at the airport. Until the fire truck crushed his leg. Until the tsunami and he lost Chris. Until the lawsuit, and he nearly lost everything. Until the Well Incident. Until he found out about Daniel and realized he never had a chance to be loved by his parents. Until Eddie had gotten shot and he had tasted his blood. Until Maddie had left and Chimney had followed her. Until he realized that Hen would leave him behind, too, while hating how selfish to have that thought.
“You put them in water and then slowly raise the temperature and they won’t realize what’s happening.”
Each time he had believed that at least he was able to jump out before it started to boil.
That had been his mistake.
He had never left the pot.
He had not realized that the temperature had only been fluctuating but rising all the same.
“Then once they realize, they have no place to go.”
Until finally-
“I’m leaving the 118.”
“They can’t jump out.”
And suddenly, Buck understood why.