The Tale of the Rough Play

                 Xavier the frog sat on a lily pad watching his friends Summer and Madison the butterfly twins and Hayden the turtle play with the twin’s baby sister, Lyla the caterpillar.  This was the first time Lyla had been allowed to come out with her sisters, but she was still so small all they could do was play gently with her.  Xavier was bored.
                  Just then Emerson the dragonfly flew up to the pond and landed on a cattail.  Xavier perked up.
                  “Hey, Emerson,” called Xavier.  “Boy, am I glad to see you!”
                  “What’s up, Xavier?” asked Emerson.
                  “Baby Lyla is out with us for the first time,” answered Xavier, “and all those three want to do is ooh and coo at the baby.  Please tell me you want to really play.”
                  “Sure,” said Emerson.
                  Xavier smacked Emerson on the back and said, “Tag, you’re it.”
                  Then the two boys took off with Emerson chasing Xavier.  Xavier dashed here and there trying to get away from Emerson.  Neither boy was watching where they were going until Xavier crashed into Madison.
                  “Watch where you are going!” Madison shouted at Xavier.  “If I hadn’t stepped in front of you, you would have trampled all over baby Lyla.”
                  Xavier looked over at baby Lyla and grunted.  “Maybe you should put baby Lyla on a stalk of grass so we won’t accidently step on her,” he said bluntly.
                  “Maybe we will, but you need to slow down while baby Lyla is out here,” Madison answered sternly.  “Mom and Dad won’t let us bring her out if you run over her.”
                  Summer and Madison placed baby Lyla on a leaf of a wildflower growing along the banks of Polliwog Pond.  Xavier and Emerson sat along the edge of the pond for a few minutes pouting.
                  Then Xavier starting pushing on Emerson and Emerson pushed him back.  Soon, the boys were tumbling and scuffling all over the ground.  When Hayden saw that Xavier and Emerson were about to bump into the wildflower that held baby Lyla, he placed himself in front of the flower and drew up in his shell.  Xavier banged into Hayden’s shell with a thud.
                  “Hey!” Xavier yelled at Hayden.  “Get out of our way!”
                  From inside his shell, Hayden said, “You almost knocked baby Lyla off of her leaf.  You two need to watch what you are doing.”
                  By this time Summer and Madison had descended on Xavier and Emerson.  “You two need to go play somewhere else before you hurt somebody,” Summer said sternly.
                  Xavier and Emerson skulked off to a spot several feet away and sat pouting.  However, before long Emerson spotted a seed on the ground and tossed it into the air.  Xavier shot it with his tongue sending it flying through the air.  Before long, the boys were hard at it again.  Emerson threw a seed up and Xavier would send it flying.  Summer was just about to march over to them to make them stop when she noticed that one of the seeds was heading straight for baby Lyla.  As quick as she could she placed herself in front of the seed taking a direct hit on her wing.  Summer crumpled to the ground cradling her injured wing.
                  Madison flew over to the boys in a flash.  “Look, you finally hurt someone,” she scolded.  “Are you happy?”  Then she flew over to check on her sister.
                  Xavier and Emerson looked over at Summer lying on the ground crying.  They didn’t mean to hurt anyone.  The boys looked at one another and then walked over to Summer and Madison.
                  “I’m sorry, Summer,” said a pathetic Xavier.  “I didn’t mean to hurt you so bad.”
                  ‘Yeah, Summer,” said an equally pathetic Emerson.  “I hope you will be okay.”
                  Summer tried to stretch out her wing but grunted in pain.  Madison went and collected baby Lyla in her arms and helped Summer limp her way home.
                  For a while Xavier and Emerson sat in silence.  Hayden came over to where they were but also sat in silence.  None of them had ever injured their friend like that before.  They weren’t sure what to do.  After what seemed like an eternity, Madison flew up to where they sat.
                  “Good news,” Madison started.  “Summer’s wing is not broken.  It’s only sprained.  She will have to take it easy for several days.  However, Mom and Dad are not going to let baby Lyla come back out with us until she gets bigger.  You do understand you could have hurt her much worse than you just hurt Summer.”
                  Xavier felt awful.  “I am so sorry, Madison,” Xavier apologized.  “We should have listened to you when you told us to settle down.”
                  “I’m sorry we messed up you getting to bring baby Lyla out to play with us,” said Emerson.  “I know you have been looking forward to that for so long.”
                  Madison looked at her friends for a moment before she answered, “I hope you two have learned a good lesson.  You HAVE to be gentle around little ones.”
                  “Yeah, we have,” said Xavier.  “Please tell Summer we are so sorry and hope she feels better soon.”
                  As Madison flew back home, the three boys sat on the banks of Polliwog Pond.  For a while they discussed what had happened.  They made a pact to always listen when someone was telling them they were being too rowdy and take their rowdy play somewhere where it wouldn’t hurt anybody from now on. 

The Tale of the Great Offense

           Madison and Summer the butterfly twins were playing with Hayden the turtle in the clearing near Polliwog Pond.  Summer and Madison chased each other around the clearing while Hayden watched.

            Madison went to make a wide loop around Summer, miscalculated, and ran full out into a cattail.  This knocked her sideways and she spiraled until she landed on the ground with a thud.  Hayden began to giggle.  This made Madison puff up like a blowfish.  She shot Hayden a nasty look and flew toward the pond in a huff.  Summer looked at Hayden with an apologetic look and flew off to join her sister.

            When the twins reached Polliwog Pond, they met Audra the duck swimming by herself.  “Good morning, Summer and Madison,” called Audra.

            “Good morning, Audra,” said Summer and Madison sort of mumbled the same.

            “What’s the matter, Madison?” asked Audra.

            “Oh, nothing,” she sighed.  “It doesn’t matter now.”

            For a while the three friends talked and giggled about Audra’s birthday party from the week before.  Suddenly, while Madison was talking, she half-hiccuped in the middle of a word and made a squeaking noise.  Summer and Audra looked at each other and began to giggle.  Madison’s face turned red and she flew away to the tall grass.

            Audra stopped giggling and asked Summer, “What did we do?”

            Summer replied, “Madison hates it when anyone laughs at her.  She thinks we are making fun of her even if that is not why we are laughing.”

            “Well, that’s dumb,” said Audra plainly.  “She needs to learn to not be so sensitive about everything.”

            “I know,” said Summer, “but right now I need to go find her and apologize.  This time I laughed at her, too.”

            Summer found Madison sitting on the top of a tall stem of grass pouting.  “Madison, I wasn’t laughing at you,” she apologized.  “I was laughing because of that squeaking noise you made.  It sounded so funny.”

            Madison looked at her sister and replied, “It was embarrassing to make that noise while I was trying to talk.  I hate it when that happens.”

            “Madison, it happens to everyone sometimes,” she said gently.  “If you learn to laugh at it too, it doesn’t seem so embarrassing anymore.”

            Just then Emerson the dragonfly flew up and landed on a nearby piece of grass.  “Good morning, Summer and Madison,” he said.

            “Good morning, Emerson,” said Summer and again Madison sort of mumbled the same.

            “Are you okay, Madison?” Emerson asked.

            “Yeah, it’s nothing,” she said and tried to look at little cheerier.

            “Hey, you guys want to play chase?” he asked hopefully.

            “Sure,” said Madison as Summer waited for her sister to respond first.  Then added, “That would be fun!”

            The three friends played chase through the tall grass, which could be very tricky.  Sometimes the grass blocked their view.  Emerson was chasing both girls when they split up and headed in different directions.  Both girls decided to head back in the same direction at the same time without knowing it or being able to see each other.  Right as they came around clusters of grass they realized they were heading right straight for each other.  Summer pulled up and Madison pulled sideways at the last minute but they still clipped each other’s wings.  Summer managed to quickly land on a piece of grass, but Madison did a loop-to-loop and made a hard landing on the ground.  Emerson saw the whole thing and began to laugh hysterically.  Madison was too winded by her fall to fly away so she sat in the dirt and pouted.

            “Wow!” said Emerson as he flew down to where Madison sat.  “Did you know you did a complete loop-to-loop in the air?  That was AWESOME!!!”

            Madison looked at Emerson’s excited face and softened.  Then she began to think about how that must have looked and she started to giggle.  Once she started giggling, Summer did, too.  Soon they were all laughing hysterically and talking excitedly about Summer’s and Madison’s near collision.

            After they settled back down, they all decided to try to find Audra and Hayden and play something calm for the rest of the afternoon.  Madison decided to try a little harder to laugh at herself instead of getting upset all the time, and many times that afternoon she had a chance to practice.  She realized it did make it less embarrassing.   

The Tale of the New Addition

           Summer the butterfly flew lazily threw the cattails on the shores of Polliwog Pond.  It was nice to be out in the great outdoors and enjoy the beautiful sunshine.  Ever since her baby sister, Lyla, had hatched from her egg, Summer’s home had been rather noisy, and no one seemed to even notice that Summer was around.

            Before long Summer met up with her twin sister, Madison.  Madison was enjoying the outdoors as much as Summer.  She understood exactly how Summer felt.

            “It is so nice out here today,” Summer said dreamily.

            “I thought Lyla would never hush last night,” said Madison.

            “I know,” added Summer.  “I don’t think I have gotten to sleep through the night since she hatched.”

            “Me either,” said Madison.

            Just then their friend, Audra the duck, emerged from the path to the clearing.  “Good morning, Summer and Madison,” said Audra pleasantly.

            “Good morning, Audra,” said the twins at the same time.

            “You know it is really creepy when you two do that,” stated Audra with a glare.

            “It’s a twin thing,” they again said at the same time.

            Audra rolled her eyes and then looked around the pond.  “So, what do you two want to do today?” asked Audra.  “Why don’t we go see your new baby sister?”

            Summer just grunted and then flew away.  Audra looked at Madison and asked, “What did I say?”

            Madison replied, “Baby Lyla is a rather touchy subject with Summer right now.  Our whole house seems to be about nothing but Lyla, and I understand exactly how she feels.  I don’t think our parents have noticed us for days.”

            Meanwhile, Summer flew into the clearing where Xavier the frog and Hayden the turtle were playing knights and having pretend sword fights.

            “Good morning, Xavier and Hayden” said Summer pleasantly.  “Can I play, too?”

            “Sure,” said Xavier as he lunged at Hayden with his stick sword.  “You can be a maiden fair and cheer us on.”

            Summer landed on a tall piece of grass and began to cheer both boys trying to give each one the same amount of encouragement.  Before long, Audra the duck waddled into the clearing with Madison sitting on her nose.  At first, Summer ignored Audra, but then Madison came and landed next to Summer.  After some gentle prodding from her sister, Summer explained their role and each one decided which brave knight would receive their praise.

            For a while, everyone was having great fun, but then the boys grew tired and decided to sit down.  Everyone gathered in the middle of the clearing to decide what to do next.  Summer tried to make several suggestions, but everyone was talking at once.  Suddenly, Summer flew up in a rush pushing Xavier backwards.  Without a word she disappeared in the tall grass leaving her friends speechless.

            After a moment of stunned silence, Hayden asked, “What is wrong with Summer?  I have never seen her act like that.”

            Madison responded, “Summer is a little out of sorts today.  We both are really.  Let’s go find her.  I bet she is crying her eyes out.”

            The four friends set out into the tall grass to look for Summer and found her not far from the clearing.  She was crying her eyes out.  As her friends approached, Summer blurted out miserably, “I am so sorry I pushed you Xavier.  I just couldn’t stand being ignored again.”

            Madison went to her sister, put her arms around her, and said,  “It’s okay.  I explained to everybody on the way here about how hard it has been since Lyla was born.  They understand and nobody is mad at you.”

            Summer looked at her friends through tear-filled eyelashes.  Then Audra suggested, “Why don’t we let Summer choose what we do next?”           

            Everyone liked that idea, and Summer chose to play castle at their rock castle fortress.  She thought that would be a perfect way to continue their afternoon since they had all had such fun in the clearing.  For the rest of the afternoon Summer enjoyed the company of her friends and forgot all about her troubles at home.  Maybe soon baby Lyla would be fun to have around, too.

The Tale of the Meadow Tour

Audra was so excited.  Today, she and her friends were taking a tour of the meadow on the other side of the Polliwog Pond.  This tour only happened once per year, and last year everyone in her group had been too young to go.  This would be their very first year to participate.

            It took quite a while for everyone to make it to the entrance to the meadow.  However, once they reached the entrance, Audra was determined to be the first one to see the meadow.  Emerson the dragon started to fly ahead of Audra, and she grabbed him by the tail with her bill and pulled him back.

            “Hey!” exclaimed Emerson as Audra slung him to the side and pushed her way through the grass into the meadow.  Audra walked on as if nothing had happened, and Emerson gave her a very nasty look.

            The first stop on the tour was the bubbling brook.  Audra walked as fast as she could in order to the first one in the brook.  At the last minute, Xavier the frog hopped a little in front of Audra.  Audra stepped on his foot and pushed past him.  She splashed down into the brook so hard everyone else had to wait a minute to enter.

            “Audra, you stepped on me!” shouted Xavier.

            “Sorry,” said Audra as she swam around happily in the brook.  Xavier didn’t think she was sorry at all.

            The next stop on the tour was the field of Black-eyed Susans, beautiful yellow flowers with a big black center.  The butterfly twins, Summer and Madison, were very excited about this part of the tour.  However, when they tried to fly ahead of Audra, she spread her wings knocking both of them to the side so that she would be the first one there.

            At this point, the other four friends decided Audra needed to be taught some manners.  They let Audra go ahead of them and didn’t call after her when the tour went to the next stop.  After a few minutes, Audra turned around to find everyone else was gone.

            “Hey,” called Audra.  “Where is everybody?”

            Panicked, Audra waddled out of the field of flowers and saw that everyone else on the tour was already at the big maple tree.  She waddled as fast as she could to where the rest of the group stood.

            “Why did you leave me like that?” Audra demanded angrily.

            “We were tired of being stepped on and pushed,” stated Madison matter-of-factly.

            “Yeah, you didn’t get to be first to the maple tree, did you?” teased Emerson.

            Audra started to explode, but then realized that her friends had all turned their backs on her.  For a moment Audra thought about how she had acted so far on this tour.  She had pushed them and stepped on them among other things.  All she had been thinking about was being first.  Now, everyone was mad at her.

            “Hey guys,” Audra said trying to get their attention.  “I’m sorry I pushed you and stepped on you.  I promise I won’t try to be first for the rest of the day.”

            Summer turned around and looked at Audra.  “Do you really mean it?” she said.

            “Yes, I mean it,” said Audra starting to cry.  “Please don’t be mad at me anymore.”

            “Okay, we forgive you,” said Summer and the others agreed.

            For the rest of the tour Audra made a point to stay in the middle of the pack and made sure she was not first at any other attraction.  She laughed and talked with her friends about all the beautiful scenery and soon didn’t even have to try to not be first.  She realized that the best part of the tour was sharing it with her friends.

The Tale of the Trail

           Emerson the dragonfly flew into the clearing near Polliwog Pond searching for his friends.  Instead of seeing his friends, he found a note that read, “We have a huge surprise for everyone.  Please follow the trail of seeds through the tall grass until you find us.”  Signed, The Butterfly Twins.

            “I wonder what they have up their sleeve,” said Emerson to himself.

            He looked around until he found the trail snaking off into the tall grass and started to follow.  He had to fly close to the ground to keep the trail in sight, and Emerson did not like flying close to the ground.

            “Surely I can see the trail from higher if I look hard enough,” he said to himself.  With that, he flew up above the tall grass and started trying to find the trail.  For a few feet he could see it and then he lost it.  He flew this way but did not find it.  He flew the other way and still did not find it.  After searching for nearly 10 minutes, he gave up and flew back to the clearing.  He would have to start over.

            Slightly aggravated that he had to start all over, Emerson set off down the trail again.  For a while he made good progress, but then he spotted something off in the tall grass and strayed off the path to check it out.  It turned out to be a piece of paper that must have been thrown away by the people in the farmhouse.  Emerson turned around and tried to make his way back to the path.  He went the direction he was sure he had come from but after 5 minutes he still had not found the path.  Disgusted, he decided to try to find it from the above the tall grass, but as before he could not find it from up there.  He would have to go back to the clearing and start over again.

            This time when he reached the clearing he was really starting to get aggravated.  “Why did they have to make a stupid trail that we had to follow?” Emerson grumbled to himself.  “They could have just told us where it was on the note.”

            Emerson set out once more on the trail.  Even though he hated flying close to the ground, he made himself stay low so that he could see the trail.  Before long he came upon Hayden the turtle slowly making his way along the trail.

            “Good morning, Hayden,” said Emerson.  “How many times have you got lost trying to find this stupid surprise?’

            Hayden looked at Emerson a little funny and said, “I haven’t gotten lost.  As long as I stick to the trail, I should get there with no trouble, right?”

            “This is the third time I have set off on the trail,” said Emerson giving Hayden a serious look.  “You better be careful.  It is really easy to get lost.”

            “Okay, Emerson,” stated Hayden a little nervously.  “I’ll be careful to watch the trail.”

            With that, Emerson left Hayden behind and continued on the trail at a faster pace.  He really did not want to go at a turtle’s pace.  As he went along, Emerson let his mind begin to drift off on something that had happened a few days ago.  Before he knew it, he looked up and couldn’t see the trail.   Emerson stopped and landed on a piece of grass.  He could not believe that he was lost again.  He was just about to go back to the clearing and start again when he realized he could just fly until he found Hayden.  He might not be able to see the trail from above the tall grass, but he could see Hayden.

            Emerson flew up above the grass and began to search for Hayden.  Sure enough in a few minutes, he spotted his friend slowly making his way up the path.  Emerson flew to where Hayden was and landed on Hayden’s back.

            “I thought you were going on ahead,” said Hayden a little surprised to see Emerson again.

            Emerson did not want Hayden to know that he had gotten lost again so he said, “I just came to check on you and make sure you hadn’t gotten lost.”

            “No, I’m doing fine,” said Hayden.  “It really isn’t a hard path to follow as long as you pay attention.”

            Just then Xavier the frog came up behind Hayden and Emerson.  “Good morning, guys,” said Xavier.  “This is a really cool trail the twins have made through the tall grass.  I hope it stays here for a while.  I think it would be cool to do this again and again.”

            “Sure,” said Emerson not very enthusiastically.

            “Hey, Emerson, want to race me to the finish?” asked Xavier starting to hop faster.

            Emerson thought about how following this trail had gone thus far for him and wondered if he would get lost again if he raced with Xavier.  To tell the truth, he was tired and riding on Hayden’s back was rather nice.

            “No,” said Emerson.  “I think I’ll hang with Hayden and make sure he gets there all right.”

            Xavier hopped off and left Hayden and Emerson lumbering along on the path.  Before long they came into a small clearing that was decorated with flowers.

            “Surprise!” yelled the twins as they came into the clearing.  “We made a party for everyone.  See, we have blackberries, huckleberries, and even some grapes for everyone.  We wanted to celebrate our group.”

            “Wow,” exclaimed Hayden and Emerson continued, “This is really nice, guys.”

            As soon as Emerson saw the surprise, he completely forgot about all the trouble he had finding it.  However, the next time Emerson followed a trail, he made sure to pay strict attention to it until he found the end.

The Tale of the Tattle Tail

            It was the day of the Midsummer Festival on Polliwog Pond.  Everyone, EVERYONE had come out for the festivities.  Hayden the turtle and his family arrived after all his friends and their families.  Audra the duck, Emerson the dragonfly, Xavier the frog, and Summer and Madison the butterfly twins were already playing some of the many games set up for the day.  Audra, Summer, and Madison were swinging on the maypole.  Emerson and Xavier were trying to hit the bulls-eye on the dunking booth.  Xavier’s father was the one in the dunking booth at the moment.

            Hayden lumbered up to Emerson and Xavier.  “Hey guys, what are you doing?” he asked.

            “We’re trying to dunk Xavier’s dad,” said Emerson as he threw a ball at the bulls-eye, “but we aren’t having much luck.”

            “Can I try?” asked Hayden.

            “Sure, just let me finish my other two balls first,” stated Emerson.

            Hayden tried to wait patiently, but he was eager to get his turn.  When Emerson took longer than Hayden thought he should have taken, Hayden complained to the man in charge, “Emerson is taking too long.”

            The man told Emerson to hurry up and Emerson gave Hayden a nasty look.  When Emerson finished, he and Xavier left Hayden throwing balls at the bulls-eye and went to look for the girls.

            They found the girls at one of the eating tents snacking on cotton candy.  Emerson and Xavier joined them and bought some cotton candy as well.  After a while, Hayden found them in the tent.  As soon as he walked in, he said to the girls, “Emerson and Xavier left me at the dunking booth.”

            The girls looked at Emerson and Xavier, and Emerson said to Hayden, “We left you because you tattled on me.”

            “You were taking too long,” said Hayden.

            Summer looked at Hayden and said gently, “It’s not nice to try and get your friends in trouble, Hayden.  Next time tell Emerson instead of trying to get him in trouble.”

            When the friends were through, they all picked up their trash and put it in the trashcan.  Summer accidently missed the trashcan, but didn’t notice.  Hayden walked up to the person in charge of the eating tent and said, “Summer threw her trash on the ground.”

            The man called Summer and embarrassed, she picked up her trash and put it in the trashcan.  Summer didn’t speak to Hayden as she joined her friends.  Then the five friends walked to the cake walk tent leaving Hayden behind.

            Soon, however, Hayden caught up to them and joined them on the cake walk as another round started.  When the music stopped, Xavier took an extra step to another square.  Before the announcer could declare a winner, Hayden shouted out, “Xavier’s on the wrong square.”

            Xavier looked at Hayden is disbelief.  “What do you mean?” he asked defensively.

            “You took an extra step after the music stopped.  You should be on that square,” Hayden explained pointing to the square behind him.

            Xavier stepped back a square but gave Hayden a nasty look.  When the winner was announced, Audra, Emerson, Xavier, Summer, and Madison all left the cake walk tent in a hurry once again leaving Hayden behind.

            It took Hayden a long time to find his friends again, and when he did, he only found the girls.  Emerson and Xavier were no where to be found.  Hayden walked up to the girls and asked, “Where is Emerson and Xavier?”

            Just then, Emerson and Xavier jumped from behind a pole and fastened a long tail on Hayden.  “Hey, what are you doing?” Hayden cried.

            “We are putting a tattle tail on a tattle-tale,” they said plainly.

            “Get it off!!” Hayden cried with alarm as he spun trying to reach it.

            “Not until you promise to stop tattling on us,” said Madison firmly.

            “Yeah,” said Audra, “if you are going to be a tattle-tale, you should have a wear a long tail.  That is what we all have decided.”

            Hayden started to run to an adult and tell on his friends, but then he stopped and looked back at the tail his friends had attached to him.  He really had been a tattle-tale all day long.  He looked at his friends and then looked down at the ground and said, “I’m sorry guys.”

            “Do you promise to stop tattling on us?” Madison asked.

            “I’ll really try,” said Hayden.  “I know I’m bad at that.”

            “Yes you are,” said Audra, “but we’ll help you stop if you really want to stop.”

            “I do,” said Hayden as he looked at his friends.  “I know I don’t like to have somebody tattle on me.”

            “Okay guys, you can take the tail off of Hayden,” said Madison.

            Emerson and Xavier removed the tail.  Then all six friends went to find a spot to watch the lightning bug display because it was starting to get dark.  The lightning bug display filled the sky with light as the six friends watched in wonder.  Hayden was glad to not have a long tail anymore, and from that day forward, every time he started to tattle, his friends would just simply ask him, “Do you need a tattle tail?”  That usually stopped his tattling in its tracks.

The Tale of the Huckleberry

           Summer and Madison the butterfly twins were resting on a cattail next to Polliwog Pond waiting for their friends to arrive.  They had both had some flower nectar for breakfast, but Summer was still sort of hungry.

            “I don’t think I ate enough breakfast,” said Summer to Madison.  “My tummy is grumbling.”

            “Maybe when our friends get here, we can find something to snack on,” replied Madison.

            Just then Audra the duck waddled up the path to Polliwog Pond.  “Good morning, Summer and Madison,” said Audra.  “What were you talking about when I walked up?”

            “Summer didn’t eat enough breakfast and now she is hungry,” said Madison.

            “Well, I passed Hayden on my way here,” said Audra.  “Maybe he knows where we can get a snack.”

            The three friends set off down the path toward the clearing and soon came upon Hayden the turtle slowly making his way toward the pond.  “Good morning, Hayden,” said the twins together.

            “Good morning,” replied Hayden.  “I was on my way to the pond to see you.”

            “We decided to come find you instead,” said Audra.  “Summer didn’t eat enough breakfast and now she’s hungry.  We were wondering if you knew of something she might be able to snack on.”

            “Oh!” exclaimed Hayden.  “You are in such luck.  I noticed this morning that the huckleberries are ripe.”

            “What are huckleberries?” asked Madison with a weird look on her face.

            “They are small dark blue berries that grow on a small bush over by the fence.  They are kind of crunchy but sweet, too,” explained Hayden.

            “I don’t know about that,” said Summer skeptically.

            “Oh, come on,” said Hayden excitedly.  “I’m sure you’ll like them if you try them.”

            Hayden told Audra and the twins where to find the bush and sent them on ahead.  He would get there as fast as he could, but he didn’t want Summer to have to wait on him before she could have a snack.  When the three friends reached the bush, they all just stood there eyeing the berries suspiciously.

            Suddenly, Xavier the frog hopped out of the tall grass and yelled, “Boo!”

            “Good morning, Xavier,” said the three friends together as they rolled their eyes at him.

            “Didn’t I scare you even just a little bit?” asked Xavier disappointed that he hadn’t made them jump.

            Audra just ignored his question and asked, “Do you know anything about these berries?  Hayden says they are really good, but I don’t know about them.”

            Xavier looked up at the bush and replied, “I’m really not a berry kind of person, but those aren’t half bad.”

            “Really?” said Madison.

            The three friends eyed the bush again.  Then Summer’s tummy made a rumbling noise.  Audra walked up to the bush and picked one of the berries and brought it to Summer.  Summer looked at it like it was poison and backed away.

            “I’m not trying that,” she said giving Audra a determined look.

            Then Audra handed it to Madison.  Madison looked at it for a moment and then popped it in her mouth.  “Wow!” she exclaimed.  “These are different than any berry I have ever had.  Hayden is right. They’re crunchy and sweet at the same time.”

            Audra then went back to the bush and picked another one.  This time she popped it in her own mouth.  “You’re right,” she said to Madison.  “I really like these.”

            With that Audra and Madison went over to the bush and started eating heartily.  Summer watched them in dismay.  She was the one that was hungry, but she hated trying new foods.  Again, her tummy rumbled, and Summer sighed in disgust.  She started to get aggravated with Audra and Madison because they were munching happily.

            “Hey!” shouted Summer.  “I’m the one that is hungry.”

            “Well come on and eat,” said Audra with her mouth full of berries.   “These berries are SO good.”

            Summer looked hard at the berries again.  She slowly walked up to the bush and picked a berry.  She looked at it and crinkled up her nose.  Then she slowly put it in her mouth.  For a minute she thought about gagging, but then she tasted the sweetness of the berry.  She picked another one and popped it in her mouth.

            “Hey,” she said surprised.  “These are really good.”

            The three friends found a big leaf and picked a bunch of the berries to take with them back to Polliwog Pond.  For the rest of the morning they played and snacked on the berries.  Summer decided that huckleberries just might be her favorite berry in all the world.

The Tale of the Breakfast Hunt

          Xavier the frog stretched his legs as the sun rose in the morning sky.  His lily pad on Polliwog Pond had to be the most comfortable place to sleep in the whole world, but now it was time to find breakfast.  Xavier scanned his surroundings.  He spotted one fly, but it was out of reach.  He really didn’t want to have to work too hard for his breakfast this morning.  He let it go.

            After sitting for quite some time, he decided a fly wasn’t going to land anywhere near him.  He hopped off of his lily pad and onto the banks of Polliwog Pond.  Again, he scanned his surroundings.  This time he spotted a fly that was within reach.  Quickly, he shot out his tongue, but the fly was too fast.  It flew up and landed just out of his reach.  Xavier stared at the fly trying to decide if it was worth the effort of the chase.  He decided it wasn’t and set off down the path to the clearing.

            All along the path Xavier spotted flies that were just out of his reach, but he just really wasn’t in the mood to have to chase down his breakfast.  He was hoping to just get lucky and catch a fly unawares.  When he reached the clearing he met Emerson the dragonfly.

            “Good morning, Emerson,” said Xavier.  “What are you doing?”

            “I saw this humungous fly just a minute ago and I’m trying to figure out where it went,” said Emerson excitedly.  “That fly is going to be my breakfast.”

            “Not if I see it first,” said Xavier trying to find the fly that Emerson had seen.

            “There it is!” shouted Emerson as he took flight.  The fly had just taken off into the air and Emerson was in hot pursuit.

            Xavier just grunted when he saw how far away the fly was and decided to just let Emerson have that one.  Before long, Emerson came back with a huge smile on his face.  “That fly was delicious,” he said.

            Xavier gave Emerson a nasty look and then hopped to the other side of the clearing.  He was starting to really get hungry now.

            Just then the butterfly twins flew up.  “Good morning, Xavier,” they said at the same time.  Xavier thought it was so annoying when they did that.

            “Good morning, Summer and Madison,” said Emerson as he flew up next to them.  “I just had the most delicious fly for breakfast.”

            “We found some sweet nectar in a flower patch over by the fence,” said Summer.  “What did you have for breakfast, Xavier?” asked Madison.

            “Nothing, yet,” said Xavier grumpily, “and if you will excuse me, I need to find me some.”

            Xavier headed back down the path toward Polliwog Pond looking everywhere for an easy catch for his breakfast.  He was looking so hard that he nearly ran over Audra the duck as she made her way to the clearing.

             “Oh!” shouted Xavier as he looked up to see Audra right in front of him.

            “Good morning, Xavier,” said Audra pleasantly.  “What are you doing?”

            “I’m trying to find some breakfast,” said Xavier.

            “Oh, I saw a bunch of flies down by the pond,” stated Audra.  “I’m sure you can find some breakfast there.”

            Xavier thanked her and went back to the pond.  Sure enough, there were plenty of flies but none of them were an easy catch.  Suddenly, Xavier’s tummy began to rumble.  He was really starting to get hungry now.  Maybe he should pick a decent size fly and hunt it down.  If he kept waiting for an easy catch, he might not get any breakfast at all.  Just then, a large fly flew by his nose and Xavier decided that was the one.  He set out in hot pursuit.  It took him a few minutes, but his efforts were rewarded.  Soon his tummy was all full.

            Xavier made his way back to the clearing to play with his friends.  For the rest of the morning they played hide and seek, and when lunchtime came, Xavier decided to go on the hunt right away.  Waiting for his meals to come to him only made for a hungry frog.

The Tale of the Boring Afternoon

Illustration by Nick  Age:  8
Ms. Ashley James 2nd grade class

          Emerson the dragonfly sat on a cattail next to Polliwog Pond.  He was bored.  He wished his friends would come to Polliwog Pond so that he could play with them, but they were nowhere in sight. 

            Finally after sitting and waiting longer than he could stand, he set out in search of his friends.  He found the butterfly twins, Summer and Madison, in the clearing.  They were making flower headbands.

Illustration by Amelia  Age:  8
Ms. Ashley James 2nd grade class

            “Hey guys,” Emerson called.  “What are you doing?”

            “We’re making flower headbands for Audra’s birthday party tomorrow,” said Summer.  “She wants everyone at the party to have one.”

            “Oh,” sighed Emerson.  He figured they would be too busy to play with him.

            “Have you seen Hayden and Xavier?” asked Emerson hopefully.

            “We saw them a couple of hours ago,” said Madison.  “They said something about pretending to be pirates.  Hayden was going to be the ship, and they were going over to the other side of the pond to look for buried treasure.”

            “Oh,” signed Emerson.  He really didn’t want to fly all the way across the pond and going around would take too long.

            “Well I guess I’ll leave you guys to your work,” said Emerson as he flew back to the pond. 

Illustration by Neely  Age:  7
Ms. Ashley James 2nd grade class

            He landed on the same cattail he had been sitting on before.   He sighed.  Then he started getting angry with his friends for being gone or being busy.  Then he started feeling sorry for himself because he was so bored.  He sighed again.

            After he could stand it no longer, he decided he would fly around.  At least it was better than sitting and pouting.  He flew over the tall grass hoping to find something interesting, but all he saw were rocks, grass, and dirt.  He landed on a rock and sighed again.  He went through the same thoughts he had had on the cattail, but it didn’t make him any less bored.

Illustration by Brooke  Age:  8
Ms. Ashley James 2nd grade class

            As he sat there going through all the reasons his friends had abandoned him, he began to notice the rock under him.  It reminded him of a tower on a castle.  Then he remembered all the rocks he had seen as he flew over the tall grass, and an idea began to form.  He flew back to the tall grass and began to bring rocks to the tower rock.  He carefully placed them to make walls.  He placed some in such a way that they formed a gate.  He worked and worked until he had made a rock castle fortress.  When he was satisfied with his new creation, he flew back to Polliwog Pond to see if Hayden and Xavier had returned from the other side of the pond.

Illustration by Presieya  Age:  7
Ms. Ashley James 2nd grade class

            As he reached the banks, he saw Hayden with Xavier riding on his back swimming toward him.  They had all kinds of rocks and other treasures that they had found on the other side.

            “Har! Maties!” called Xavier when he saw Emerson.  “Who goes there!”

            “Hey guys,” said Emerson excitedly.  “I’m so glad you are back.  Come see the rock fortress I made this afternoon.”

Illustration by Jamaree  Age:  8
Ms. Ashley James 2nd grade class

            Xavier climbed down from Hayden’s shell when they reached the shore.  Then the two friends followed Emerson.  When they reached the rock castle fortress, Hayden and Xavier just stood there with their mouths open for a few minutes.

            “Did you make this all by yourself?” exclaimed Xavier obviously impressed.

            “This is the coolest castle I have ever seen!” said Hayden as he stared in wonder at Emerson’s creation.

            “Hey, why don’t you guys put your treasure in the castle, and we can pretend we are defending it against invaders,” suggested Emerson.

            Hayden and Xavier liked that idea a lot.  The boys went into the castle and defended it from invaders for the rest of the afternoon.  That castle became one of their favorite places to play.  Emerson was so proud that he had made it all by himself.