There once was a frog named Hop. He was a naughty little frog who always wanted to do the right thing, but always found himself in trouble. On this particular day, Hop was planning a cooling summer swim with his friends. His mother had warned him that on such hot days, the big fish in the water loved to feast on little frogs, but Hop didn't care. Nothing was going to stop him. All he could think about was the feeling of the cool water rushing over his little frog body, beginning with his toes all the way to his nose. He gathered his friends and they headed for the pond. The lilly pads were especially green and there was an area of the pond, shaded by the trees, that was much cooler than the rest of the pond. Who was going to go first was the only question Hop and his friends had in their minds. Each wanting to beat the others into the water, they all jumped in seemingly together, although Hop was certain that he had been first! The cool rush was just as he had hoped it would be.
As Hop and his friends were enjoying their swim, leaping from lilly pad to lilly pad, some big, some small, they didn't notice that the other animals standing on the bank of the water were watching them with a curious look. There were birds, and deer; skunks and squirrels. Each time Hop looked over at these onlookers, he noticed their glare became more and more intense, as if they were waiting to see what was going to happen. Thinking little of it, Hop continued to swim, remembering to be careful, but also feeling invincible.
Suddenly, Hop's frog friend Chino made a big splash as he leaped up onto the large lilly pad in the middle of the river. He waited there and called to his friends to join him quickly. Each frog hopped to safety. They watched intently as the BIG FISH circled their cluster of lilly pads. He circled and circled, bumping the lilly pads from underneath. Hops heart beat faster than it ever had. Oh, how he wished he had listened to his mom. If only he could reach the edge of the pond in one leap. BIG FISH came around for one last attempt to bump Hop off his lilly pad, almost with success until Mr. Beaver swam close by and scared the BIG FISH away. Mr. Beaver had promised Hop's mom and dad, secretly of course, that he would keep an eye out for Hop and his friends when they were swimming at the pond.
Not wanting to crush Hop's autonomy, Mr. Beaver pretended that he had not seen the BIG FISH threatening the young frogs and simply asked Hop how his day was going. Hop gave a shaking reply and returned the question. Mr. Beaver was an old, wise beaver. His family had occupied this pond for over 100 years. All he could say to Hop was "Nice to see you. Say hello to your parents."
Hop promised he would and quickly waved his friends to follow him to safety on the bank of the pond. As Hop returned home that night, he pondered the wisdom of his mom. He knew she had been right and realized how close he had come to being eaten up in one big gulf of the BIG FISH's mouth. Hop loved his mom and decided from that moment on, that he wanted to do a better job obeying her words. He hugged her tightly with his wet slimy arms. Hop's mom could feel his heart beat fast. At this point she knew Hop had seen BIG FISH. She hugged him back and in her quiet, humble way, without words, communicated her pleasure that Hop had learned his lesson.
The End!
