Two Frogs
(1) Long ago, there were two frogs who lived far apart. One frog, Felicity, lived on a tree branch beside the sea. The other frog, Ferdinand, lived under a rock next to a river. One day, a salamander said to Felicity, "Aren’t you tired of staring at the same old sea? I know a place where the water sparkles like diamonds."
(2) Felicity admitted that she was tired of looking at the same old sea. She decided to consider what the salamander had said. By the time she’d had dinner, she knew she had to see the sparkling diamond water.
(3) Meanwhile, Ferdinand was sitting by his river when a bird chirped, "Aren’t you tired of staring at the same tiny stream? I know a place where water stretches as far as you can see."
(4) Before the birds could flutter a feather, Ferdinand asked them how to find the big body of water. At sunrise, both frogs began their long journeys away from home. Felicity hurried as fast as she could. When she reached a huge hill, she decided to hop straight up the hill. By the time she reached the top, she was hot and exhausted. She found some shade to rest in. Ferdinand scaled the hill shortly after her. He also wanted to get out of the sun. He happened to choose the same shady spot as Felicity.
(5) "I’m on my way to visit a new place. How about you?" asked Ferdinand.
(6) "That sounds great! I’m also off to see something new," Felicity replied.
(7) The frogs agreed that both of their journeys were going well. They also agreed that the hill was too large to see past. Felicity had an idea.
(8) "Hop onto my shoulders, and see what you can see," she said.
(9) Ferdinand hopped up and looked into the distance. He exclaimed, "It’s beautiful! The water sparkles like diamonds!"
(10) He thanked Felicity for her help and hopped away in a hurry. Felicity guessed Ferdinand must have liked what he saw. Realizing he had hopped in the same direction from which he’d come, Felicity decided to take a look back. She gasped at the sight of water as far as she could see. It was so beautiful! She had lived by the sea all her life, but she had never seen it from the top of a hill. Felicity decided all she really needed was to find a new tree branch to live on—one that wasn’t so close to the ground.
