The Unhappy Frog
By Golafshan Hassan Zadeh Moghimi
Tehran, Iran

Once there was a beautiful pond in the shade of a very big weeping willow tree. It was surrounded by beautiful flowers and green grasses. When the wind blew, the weeping willow's branches started to dance and the scent of flowers and the grasses spread out every where. Lots of animals and insects were living in or near this pond. Rabbits, sparrows, fish, butterflies, dragonflies, and a little green frog. His name was Toddy. Yes! Our story is about him.

Nobody knew how he came to be there, not even him. He just knew that he was born in that pond and he was alone. Toddy was very kind and all the animals and insects loved him. But suddenly he was faced with a big problem. He lost his belief in himself.
When did it start? I'll tell you.

It started when he became a young frog. He was once very happy with lots of friends. He played with all the animals and insects that lived in or near the pond. The world was very beautiful. But one day everything changed!

It was close to spring and Toddy woke up from a long sleep (As you know frogs are cold - blooded and sleep during winters). He was very excited. He knew about metamorphosis and had seen how silkworms change to beautiful butterflies and he knew that frogs are metamorphic too. He learned that from Jito the oldest fish of the pond. He waited a long time for this day. As he jumped towards the water his heart was beating very fast. He sat on a peony and looking down into the water.

"No!" he shouted. "What an ugly creature! Oh, no! What an unpleasant
voice!" And you can guess the rest! From that day on he became sad and unhappy. He just sat under the shade of the flowers and cried. His friends were very worried about him and tried to help, but they couldn't.

One moonlit night when all the animals and insects were asleep, Toddy was awake. He was gloomy and cheerless. Suddenly he started to croak from the depth of his heart. That day a family had come near the pond for picnic. They were sitting outside of their tent and were silently looking at the full moon. They heard Toddy and were impressed with his voice. The daughter of the family said "What a beautiful sound! It's a frog. Isn't it, daddy?" Her father said "Yes". "It's near us. Let's bring a torch and find it." Then she went and came back with a torch. It didn't take them much time to find Toddy. "Oh, father! What a beautiful creature! Look at its beautiful color. I love it's croak. "

Toddy was surprised. He thought, "Are they speaking about me? It's impossible!" He stopped croaking and gave them a puzzled look. The little girl continued "croak, croak beautiful frog, please!"

The next day Toddy's friends found him happy! Finally he believed in himself and learned that appearance is not important. Ability and skill are really the most important parts of everyone's life. What are your special gifts?

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