This tale came about because of Folktale week, a set of prompts put out in November on Instagram, please check out below the story for more information. And also information about the Frogs and the Giveaways I am running with them.
Once upon a log, I know you think you have read that wrong, but it is a log, not a spelling mistake. As this is a tale about three frogs who were brothers, May I start again…
Once upon a log, three frogs sat and gazed at the river flowing past. For the most part they were content. They had enough of the things they needed, and they had no worries to speak of.
One of the frogs, the youngest, wished for a little more though, a little adventure. He was in truth a little bored. He would look up at the stars though at night and long to speak to them.
FOOL
“Oh, can you imagine the stories they could tell us?” He would say to his brothers, they would laugh at him and call him a FOOL. “The stars cannot talk, and if they could, why would they bother with you, you foolish little frog”.
TREE
One day Little Frog had had enough of their teasing and thought he would play a joke on his brothers. He decided to make a costume and dress up as a star and come to talk to them and tell them star stories. That’ll show them, he thought, and he grinned. Then he sat up all night making his costume in readiness for the next night. And when he was done, he hid the star in a TREE during the day so his brothers would not find it.
COSTUME
At last, the sun went down, and night fell, Little Frog could hardly contain himself as he hurried to the tree to find his star COSTUME and put it on. He came back trying to look as shiny as possible and found his brothers resting in the pumpkin patch. So, he jumped up on the largest pumpkin and called out “Little Frog, where are you? I am here to talk with you and tell you stories”.
STAR
His brothers jumped to their feet startled and their mouths fell open when they saw the STAR. Little Frog was delighted. Oh, calamity though, just at that point Mother Nature decided to water her world and the rain started to fall. Poor Little Frog had only made his star from paper and in no time at all it was soaked though and became limp and fell from him. And now did his brothers begin to laugh even harder than they had ever laughed at little frog before.
REBEL
Oh, poor Little Frog, he felt so bad inside that he shouted and shouted at them and swore to leave their riverbank forever and that he never wanted to see them again. The older brothers stopped laughing and looked worried. No one ever left the riverbank. It was peaceful and plentiful and the big world outside was full of scary things frogs knew nothing about. Well Little Frog would not be stopped, he had made up his mind and the REBEL in him would not be swayed, he could not bear to be there a moment longer, so off he went.
Now Little Frog had always considered himself quite brave, but as he came to the edge of the big forest at the side of the riverbank, he did feel very nervous and began to wonder about his rather rash decision. But he was still too angry inside to turn round so on he went. And on he continued, becoming a little thinner and a little stronger and a lot more cautious. He learned to live fairly well in the big world, but he did wish he could go home. If he hadn’t been so proud, he probably would have.
One day, a while later, he wandered into a clearing in a wood and found a little cottage. He crept closer carefully and slowly as he had learnt that was the best way to stay safe. He peaked through the window and saw an ugly old witch, making up a potion in the cauldron on her fire. She was stirring all sorts of nasty, magical ingredients into the potion and singing as she did “oh magic, magic, wonderful magic, make me appear as I wish to appear.”
And with that she took a sip, there was a flash of light and in the witch’s place stood a grand looking man in very fine attire. The witch, for it was still she, looked in the mirror and said, “that will do nicely and now I am off to town to play cards and win lots of money”, and chuckling, she left without noticing the frog. Just as well as frogs don’t often fare well in the company of witches.
POTION
The frog was still in shock at seeing what he had just witnessed and leaned against the wall while he gathered his wits. Then an idea formed, “if I took a sip of that POTION” he thought “I could become a star and go and show my brothers that stars do have stories and can talk.”
Quick as a flash he was in through the window and at the cauldron. The smell was not best thought about, so he grabbed up a spoon and took a sip straight way before nerves could stop him. He concentrated all his thoughts on being a star and all of a sudden, the cottage was filled with the brightest light. In place of Little Frog was the prettiest, sparkiest star ever.
Fast as he could, and now being a star, he could fly, so it was rather fast indeed, he sped over the forests and woods he had adventured in and returned to the log he had called home. He searched for his brothers but couldn’t find them, until he heard a noise coming from behind the largest pumpkin. Behind the pumpkin he could hear his brothers talking, with loud sighs and tears they spoke about how they worried about Little Frog and how they wished he would come home, and they could be together again. Oh, how they missed him, and they were so sorry for having laughed at him and his dreams.
Little Frog suddenly felt the most homesick he had in all his travels, and he called out “Do you mean that?” His brothers looked up in a start and upon seeing a shining star talking to them cried even louder, for now they saw a talking star. They bowed down and quaked with fear and cried “yes, yes we do. We miss our little brother so and now, look, he was right all along”. Little frog was so sad at seeing how he had scared his brothers and was so taken back at their sadness that a tear rolled from both his eyes and landed with a large splash on the ground and at that point a little forget-me-not started to grow.
“It’s me!” he cried and wished himself back into being a frog. Oh, and with that there were celebrations and hugging and laughter. And lots more crying but this time tears of happiness.
VICTORY
Once they were quieter again, they settled down on their log and Little Frog told them tales of his adventures and VICTORYs against eagles and owls, and even the witch and her cottage, and to his elder brothers, he no longer seemed like a foolish little brother, as they listened wide mouthed in awe.
From that day on Little Frog had certainly had enough of adventuring and was happy to gaze at the stars and not try to talk to them. Happily they remained on their log, the three brothers together.
And the forget-me-not continues to grow to this very day.
Folk Tale Week
Folktale Week can be found on Instagram just follow this link
So many fantastic artists and illustrators take part it worth checking out if you like folk tales and fairy tales. I really enjoyed taking part this year and will definitely be working on another story for next year.
Giveaway
I also really enjoyed knitting the frogs for the photos and have decided to do 2 giveaways which will be running from the 23rd till the 25th of November 2022. One on Facebook and one on Instagram to give away 2 of the Frogs. My apologies if you are reading this after that time. I will do more giveaways periodically so sign up for my news letter so you will always get a notification. Dot Pebbles is the fabulous Etsy seller who created the pattern. And if you take a look on Instagram you find them popping up all over the place. The giveaways will be focused on a post on each Facebook and Instagram, which will be pinned to the top of my feed and to enter you will simply need to like the post and comment on it. I will use a random number generator to pick winners on Saturday (26th) in the morning GMT. Terms and Conditions and other info is available here