kid stares and frog dreams

Sometimes children beat me in staring contests on the subway. Their complete innocence and lack of self-conciousness make them extremely powerful. I usually give up after a few seconds and look at something else, defeated by the intensity of their honest curiosity. This one little girl just obliterated me over the weekend. I felt like she was looking through me with a knowledge I could never possess. I actually felt sad.

I've had this idea lately to use frogs in a story. For obvious reasons I had to sketch the "Frog Sphinx" which in ancient times guarded the entrance to Frogtown. Now it's covered in graffitti at the center of the municipal park but here's how it once looked: