When my brother was about 10, he was friends with our neighbor 11. We lived in the country and spent the majority of our time outdoors. We had a little stable with two stalls. It always seemed to become the clubhouse when there weren’t any animals occupying it.

One time when they were playing they found a frog. These two boys were your typical mischievous boys, not much thought about life and death, or consideration for nature and animals. They took the frog and threw it, killing it. Don’...