Ferdinand - Susan H Trought (e book reader online .TXT) 📗

Once upon a time, not so long ago, there lived a frog. He was called Ferdinand, although all his friends called him Ferdy. His mother was the only one who used his full name.
‘FERDINAND!’ she would call across the lily pond and Ferdy would jump and dive into the pond to hide under the lily pads.
It wasn’t that he didn’t like his mother – in fact, he loved her dearly – but she always seemed to interrupt him in the middle of a lovely daydream.
You see, Ferdy did not really like being a frog very much. He wasn’t very keen on his colour, which was a beautiful shade of green, and his croaky voice grated on his ears. All his daydreams were about how he would become a famous opera singer and perform at Covent Garden.
One day, as he sat daydreaming as usual, Ferdy decided he must do something about his ambitions. There was only one thing for it.... he would have to leave his home on the lily pond and make his way to London.

He packed all his belongings into a spotted silk handkerchief and set off. As he hopped along the road his head was full of thoughts of stardom and he did not hear the thunder of the juggernaut as it roared towards him.
Suddenly his world was turned upside down and he really did see his stars – flashing red ones, blazing blue ones and twinkling green ones! He felt dizzy and found that he was lying on his back in a dirty puddle in the gutter. He tried to get up but he couldn’t. He pushed himself up with his short front legs but one of his long back legs buckled under him when he tried to stand up. He could not feel it hurting but he knew it was broken.
As he sat in the gutter and wondered what to do, a big fat glistening tear trickled down his froggy face.
Ferdy sat in the gutter and felt very sorry for himself. He did not begin to dream about being and opera star as he normally did when he sat still for more than a few minutes, but he thought about his lovely home and the lily pond and how peaceful it was.
He was woken by the sound of children’s voices. It was Hannah and Peter on their way to school.
‘Ooh1 Look at that poor frog,’ said Peter.
‘Is he dead?’ asked Hannah and Ferdy opened one eye.
‘No, he isn’t,’ said Peter. ‘But he’s hurt his leg,’ and he picked Ferdy up carefully and put him in his bag to take him to school.
At school Peter and Hannah showed Ferdy to their teacher who was very kind. She took Ferdy gently and said they must all help to look after him until his leg was better.
All the children in the class crowded round her desk to watch as the teacher made two tiny splints from matchsticks and bandaged Ferdy’s leg.
Ferdy really enjoyed being the centre of attention.
The teacher put Ferdy on the nature tale in the fish tank and every day the children brought insects for him to eat. They were very kind and thoughtful and he came to know all their names. They called him Freddy and he thought that it was near enough to his own name so he didn’t correct them.
After a few weeks the teacher told the class that she thought Ferdy’s leg was better and she carefully cut off the bandage with very small scissors. Ferdy tried to walk on it straight away. It felt very strange and stiff. He gave a little hop to see if he could and all the children laughed and clapped their hands. He tried another higher hop and they all clapped again.
Ferdy sat on the stone in the middle of the fish tank and croaked a froggy thank you. All the children laughed. He croaked again.
‘He’s singing!’ laughed Hannah.
‘No, he’s not,’ said Peter.
‘Yes he is, insisted Hannah. ‘That’s froggy singing!’ and Ferdy realised that she was right. He knew that he might never make it to Covent Garden as an opera singer but he could become the best froggy singer on the lily pond.
‘Well, he seems to be fully recovered,’ said the teacher. ‘We had better take him back to his pond.’ Ferdy croaked with joy.
The next afternoon all the children and their teacher walked from their school and into the meadow where the lily pond lay.
Because Peter had found Ferdy first, he was allowed to carry him and put him down at the edge of the water.
Across the pond Ferdy could see his mother. He called to her.
‘FERDINAND!’ she shouted. ‘Where on earth have you been? We thought you had done something silly and been run over on the road!’
Ferdy dived into the cool water and swam over to where she sat on a lily pad.
‘I’m glad to be back,’ he croaked and told her all about his adventures.
‘Does that mean that you won’t be spending all your time daydreaming from now on?’ she asked and Ferdy nodded.
‘I don’t need to daydream any more,’ he said. ‘The children all think I have a lovely froggy singing voice and they’ve promised to visit me as often as they can so that I can give them a concert.’
‘Well I never,’ said his mother. ‘You really are famous now. You’re the star of the lily pond!’ Ferdy smiled and croaked as loudly as he could.
‘Goodbye, Freddy!’ called Hannah. ‘We’ll come and see you again soon!’
‘What did she call you?’ asked his mother but Ferdy wasn’t listening.
He looked down at his lovely shiny green skin and felt very proud. He was the happiest and most contented frog in the whole world.
He was home.

Publication Date: 05-05-2010

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Dedication:
To my family - with love