Froggie Sunshine's Arc

Chapter 1 of 1

Froggie Sunshine wanted friends more than anything, but he had sat alone on his lily pad all morning. Across the pond, the other critters splashed and laughed. He watched a turtle race a duck. He watched two dragonflies loop over the water. His throat felt tight. Every time he opened his mouth to call hello, the word stuck. So he stayed on his pad, folding and unfolding a green leaf in his hands. He had picked the leaves that morning as a gift. A bunch of fresh lily pads, layered and shiny, tied with a stem. He rehearsed a line under his breath. "Hi, I'm Froggie. I made these for you." It sounded silly out loud. He set the bouquet down and looked at his webbed feet. The others never came near him. Why would they? He was the quiet one at the edge. A tear plopped onto the leaf in his lap. Then the wind lifted the top leaf from his stack. It tumbled across the water, spun, and rose into the air. It caught the breeze like a wing. Froggie grabbed the stem before it flew off. An idea landed. He worked fast. He tied two thin reeds into a cross. He stretched a broad lily leaf over the frame and knotted it tight. He added two long ribbon-tails, one gold, one pink, torn from a strip of pondweed. He held it up. A kite shaped like a leaf, veins and all. He hopped to the highest rock on the bank. His hands shook. But no one was looking, so he ran and let the wind take it. The kite climbed. It dipped, then soared, ribbons snapping behind it. A duckling pointed. "Look!" Heads turned across the pond. The dragonflies chased the tails. The turtle stretched his neck to see. One by one, the critters swam and waddled toward Froggie's rock. Soon a small crowd stood below him, mouths open, watching his leaf fly. "How'd you make it?" the duckling asked. Froggie's heart pounded. He looked at all the faces. This time the word came out. "I'm Froggie. I can show you. I have leaves for everyone." He held up the bouquet. They crowded closer. The duckling took a leaf. The dragonflies begged for a turn on the string. For the first time, Froggie was not alone at the edge. He was in the middle, laughing, the kite tugging his hands. Then the string went slack. The wind died all at once. The leaf-kite drifted down, out over the water, and settled far from the bank. It floated on the open pond, past the last lily pad any of them could reach. The duckling looked at Froggie. "Can we get it back?" Every critter turned to him, waiting. Froggie had their eyes now. He also had a kite stranded in the middle of the water, and no idea how to reach it.