Frog Hunts Solo Finished

August 2020
The Jensen Family Farm

For some the smell of the countryside was too much to bear as the pungent smell of manure is by it's very nature hard to love. Although for those who lived on a farm it was simply a fact of life, a category which Callie herself fell into. After months of being encased entirely by the wizarding world it was rather strange to be back in such a normal setting. So strange in fact that it had taken Callie much longer than she cared to admit to settle back into the way of things. However even the place she had to settle back into was distinctly abnormal thanks to a certain pandemic. The young girl had never seen her parents so stressed before and the worries of the world weighed heavily on their shoulders.

Work on the farm had been harder than ever and at the end of the day they were simply too exhausted to go about their usual routines. The late nights in front of the TV watching movies alongside her parents were a distant memory and instead replaced by Callie watching them alone while her father slumbered on the couch. Under normal circumstances Callie would've jumped on top of him and forced him awake but his exhaustion was far too obvious to allow her to do such a thing without guilt. To make matters worse she wasn't allowed to see her friends from her old mortal school, who believed Callie to be attending a boarding school overseas. Regardless of the hardship Callie remained her upbeat and positive self, always taking on the challenges of the day with a wide grin. She took on the farm work with her own distinct brand of enthusiasm and did her best to cheer up her family after a hard day. Callie returned to her forest adventures alongside her brother, swinging from the rope in the hay barn, playing amongst the chickens and simply being as carefree as ever. She'd even taken to playing random games on Roblox after hearing Thomas and Elias chattering about it so often, a far cry from her usual preference for MarioKart. However some things Callie couldn't take on with a smile, some things were simply too difficult to handle without support.

The day started off as any other with the morning consisting of her mothers usual yelling at her children to wash their dishes, who were far too concerned with play fighting to pay attention. Today was the day they were finally allowed to see their grandparents on one of their rare afternoons off from farm work and Callie? She couldn't contain her excitement at all. She bounded down the stairs with her backpack swinging wildly behind her, yelling for her brother to hurry up as her mother tried to get her to calm down at least a little. Her father knew trying to calm down Callie was a fruitless endeavour and simply chuckled at the antics of his daughter as the family piled into the car. The entire drive over Callie sang whatever had the misfortune of playing on the radio loudly, which sparked the complaints of her brother who regarded her singing as terrible. While Callie's singing was most certainly awful, that wasn't going to make her stop. If anything it simply encouraged her to sing even louder! Everything was decidedly normal until Callie went out to the riverside with her grandmother.

The trip was meant to be like any other as Callie often went on walks to the riverside with her grandfather to hunt for frogs. Callie happily walked hand in hand with her grandfather with a bucket swinging in her other hand as the sun shined down on the sight below. Derrick walked happily alongside his granddaughter and occasionally had to warn her to slow down as her excitement tended to make her steam ahead. Upon arrival at the riverbed Callie's face lit up at the sight of the frogs and she couldn't help but point out the creatures to her grandfather. Under normal circumstances he would've sat alongside his granddaughter and happily listened to her frog related rambles but the tightness in his chest was worsening. He brushed off the pain as usual which only worsened things for him later down the line. Eventually things got too much to bear and he had to give in to the harsh reality he was having a heart attack. From there things only went downhill in a whirlwind of sirens, panicking and tears. Despite all her adventures in Hogwarts over the past year Callie found herself powerless to prevent the death of her grandfather, who passed away clutching Callie's terrified hand in the ambulance.

Derrick Jensen was dead and Callie? She was inconsolable for weeks afterwards. The girl could barely manage to eat and guilt consumed her being. For someone capable of a concept as vast and powerful as magic, she was entirely powerless to help her grandfather. Despite everyone's reassurances that she did all she could Callie couldn't help but feel responsible. It was because of her that they'd been down by the river that day, if they never went because of Callie's rambling would he still be around? Would he still be there to talk about all things frogs? The funeral only deepened Callie's feelings of immense loss as it drove home the harsh reality: her grandfather was dead.

It wasn't long after the funeral that Callie's grandmother moved onto the Jensen farm, only to find Callie barely doing anything she enjoyed. Her adventures in the forests were few and far between and lately her excited rambling rarely ever filled the air of the home. The air was instead quiet and stagnant, which she decided simply wouldn't do. Derrick would never have wanted his granddaughter to give up the things she loved most all because he wasn't around. He'd want her to continue to be her unapologetic, happy and upbeat self and Lori was going to make sure of it. The process of bringing Callie back to her usual self was a long process but time helps cure even the deepest of wounds.

Slowly but surely Callie started to realise that she had done everything she could in the circumstances. That death was a sad fact of life that everyone had to face sooner or later and there was a tragic beauty to be found within. Nothing could live forever, the earth had to keep going on. The cycle of life had to continue no matter the circumstances and death? It wasn't something to be afraid of when it eventually did come to knock on your door, although that didn't make her miss her grandfather any less. Soon the time would come where Callie could work up the courage to revisit that riverside but that day wouldn't come for a while. She needed time and time was the greatest healer of wounds known to man.