This is the story of a little girl who lives in a farm somewhere on this vast planet earth. She is the only child and her parents love her very much. They are poor but happy. Life in a farm is difficult and demands long hours of work. From early morning to sunset, there is always something to do.
She doesn’t go to school because it is too far and the only donkey they have is already busy with all the farm’s chores.
Every morning, they wake up to the rooster’s crow before the sun even rises. The little girl likes his loud and rusty sound and up she springs out of her bed, always cheerful and ready for the new day.
She enjoys her morning routine: splashing cold water on her round face, then with a twig cleans her teeth with herbs and mint leaves. ‘Good for your breath’ her mother tells her. She brushes her long hair then her mother braids them. She loves her mother’s long and supple fingers in her hair and while she is doing it, they both hum: ‘It’s a new day, it doesn’t matter if it’s sunny or if it rains, it’s a new day, it doesn’t matter if it’s cold or if it’s hot, it’s another new day and we thank you for it’. She loves her mother’s voice, It’s warm and full of love. With her parents they eat a hearty breakfast, the best meal of the day, sometimes with fresh eggs from their hens. She is the one who picks them and she is proud of having given each hen a name; Melba, Peach, Rosie, Suzie, Maggy, Zoe, Happy. The only one who doesn’t have a name is the rooster, he’s simply ‘The Rooster’, he is a mighty one with a distinctive cock’s comb and all the hens respect him and find him quite handsome and majestic.
Her father goes to the field right behind their farm and ploughs all morning through. Her mother takes care of the garden where vegetables are planted and grow. She sometimes gives a hand reciting their names: tomatoes, egg plants, beans, carrots, potatoes onions, etc…
In the afternoon, her mother teaches her on their long wooden – table. This is where she learns how to read and write, in the comfort of her home. The alphabet and numbers are like beautiful drawings and she marvels at how they become words when each letter is put together. The numbers seem infinite, just like the stars she sees at night in the sky. She likes learning and is always eager. She feels her brain expanding but what she likes the most are the tales her mother tells her at night before she goes to sleep. She particularly likes the tale of the princess who transforms a frog into a prince after kissing it. Often in her dreams, she’d see herself kissing frogs, many frogs and they all become princes.
One sunny and warm morning, she decides to go to the pond just by the vegetable garden. She is on a mission. She’s going to look for frogs. Sure enough after a few minutes or so, she hears a faint croaking sound. She bends closer to the water where the lilies are in full bloom and imitates the croak. The sound amplifies and she is all excited, she bends closer, her nose almost touching the water:
‘I can hear you, but where are you? I can’t see you’
Another croak and from behind a water lily jumps out a cute little frog. She is startled and giggles. Their eyes meet, his are big, round and protruding, hers are like twinkles. She smiles at it and says softly:
‘don’t be afraid, I don’t want to harm you, I’m a friend.’
The little frog seems shy but doesn’t show any fear, to the contrary, it keeps on staring at her face close to his and croaks several times as if to tell her something.
‘I’m sorry, I don’t speak your language…’
She can sense it is trying to tell her something, but what?
Her mother is calling now and she has to go. Kneeling up, she tidies herself and says:
‘Good bye now, my mother is calling, it’s time for lunch, but I’ll come back tomorrow.’
Little frog seems to acknowledge and croaks back.
The little girl skips back to the cottage happy for having met the frog. She’s going to go back and tame it. It will become her new friend.
Her parents notice the twinkle in her eyes and ask her what she did and why she seems so happy. She doesn’t want to lie and yet doesn’t want to tell them about her mission and her new discovery. “it’s a secret, I can’t tell you now…’
That night she dreamed again and her new little frog became her friend, she didn’t kiss it yet, because it was just a friend. Tomorrow, she’ll go back and bring some food. She’ll find some snails and worms, hopefully, he’ll like it.
As planned, the next day she returns to the pond and calls out for him. Soon enough the frog appears and when he sees what she had brought, he croaks louder as if to thank her. His long sticky tongue catches the snails and worms and gulps faster than the blinking of her eyes.
“Oh, I see you are very hungry today’.
His protruding eyes stare at her. She observes him in delight, she has never been that close to a frog before and is admiring his smooth moist skin, its hind legs are twice as long as its front ones and has webbed back feet with sticky disks on the tip of its fingers and toes. This frog is of a shiny brown with specks of yellow and gold. It is simply beautiful!
After his feast, he proceeds to show her how well he can leap from one lily to the other and makes a plunge and swims. She claps her hands
‘bravo, what a great swimmer you are!’
She is full of admiration for this little creature, he can swim but she cannot.
Days and weeks go by and this little girl and her frog become great friends. They meet every day and their friendship grows stronger and stronger. Every day, she tells him about her life on the farm, about the animals, the hens, the Rooster, the vegetable garden, she sings the song her mother and her sing in the morning and he listens and croaks at times. They don’t speak the same language but somehow they understand each other and most importantly they appreciate each other’s company.
One day her father calls her telling her that he has some news for her:
‘My little one, you are growing so fast and you are learning so well. There is a new school at a village nearby and the master has heard about you. He is offering that you go to his school to further your education and him and his wife can take care of you during the week and on weekends I can go and pick you up to be with us.’
At hearing the news, the little girl’s heart sinks and tears are swelling about to spill all over her cheeks. Both her parents are surprised by her reaction and they look at one another not understanding.
‘Oh no, I don’t want to go away to school. I’m so happy here. Am I not learning well with mommy?’
Her mother tenderly takes her in her arms explaining
‘Of course you are learning very well, but I am not a teacher and comes a time when you have to learn more and I cannot provide it to you…’
They both explain that five days away isn’t that bad and they will be together the whole weekend. They both tell her about the importance of a good education, that life as a farmer is tough and difficult and she deserves more, much more.
‘But I’m so happy here, with you in the farm and I have made friends with…’
She immediately stops saying more and thinks ‘how can I tell them about the little frog, my frog? They will laugh at me, they cannot understand.’
That night sleep didn’t come and she was tossing and tossing. She has to find a solution.
Finally on that special morning when Master Rooster starts his morning crow, the little girl with a new determination knows what she has to do, something that she had postponed but could no longer do any more.
That morning after her mother braids her beautiful long hair and after her breakfast, she is going straight to the pond looking for her friend. She croaks and sure enough he appears croaking back.
She gives him some slugs and worms and after he had swallowed his breakfast, she puts her hand in the water, he hops on the palm of it. He notices some tears in her eyes and his croak gets soft
‘what’s happening? Why are you sad today?’ She raises him to her face, gives him a sweet gentle smile, his bulging eyes half closed he makes another soft croak, she kisses him ever so gently and sweetly letting her tears roll all over his glistening skin, he can taste the salt of her tears, his croaking never stops.
A brise is passing by blowing gently and next, there is a strange sound “poof”!
The little girl is no longer, but hopping next to the frog, there is another one, a bit smaller but oh so perfect and cute in every way.
Together, they leap from water lily to the next, splashing, croaking happily, they make a plunge and swim to the other side of the pond.