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My friend and I sprinted down the flowery lawn, chasing each other past tree after tree. At the end there was a shallow, glassy stream that was glistening brightly in the sunlight.

Under the crystal clear water, something was moving: a dark spot like a tiny wiggling comma with a swishing tail. It was swimming in circles around clumps of translucent frogspawn, each one with a black dot at its centre and clear jelly wrapped around it. It looked like hundreds of eyeballs staring blankly at the sky.

Inspired by my science teacher, I have always dreamed of observing the life cycle of a frog in real life. Watching them turn from miniature full stops to commas, to exclamation marks, all the way to adult common frogs. It’s such an incredible miracle! It represents new life which is what spring is all about. Very carefully we touched the fragile, shiny eggs. They were squidgy, soft, slimy.

When we both finally got back home, I did lots of research on them. There are only two types of frog in the UK, but there are thousands of species of frog across the world, and the ones here live up to 5 to 10 years. Adult frogs spend most of their lives on land, but when they do go in the water, it’s often the same pond. Home is where the croak is!
Zuning, 10

• Read today’s other YCD piece, by Isabel, nine: “I’ve successfully grown some plants – my first time ever!”

• Young Country Diary is published every fourth Saturday of the month. The submission form is now closed, but keep the link handy, it will reopen on Monday 2 June for summer articles