Good People

Antigone watched as the river cats circled around the frothmordans, penning them in. There were three cats, and eight amphibians, and the cats were expertly feinting and mewling to precisely herd the frothmordans onto a slightly elevated, slightly exposed tiny island in the stream. Three of the frothmordans were loudly croaking in panic, while the remaining five were keeping low to the ground, their bodies coiled to leap, their eyes scanning in every direction, their muscles tense.

One of the cats made a dart across the patchy grass, passing close to the frogs, scratching at one of the louder animals, causing it to screech in pain. Antigone could see the slightly yellowy blood start to leak out of the frothmordan's swollen belly and it listed clumsily.

"No! Oh no! We've got to help them!"

Antigone looked up. Bethos, one of her best friends, was looking on, horrified, as the cats continued to hunt the amphibians. She looked down to Antigone.

"You know about animals. What do we do? How do we help the poor frothies?"

"We are helping them."

Bethos looked confused. "What? Ani, the cats are going to eat them! We've got to help!"

Antigone scanned the scene. The cats had closed the distance and were almost within pouncing range of the frogs. It would only be a few moments before the stream resounded with terrible, horrible screeching and horrifying yowling.

"Those three frogs, in the middle. You see them? Can you hear them? They're so loud."

"Because they're frightened, Ani!" Bethos shouted in frustration.

Antigone nodded. "And next time they get frightened, they're going to be loud again. And the time after that, and the time after that. And every time they get frightened they're going to be so loud that the river cats, or the slimers, or the dogs, or anyone out there will know exactly where they are. They'll be able to find them."

"... so?" Bethos was getting angry. She didn't understand.

"Frothmordans are very good at hiding, they're very good at escaping."

"So, they don't need our help? They're not going to be eaten?"

Antigone shook her head. "Three of them are going to be eaten. That's how we help them. Watch."

As she pointed the cats reached the perimeter of their stalking circle and the lead cat hurled itself forward with a yowl and wrenched one of the frogs up in its jaws. The amphibian made terrible, painful noises. Two of the frogs, the loud ones, started skittering nervously about, while the others held still, not moving, just blinking quickly.

"No! Shoo! Get away you stupid cats! You're not welcome here! Leave those frothies alone you bad cats!" Bethos jumped out into the stream, waving her arms and yelling as she waded towards the menagerie. As she moved in the cats looked up, just for a moment, and in that moment most of the frothmordans leaped off the island, into the wet mud and burrowed into the ground. The cats ignored them, focusing on the two that were still sitting on the island, looking between them and the approaching angry girl. With a snarl the cats swiped one more time, catching one of the frogs on the legs, then turned and left, the wounded frog, the dead frog, and the surviving, panicked frog left on the island with Bethos.

Bethos fell to her knees and tried to help the injured frog, who was bleeding all over her as she picked it up. "Ani! Ani! Get over here and help him!"

"Her."

"What?"

"It doesn't matter." Antigone sighed, and walked over to Bethos and the two remaining frothmordans. "You should crush it."

"What?! Ani, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Look," she pointed. "That's its innards, right there. That's a mortal wound. It will take some hours for it to die, assuming nothing comes along and eats it. If you don't want it to suffer, then don't let it."

"I ... no, I can't! I can't do that to him!"

"Then give it to me and I'll do it."

Bethos put the frog down on the ground next to the one remaining frog, who was just now starting to burrow into the dirt. She looked away as Antigone finished it off, and cried.

"I don't know how you can be so cruel Ani."

"I'm being compassionate." She looked over at her young friend, still wiping tears off her cheeks. "You're a good person, Beth. Good people can't bear to do good things. It hurts too much."

Bethos looked confused, but Antigone just shrugged and looked away. "It's something my mother told me."

After a few moments the frothmordans emerged from the mud, looking around. The one loud croaker saw them and croaked and hopped over towards them, but they turned and swam away from it as it called out after them.

"Look, their friend survived! We did good!"

"They're not friends, Beth. They're animals, not people. Animals just want to survive, and this is how they survive. If you'd let the cats do their work then these three frogs would have died almost instantly, relatively painlessly. Those three cats would have been fed, would have been able to bring food back for their kittens. Their kittens who, now, because you wanted to be good, will go hungry. And the frothmordans, the five who survived, would have been stronger as a group, safer, better able to survive. Instead, this guy is going to catch up to them, back at their rush nest, and they're all going to be attacked again, because this one is still too loud.

"If you wanted to help them, you should have let the weak ones go. That's how it is. That's how we help."

"I ... couldn't ... I just couldn't."

Antigone hugged Bethos. "I know, Beth. You're a good person. Good people can't bear to do good things."