How to Be Happy, If You're a Frogby Timothy Nielsen
A certain Frog had really good friends, a nice family, and an incredible talent for long jumping, which was probably because he was, in fact, a frog. This frog had tons of reasons to feel happy but for some reason he just, wasn’t. This Frog was very . . . . . . very sad. After an especially sad day Frog decided to ask his friends for help. “Cat, will you tell me how to be happy?” He asked. “Everyone knows that to be happy you have to have money, and the more money you have, the happier you’ll be.” The cat purred in reply. Frog was convinced that cat had to be right, so he worked really hard and saved every penny, until one day, he had a huge pile of money, but . . . . . . he was still not happy. Passing by a small stable, he saw his friend the Horse. “Hey Horse, will you tell me how to be happy?” He asked. “My dad always told me that you had to own your own land in order to be happy, and so, I guess, the more land you own, the happier you’d be.” The horse whinnied in reply. Frog thought his friend the horse gave good advice, so he bought a lot of land, with some of his money, and as he hopped through his land he found . . . . . . he was still not happy. The next day he saw his friend Mouse, “Mouse will you tell me how to be happy?” He asked. “My Mom always told me that your home is where you’re happiest, so I suppose the bigger your house is the happier you’d be.” The mouse squeaked in reply. Frog figured that having a house would be nice, so he built a big house, in the middle of his land, with a lot of his money. And everyone who came to visit said, “Wow, you have a really big house,” but . . . …he was still not happy The following morning he saw his friend the pig. “Pig can you tell me how to be happy?” He asked. “Food is what makes me happy and the more food the better.” The pig snorted in reply. Frog knew that pigs didn’t lie, so he hired a chef that made him delicious dinners, in his very big house, in the middle of his land, where he hid most of his money. And each night, after his meal was over, Frog discovered . . . . . . he was still not happy. On a sunny afternoon he saw his friend the dog. “Dog, will you tell me how to be happy?” He asked. “You have to play to be happy, and the more toys you have to play with, the happier you’ll be.” The dog barked in reply. Frog thought toys would be fun so he got as many toys as he could and as he played with his toys, and ate tons of food, in his huge house, in the middle of all of his land where he hid his money he found. . . . . . He was still not happy At the pond he ran into his friend the duck. “Duck, what should I do to be happy?” He asked. “My books are always telling me that traveling is the best way to be happy, so I suppose the more you travel the happier you would be.” The duck quacked in reply. Frog knew that books were really smart so he traveled all around the world and as he remembered his travels, after a huge meal sitting in his large house surrounded by all his toys in the middle of his land where he hid all his money he . . . . . . started to cry. He had tried everything and no matter what he did he was not happy. The next time Frog went to the pond he saw his friend the duck again. “The book was wrong,” Frog said “I traveled all over the world and I’m still not happy.” Duck sighed… …and suddenly something changed… …and Frog realized that although traveling wasn’t for him, …it might make Duck happy. So he gave the duck enough money to travel around the world, and his friend was very happy. He gave all the toys to his friend the dog. He gave all the food to his friend the pig. He gave the house to his friend the mouse. He gave all the land to his friend the horse And he gave the money to his friend the cat. Frog had discovered that making his friends happy, felt really good and . . . . . . Finally Frog was happy. Copyright Timothy Nielsen 2011 The author lives in Florida, USA. Return to the Free Kids Books page. |
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