By Margo
Wayman Farso croaked monotonously as he sat on the lotus pad. Flies were buzzing all around him. He thought of trying to catch another with his long, sticky tongue, but it seemed too much of an effort and he didnt think he could fit one more fly into his tummy.
His large, bulgy eyes rolled around in circles as Farso watched all the other frogs. There were tongues going everywhere. In fact there were not only too many flies but there were far too many frogs at that pond. There was no room to leap, no room in the water to cool off and two other frogs shared the same lotus pad as him. It was just too crowded.
As Farso sat thinking about this he was kicked in the face by a frog that was trying to hop to another lotus pad. Another leg kicked him in the tummy, which was full of flies, as a frog leapt through the air, trying to catch a huge fly. Everywhere he looked there were frogs legs. The noise was unbearable. CROAK! CROAK! CROAK! It went all day and night. Farso never got any sleep, any peace, or any quiet.
He decided that he needed to go and find somewhere else to live. The hot desert sun had dried up most of the once huge pond, leaving just this small, puddle-like spot of water. When another frog landed on top of his head with a splat, Farso knew it was time to leave. He squeezed his way through the mass of slimy, squiggly frogs and hopped off into the bushes. Before he got too far he turned and looked back at the pond. All he could see were frogs legs. He was glad to leave! Surely he could find another pond, a bigger one somewhere else.
Farso leapt across the burning sand. It was so hot. He could feel his moist skin drying up. He knew he needed to find water quickly. He heard some elephants up ahead and knew a watering hole couldnt be too far away. He hopped quickly, plopping his body on the hot sand. He stopped when he heard a hissing sound. He didnt move, but stayed completely still, listening. Without moving his head, his large, googly eyes turned and he saw the cobra sitting against a large rock. It was coiled up; its tongue was flickering in and out of its mouth. Farsos mind started racing. How would he get out of this mess? Cobras eat frogs. He mustered all the strength he could and leapt through the air in a huge leap, leaving the ready to strike cobra to wonder where hed just gone.
Farso knew he needed to be more careful and watch where he was going. He soon arrived at a pond. It was much bigger than the last one. He could hear several other frogs, but it wasnt like the old pond. He jumped through the air, landed in the water and hopped onto a lotus pad. It felt good to have the water rushing over his dried skin. He shut his eyes and rested.
Only a few minutes had passed when Farso felt his lotus pad being lifted up into the air. It went higher and higher. He peered down over the edge to see what was happening. A giant hippo had gone under the lotus and stood up. The taller the hippo stood, the higher Farso went. Suddenly the lily pad slid off of the hippos back and it, along with Farso, fell right into the pond. The hippos huge feet stomped the lily pad to pieces and nearly missed Farso. The frog was scared. He came to the top of the pond and saw that there were hippos everywhere. This pond wasnt going to be safe. He swam to the shore and hopped away.
There were many animals around each of the ponds he came to. He saw elephants, hyenas, a lion or two, a few monitors and tortoises. There were also many birds flying down to quench their thirst at the ponds edge. Farso needed to be very careful.
After hopping for a long, long time, Farso finally arrived at another pond. He couldnt see any animals there. He didnt hear any other frogs. He peeked under the water and saw there were no hippos. Feeling safe, he hopped in and sank down into the cool water. He soon fell asleep beneath a dark sky filled with twinkling stars.
When he woke up, he had the feeling that he was moving. He opened his large, bulging eyes and looked around. It was pouring rain, and he was being carried down river by a huge wall of water. He looked up. There was no longer a pond. He was now in the wide, raging river surrounded by steep banks on both sides. He grabbed hold of some reeds that had been uprooted and were caught in the strong current, and held on to them as he was carried further and further away. Finally the water calmed down. Instead of a raging torrent it was now a smooth flowing river. Farso swam over to the riverbank and sat on the sand.
After resting, he hopped around, looking to see where he was. He saw some elephants. They were standing in the shallow edge of the river, their trunks sucking in water and blowing it up in the air at each other. He saw the hippos swimming lazily in the middle of the deep river. Many birds were landing in the water, catching fish in their beaks.
He reached a shallow area filled with lotus pads. He hopped onto one. There was now plenty of room for all the frogs and the other animals. There would be no more frogs legs kicking him and no more frogs legs bumping him off his lily pad. He let out a loud croak of contentment and stuck out his long, sticky tongue, trying to catch flies.