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CROAK! CROAK! CROAK! Frog hopped
through the tall grass. Poppy, the fairy, held on tight. She was sitting
on his back. Her red dress was draped over Frog’s green dotted skin. "Whee!"
she shouted as he took another leap. "Where are you headed?" she asked.
Frog croaked and hopped toward the
stream. When they came to the muddy banks, Frog stopped. Poppy looked at
her reflection in the water. Her yellow hair shone and her green eyes
twinkled. "Hop onto that big stone," she said. Frog kicked with his back
legs and flew through the air. "Whee!" They landed with a plop in the
center of it. "Look at the stream and the way the water is swirling around
the rock. Isn’t it beautiful? Oh, look! I can see tiny fish swimming by,"
Poppy laughed.
Frog croaked and leapt to another
stone. "Whee!" Poppy was enjoying this. The water from the flowing stream
splashed on her legs. Just then the water began to flow quicker and it
began to rise. "What’s happening?" she asked Frog. He tried to leap to
safety but the water came too quickly. Soon he and Poppy where whisked off
the rock and carried with the current. Poppy fell off Frog’s back and was
tossed about. She swallowed gulps of water and started to cough and choke.
Somehow she managed to grab hold of a small branch of a tree that was
hanging over the water. "Help, Frog! Help me!" she called out.
Poppy couldn’t see Frog anywhere.
All she could see was water. Her red dress was limp and her long hair was
plastered to her face. CROAK! CROAK! CROAK! Poppy saw Frog at the side of
the stream. He was in the grass. Somehow he’d managed to swim to safety.
"Help me, Frog! I can’t hold on much longer!" she shouted.
Frog had an idea. He pushed with his
strong, muscular legs and flew through the air. He landed on the branch
above Poppy. He nearly fell but managed to get his balance. He wrapped his
long legs around the branch so he wouldn’t fall in and lowered his arms to
catch Poppy. CROAK! CROAK! CROAK! He called to her and she reached for his
hand with one of hers. Frog grabbed on tightly and pulled Poppy out of the
river. They carefully moved across the branch and down the tree trunk to
the ground. "Thank you, Frog," Poppy smiled. "We’d better play somewhere
else. The stream’s moving much to quickly today."
Poppy climbed onto Frog’s back and
he hopped across Periwinkle Glen. Soon they were sitting in a patch of
tiny violets. "This is much better," Poppy sighed. "It’s safer and it
smells wonderful," she giggled. They spent the rest of the afternoon lying
in the sunshine, watching the clouds float by. |
