GRENNY AND THE WATER FAIRY
by John Penvellyn

In a faraway place, beside a pond since gone dry, there lived a frog named Grenny. Grenny was content to live by himself, and never ventured into the pond, for back then it was a fearsome place, full of crocodiles that lurked beneath the surface, just waiting for a tasty little morsel like Grenny to swim by. But one day a beautiful princess appeared on the other side of the pond. Like Grenny, she was by herself, for she had been unfairly banished from her father’s kingdom. Sometimes at night Grenny could hear her singing sad songs, and talking to herself out of loneliness. He longed to swim across the pond so they could keep each other company, but he knew the crocodiles would eat him if he tried. So he sat on the shore, croaking mournfully in the moonlight, all alone. Then one day a kind-hearted Water Fairy appeared in the mist above the swamp that surrounded the pond, and told Grenny that she would help him cross the pond so that he and the princess could be together. 
“How?” Grenny asked. “I cannot swim across, for the crocodiles are fast and fierce, and have eaten more friends and relatives than I dare to count.” 
“You will not have to swim,” the Water Fairy replied, “for I shall make a path for you. And don’t forget, crocodiles tend to hide in the middle of the pond and near trees, and they hate boats.”
With that, a lily pad suddenly appeared in the pond in front of Grenny. Although he was still afraid, he summoned his courage and hopped onto it. Then another lily pad appeared, and after that another, then another. Grenny leapt from one to the next, his tiny heart pounding in his chest … until at long last he leapt from the last lily pad onto the dock where the princess sat. She was delighted to see the little frog, and when she realized that Grenny had made the perilous journey across the pond just to be with her, she smiled for the first time since her banishment. So grateful was she for Grenny’s company that she gave the Water Fairy a gift - a bright red key - which the Water Fairy soon put to use. And all three lived happily ever after.