The Golden Frog

Gabriela was a very smart, seven-year old with a great imagination. Her parents were very loving and spoiled her with books, dolls, and board games. She loved playing outdoors though. Especially at a nearby pond, which she was quite certain contained magic. Sometimes she would sneak slices of bread from her kitchen into her small red backpack so that she could feed the ducks that swam around the sunlit water. After they ate the bread, their white feathers always seemed to sparkle. She would also climb the trees near the pond and count the number of times the frogs jumped from lilly pad to lilly pad. She was pretty sure that the frogs were playing some sort of game. She constantly wondered what they would tell her if they could talk. One day after school, she was in the kitchen, writing a letter to put in a bottle, so that she could drop it into the pond. If she received a letter back, she would know that the pond really was magical. In her letter, Gabriela asked three questions. Dear Guardian of the Pond, Please answer these 3 questions: 1. How do the duck's feathers sparkle? 2. What game are the frogs playing? 3. If I drink the water, will I have magic too? Sincerely, Gabriela As she was putting the letter into an empty, plastic bottle, she overheard her parents talking in the next room. "I don't know what we're going to do," she heard her father say. "Things will look up, we have each other," her mother replied. She continued to listen to their conversation and learned that a fire had burnt down the grocery store that her parents owned. The small bodega was her family's only source of income. Even though Gabriela was only seven, she knew that money was important. She called out that she was going outside to play, then quickly ran out the kitchen door, down a dirt path lined by trees, toward the pond. When she got to the pond, she quickly put the plastic bottle into the water and waited for something to happen. She waited for over an hour, but nothing happened. It was starting to get dark, so she ran home. The next day after school, Gabriela grabbed some slices of bread and ran to the pond. As she was crumbling the pieces of bread and feeding the ducks, she looked around for the plastic bottle. It was nowhere to be found. She guessed that the wind must've blown it away. After she was finished with feeding the ducks and watching their feathers sparkle, she climbed the tall, oak tree next to the water. She sat on the branch and watched as the frogs leaped onto the lilly pads. She began counting their jumps, but this time something strange happened. After she said "one" for the first jump, one of the frogs said "star dust." After she said "two" for the second jump, a different frog said "building bridges." Finally, after she said "three" for the third jump, another frog said "drink the water, make a wish." Gabriela beamed with delight. They were answering her questions! She quickly climbed down the tree, cupped her small hands together, and scooped up some of the water from the pond. It tasted so much better than she had thought it would. It tasted like sweet, cherry lemonade. After drinking the water, she yelled across the pond, "I wish for my parents to have enough money to fix the bodega." Then, she grabbed her backpack and ran home. That night, she whispered her wish again before falling asleep. The next morning while the family was eating breakfast, there was a knock on the door. Gabriela's father went to answer it. When he came back, he was holding a small pouch. "That's strange, no one was there, but this was on the doorstep," he said holding up the pouch. Gabriela's mother looked at it cautiously, but eventually took it from him and opened it up. She turned it upsidedown and 12 golden coins spilled onto the table. Gabriela's eyes shone bright. "The pond is magic! The frogs said if I made a wish, it would come true!" Her parents looked at her with surprised expressions. "It's a miracle," her mother whispered. Gabriela's father, however, had other plans. "Go to the pond again after school and wish for more gold coins," he instructed her. She didn't understand why he wanted more, but didn't ask any questions. After school, she went home, grabbed the slices of bread for the ducks and did the same things she had done the day before. The next morning the family received a pouch with twelve more gold coins. Gabriela's father became greedy and instructed her to continue wishing for the gold coins. She wished for gold coins every day, until the tenth day when one of the frogs jumped and said, "stop, before it's too late." She ignored the warning and went about making the wish. The next morning, nothing came. After school, Gabriela went back to the pond, thinking she hadn't said the right words during the wish. When she reached the tall, oak tree, she saw that the pond was all dried up. She fell to her knees and cried. As she cried, something golden reflected off of her tears and created a bright light. She stood up to look for whatever it was. In the middle of the dried up pond, she saw something tiny, golden, and sparkling. She walked over and picked it up. It was a a small, golden frog, the size of a gold coin. She put it in her pocket and as she grew and became older, the golden frog reminded her to always be thankful and never greedy. Greed could consume happiness, just as it had consumed the pond.