Once upon a fish pond a little frog named Filbert lived a solitary life.

Except for some goldfish, that he tried to ignore, he had the whole big pond to himself.

Filbert had lived  in the pond his whole life .

In the past he’d  shared his home with his friends.

But not this year.   This year everyone had moved on except Filbert.

He spent his days lazing on the lily pads waiting for a snack (bugs!)  to land in front of him.

Sometimes he’d hop around the outside of the pond or venture into the flower beds hoping maybe he’d see another frog.

Filbert was lonely.    He wanted a friend.

One day, as Filbert was sunning himself,  a goldfish swam right up to his lily pad and stared at him.

“What do you want fish?  Go away, I’m sunning myself and waiting on a friend”  said Filbert.

The little goldfish blinked.

“I could be your friend” she said.

“No” Filbert answered  “We’re different, different things can’t be friends”

“My name is Agnes” the little fish said “And I’m the best friend anyone could have!”

“You’re a fish and I’m a frog and that’s all there is to it” exclaimed Filbert.

Agnes was sad but she swam away.

Filbert felt more lonely after she left and wondered if he had made a mistake.   It had been nice to have someone to talk to.

The next day Filbert got up bright and early. He hopped on his lily pad and watched and watched for Agnes.

At the end of the day he caught a glimpse of gold and let out a big croaking “AGNES!”

Agnes swam up to the lily pad and said “Did you call me?  What do you want?  I thought we couldn’t be friends because I’m a fish and you’re a frog”

Filbert looked at Agnes and said “I’m sorry.  I was wrong.   I’m lonely and I need a friend. Different can be good.   You can teach me things that frogs don’t know and I can teach you things that fish don’t know.  We can learn from each other.”

Agnes flipped her little fish tail in glee and splashed Filbert.   Filbert let out a big croaking laugh.

From that day, Filbert and Agnes were the best of friends.

Different is sometimes the best!