Timmy was a tadpole in a very large pond. He loved being who he was even though it meant he had to go to School to learn the ABC's of being a tadpole. He had them all learned already.

A is for 'Always watch out for the fish in the pond. They will try to eat you.'

B is for 'Be sure you always have a hidey-hole where you can hide from the fish if they see you.' But then came C. Timmy refused to believe C.

C is for 'Change is coming. All tadpoles lose their tail when they grow up.'

No! Timmy loved his tail. It was strong enough to make him the fastest swimmer in the pond. He could even out run the fish. He would never be willing to lose his tail. His teacher tried to explain about the changes that come for everyone as they grow up. Timmy wouldn't listen. So she told Timmy's parents and they tried to explain. Timmy wouldn't listen. Before long everyone in the entire pond had heard about Timmy Tadpole's plan to never lose his tail.

Poor Timmy. No one would even try to help him find a way to keep his tail. So he decided to find a way by himself. He took pond weed and wrapped it completely around his wonderful tail. It became very hard for him to swim with his tail wrapped, but at least he wouldn't lose it. So he took his weed wrapped tail out for a first trial swim. No sooner had he left his hidey-hole, though, until...

He was surrounded by every fish in the pond... and they were all laughing. Timmy tried to swim back to his hidey-hole but he was too slow. The biggest of the fish was blocking his way.

“We aren't going to eat you, little tadpole.” the big fish said. “We are all going to watch you lose your tail first... and then we will eat you.”

After that scary time Timmy was able to hobble-swim anyplace in the pond without fear. Everyone was watching him to see what happened when the silly tadpole finally lost his tail. The sad part was that while they were watching they were also laughing at him.

Soon, all of Timmy's friends stopped coming to visit. They had all started losing their tails and loved to tease Timmy about it. But it made Timmy mad. He still refused to lose his tail. But something else was happening to Timmy that had nothing to do with his tail. He was having a harder time breathing. He had to keep going to the surface of the pond to get a breath of air. What was going on?

Timmy had to find out. Slowly, he began removing the weeds that protected his tail. To his shock, though, he didn't have a tail at all. Where a tail had once wagged now all Timmy could see was two strong legs. Stronger even than his tail had been. He hadn't realized they were there because of the weed wrap. He was no longer a tadpole. Timmy was now a full grown frog. He pushed out of his hidey-hole, amazed at the speed his new legs gave him. Once to the surface, his only thought was to use his legs to get out of the water and onto a lily pad. Once there, he just sat, amazed beyond belief at all the things he was seeing and hearing for the first time.

He saw the moon, brighter than it had ever seemed from under the water. He could smell flowers, feel the breeze touch his skin, and hear insects buzzing around the pond. How wonderful it all was to Timmy. He took in a deep breath and exhaled in awe.

“Burrrroooookkk!”

The most beautiful sound Timmy had ever heard came from...

It came from...

From him.

Soon he heard other frogs, all of his friends who had already left the pond, responding to Timmy's song of praise. Across the entire pond a choir of frogs sang together. What a beautiful sound.

Timmy remembered the next letter of the alphabet. D is for 'Don't fear growing up. You will love it.'

Finally, Timmy understood that he was going to love being a frog.