Foreword

I realize some people are frustrated at the moment, and I don't necessarily blame them. That being said, I think the main problem has more to do with our expectations, and not necessarily people specifically.

This short story was told to me years and years ago. It has always helped me put things into perspective, because plenty of times I've deposited my faith or more accurately, I've built expectations on people who have always been scorpions, with the idea that THIS ONE TIME they won't be.

I hope the story resonates with you too.

The Scorpion and the Frog

Somewhere in the middle of a swamp, what began as a rainy day became a lot more serious. It got to the point to where some of the animals who live in the swamp began to worry, and some even abandoned their lairs. After all, flooding although common is no laughing matter.

You could almost see how the mounds, the boulders, started to look like little islands in the middle of the flooding lands. And, it was in one of these makeshift islands that the frog ran into one of his natural enemies, the scorpion.

The frog got startled, and turned around to jump away when the scorpion spoke with a soft tone.

"Mr Frog, listen... don't go, don't worry I'm not gonna hurt you, I wanna talk to you"

The Frog stopped and reconsidered his escape.

"I don't know Mr. Scorpion, I had a cousin of mine die once because of your kind... What could you possibly want with me?"

The scorpion, almost offended by Mr Frog said in indignation:

"Listen... I need to cross to the other side over there... I thought we could partner up, you know...."

"Partner Up???" Said Mr Frog "I don't need your help at all, it's not like I can't swim, that what us frogs do, we swim... What could you possibly do for me?"

The scorpion got quiet, thought about it for just a second and then said:

"Listen... you are hiding here because the birds are hunting right now, right? Yeah, Yeah... that's it, if you leave here, they are gonna gobble you up in one go... I could defend you, I could climb on your back and we can go wherever we want together... You get me through the water, I keep the predators away... What do you say?"

The frog thought about it for a minute, after all, he had been waiting for hours in this hideout and it looked like the rain was not getting any weaker. Against his better judgment he agrees, and Mr. Scorpion not wasting a second climbs on the Frogs back. Off they go!

The birds begin to do circles around the frog, but when they tried getting closer, Mr Scorpion true to his word would swing his stinger and scare them away. Not even the scariest of birds would want to mess with Mr. Scorpion's poison, no sir.

For a while, everything is going perfect, absolutely perfect. Mr Frog can't believe it himself, I mean, nobody has ever heard of such a dynamic duo. After swimming for a while, they begin to approach a safe area and Mr. Frog begins to swim with the utmost confidence.

Not far from the shore, from safety, Mr Frog feels a horrible pain on his back and screams in agony.

"WHAT HAPPENED??? WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"

Mr Scorpion can't believe this happened himself, he never thought he would sting Mr Frog, after all their partnership was perfect.

As Mr Frog begins to lose his consciousness, he insists in his disbelief...

"You just killed us both... you are going to drown now... Why did you do this to me?"

Mr Scorpion saddened replies...

"I'm sorry Mr Frog... I'm a scorpion, it's my nature... I don't know how to be something else... I'm really sorry"