Sal's POV

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Sal burst into tears.

Ugly crying.

That's the best way to describe it.

A face twisted with the flaps of skin and fur meshing together as if Sal had fallen on his face way too many times to count, just like a pug. There was one, no two, maybe three chins formed by thick skin stretched taunt in the chubby neck, some areas tight while flabby in others.

The tear ducts released like a broken dam, the tears gushed ferociously, roaring like a wounded lion as the water cascaded into frothing waves. Small, beady eyes glistening in the bleak, bare moonlight, the rim of the puffy eye red and swollen, the dribbles of snot sticking like sickly sweet honey wobbling down, shaking and jiggling as Sal heaved up and down gasping for air, drowning in his own sea of salty tears. The mix of sweet snot and salty tears was a forbidden concoction.

His fur, matted wet by bawling, was at a slimy and soggy consistency, like wet socks in shoes. Sticky, clammy, slippery, and viscous.

Sal was a mess.

The little frog was taken aback. It didn't expect that reaction to the confrontation.

A little taken aback, the frog's face twisted in remorse like a wrung towel, the frog apologized, "I'm sorry about that. I shouldn't have pushed you like that. What I just did was rude and mean of me."

The little frog paused, and then continued.

"I'm sorry."

The powerful dam got patched up a bit, and the tears ceded.

Sniffling between small hiccups, an occasional tear would slide off Sal's cheek, but right now, he calmed down.

The little frog proceeded with her apology.

"I'm a very curious frog and I wanted to understand what happens in this world. That's why when you were giving out half-baked excuses, I got frustrated."

A deep breath.

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"My personality isn't very friendly. Especially with my appearance, to some, I look like death itself. I mean, my eyes look like a one-way gate to hell."

The little frog shifted uncomfortably when stating this fact. Clearly, this was a characteristic it was very aware of.

"I'm really cold and strict. I'm sorry that I made you cry. It was also immature of me to press you into an uncomfortable situation."

"Please accept my apology."

With a sincere tone, the little frog peered up.

Their red eyes didn't seem as scary as they used to be.

"Please, accept my earnest apology."

The little frog tilted her head down respectfully.

Sal was smoldering in embarrassment.

-Look at me crying like a baby, when this little frog apologized so maturely. I'm such a fool!-

Sal's head was being overcooked by his rambling thoughts.

-Besides, I was in the wrong for lying and this little froggie is being truthful. I'm dramatizing everything now.-

With some solid determination, Sal wiped the tears and snot from his face.

"I accept your apology. But I'm also in the wrong! I'm sorry for lying right in your face. I was feeling really embarrassed by the incident, so I made dumb excuses…but that isn't justified in the end!"

"No," the little frog objected firmly, "I lack common sense and social etiquette. Rather than abiding by the social norms, I put more importance on my own desires than on respecting you. I need to be responsible for my actions."

"No no no, I'm in the wrong."

"You're mistaken. I'm in the wrong."

"No! I am."

"Incorrect, I am in the wrong."

"No, I also need to apologize."

"There's no need to apologize for something you aren't at fault for."

"You're wrong, I created and worsened the situation, let me apologize."

"No, there is no need…"

This back-and-forth conversation lasted way longer than it should have.

Perhaps realizing both sides weren't backing down, the little frog sighed and took a hop back.

"How about we both are in the wrong. You're in the wrong for lying and denying allegations, and I'm in the wrong for intruding on your privacy and humiliating you."

The little frog gently said, "So let's stop this meaningless back-in-forth roundabout conversation."

Sal nodded in agreement and chuckled, a little shy from the nonsense.

"Yeah, you're right."

-Uh oh, what do I say now?-

Sal has lead the conversation to a dead end.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The night was buzzing with the background noise of insects and rustling leaves. It was humid, the air seemed chalked full of water. Yet the silence between both creatures was frigid. The awkward silence seemed to have frosted over it as no one's mouth moved, their mouths frozen shut with chattering ice gluing their lips together.

Ah yes, beautiful awkward silence.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Ahem."

The little frog broke the frosty silence. Heat returns, melting the ice and regaining the usual humid air, inhaling mouthfuls of dense moisture.

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Rosa, a red-eyed tree frog. I live quite a few trees away. How about you?"

"Oh! I'm Sal, a three-toed sloth. I live on the upper layers of this tree."

"..."

"..."

The air was slowly freezing back up.

-What do I say, break the ice Sal!- Sal thought.

Dying on the inside, daytime was still a ways away.