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Once upon a time, in the deepest of ponds there lived a family of toads and a family of frogs. They lived in the same pond, but they never got along. They always thought the other was doing something wrong.

King Frog commanded that the toads had nothing to do with the frogs.

"Why would you want to befriend them?" he roared. "They stole half of our pond!"

Little Frog, the littlest of all, didn’t understand why everyone couldn’t just get along, but all he could do was smile and nod. But deep down he thought, and he thought, and he thought. We’re all animals, so what’s so wrong? We still have plenty of pond.

Why would you want to be friends with a toad?

Well, um, why not?

King Toad felt the exact same way, he hated frogs, and wished they would all go away. After all, the frogs had been so mean when he and his friends entered and took half of the pond, but they just needed a place to live, they didn’t mean to cause any harm. They came from the lake where the water was too warm, where one day it was sunny, but then the next day it would storm. So they sadly said goodbye, packed of their things, and left and, hoping for a better life, they didn’t look back.

They’d entered the pond with hope and joy in their hearts, but King Frog’s angry frown tore their sincere hopes apart. “Who are you?” he bellowed. “How dare you enter my pond! It’s ours, go away, here is not where you belong!"

WHO ARE YOU?

He doesn't seem very nice...

“But we’ve traveled, we’ve traveled, oh, such a long way,” King Toad pleaded. “Please, please, we’re tired, for one night just let us stay.” Nights turned into days, and days turned into weeks. King Frog was angry and every day demanded that they immediately leave.

“You must, you must, you must go away,” he repeated. “There’s no room for you here. I’m sorry, but you cannot stay.”

“Please,” King Toad pleaded day after day, “We love it here! The water is just right, the stars shine at night, and the sun isn’t too bright. I’m sure that there’s a way that you can make this right.”

Please let us stay

NO!

Finally, King Frog decided to let them temporarily stay, but problems came about day after day. Frogs were complaining about the toads and how they were too loud, or how they would crowd, or how they would never ever calm down. So, King Frog called a meeting on the north side of the pond. The north side of the pond where the toads would never enter, for that is where they knew they didn’t belong.

“Alright, alright, enough of this madness! Who would be happy if the toads left and who would be filled with sadness?” Everyone seemed to be in agreement that the toads should go, but there was one voice who objected; meek, quiet, and low.

Leave

They should stay...

"Excuse me,” Little Frog objected as he quietly stood. “How would getting rid of the toads do any good? We have enough pond for all of us to comfortably live, so why not let the toads also have a chance? I’m sure that we can all learn to be generous and to forgive.” King Frog was shocked that someone would object, but surprisingly, he wasn’t upset. Silence filled the room, and Little Frog quickly sat down and gulped. Moments later, murmurs of agreement arose and slowly began to fill the air. King Frog stroked his chin, sat back, and thought in his wooden chair.

Maybe the toads should stay...

What Little Frog said was true, but what was he supposed to do? The toads had come and taken half of their pond, but he knew that they didn’t mean to do any wrong. Deep down, he knew that they just needed a place to call home, after all, who wanted to be sad and to be all alone? He knew that there was enough pond for everyone, and the sky here was the perfect shade of the bluest blue. Finally, King Frog knew exactly what he was going to do.

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