Polly and the Frog

Once upon a time, in a far off kingdom, there lived three friends – the Black Knight, the Grey Knight, and Polly the Fairy.

They lived in a castle with their pet, the Most Beautiful Frog in All the World. When you looked into its big round eyes, you would say, ‘This is truly the Most Beautiful Frog in All the World!’
And the frog would say: ‘Ribbit’.

But in the far off kingdom, there also lived a jealous dragon. It was huge and scaly, with great yellow eyes, great yellow teeth and great yellow claws. Its home was in the caves, far from the castle, but it had seen the Most Beautiful Frog in All the World and it wanted that frog for itself.

One day, the Black Knight, the Grey Knight, and Polly the Fairy were all playing outside the castle with their pet frog.
‘Pass the ball here!’
‘Good catch!’
‘Now pass it on!’
‘Ribbit!’
Suddenly a dark shadow appeared above them. Two huge, scaly wings flapped in the skies, blocking out the sun like a dark, dark cloud. The friends looked up.
‘Oh no!’
‘A dragon!’
‘Get inside!’
The frog looked up as the dragon came down with its enormous claws, and the frog said…‘Ribbit.’
The dragon grabbed the Most Beautiful Frog in All the Word and flew back up high, high into the sky, away over the hills and the streams and the forests back to the caves where it lived.
The three friends knew that they had to rescue their frog right away.
‘I’m going to get my sword!’ shouted the Black Knight.
‘I’m going to get my shield!’ shouted the Grey Knight.
‘Boys, what we need is…a cake!’ said Polly.
‘A cake?’ asked the Knights.
‘Yes,’ said Polly. ‘In the deep dark forest, through the slushy marshes and the long grass, there is a magic cake. It has ten magic candles on it. And what happens when you blow out the candles on a cake?’
‘You make a wish,’ said the Black Knight.
‘And we can use the wishes to save our frog!’ said Polly. ‘Come on boys!’

So the friends quickly hurried through the slushy marshes – squelch squotch squelch squotch – and the long grass – swish swash swish swash – into the deep dark forest. And there, in a clearing, was the magic cake with ten candles.

‘Right! Out the way, I’M going first!’ said the Black Knight, pushing his way to the front. He screwed up his eyes, took a big breath and blew all the candles out.
‘I wish that I was INVISIBLE!’ he said. And sure enough, when he opened his eyes, no-one could see he was there.
‘Now I can sneak up on the dragon!’ he said, and hurried up the path to the cave.

Inside the cave, the dragon was sleeping. The Most Beautiful Frog in All The World was trapped in its big yellow claws. The frog looked worried. The frog said, ‘Ribbit.’

The Black Knight stepped carefully inside the cave. No-one could see him because of his wish but when he stepped into the cave, his heavy armoured boots crunched on the stones underneath.
Crunch –
The dragon snorted in its sleep.
CrUNCH –
The dragon’s ears twitched.
CRUNCH –
The dragon opened one yellow eye, and then the other yellow eye, and then with one ANGRY ROAR, it breathed fire all over the Black Knight’s armour.
‘Ow! Oooh! My bottom!’ He shouted, clutching his red hot backside and running all the way back to his friends – crunch ‘Ow!’ crunch ‘Oooh!’ crunch ‘My bottom!’

When the Black Knight got back, the Grey Knight pushed his way up to the cake.
‘All right, it’s my turn, let me show you how to do it!’ He screwed up his eyes, took a big breath and blew all the candles out.
‘I wish that I was invisible – and no-one could hear me!’ he said. And sure enough, when he opened his eyes, no-one could see he was there. And sure enough, when he hurried up the path to the cave, his heavy armoured boots didn’t make a sound.

Inside the cave, the dragon was sleeping. The Most Beautiful Frog in All The World was trapped in its big yellow claws. The frog looked worried. The frog said, ‘Ribbit.’

The Grey Knight stepped carefully inside the cave. No-one could see him because of his wish, and when he stepped into the cave, his heavy armoured boots didn’t make a sound on the stones underneath.
He got closer -
The dragon snorted in its sleep.
He got closer –
The dragon’s nostrils twitched.
He got closer –
The dragon took one big SNIFF – and it smelled the Grey Knight coming.
The dragon opened one yellow eye, and then the other yellow eye, and then with one ANGRY ROAR, it breathed fire all over the Grey Knight’s armour.
‘Ow! Oooh! My bottom!’ He shouted, clutching his red hot backside and running all the way back to his friends – crunch ‘Ow!’ crunch ‘Oooh!’ crunch ‘My bottom!’

When the Grey Knight got back, Polly took her turn at the cake. She screwed up her eyes, took a big breath and blew all the candles out.
‘I wish that I was invisible – and no-one could hear me!’ he said.
‘Wait – we’ve done that wish!’ said the Black Knight.
‘Yeah – it doesn’t work!’ said the Grey Knight.
But sure enough, when Polly opened her eyes, no-one could see she was there. And when she hurried away back to the castle, her pink fairy boots didn’t make a sound.

Polly hurried back from the deep dark forest, through the long grass and the slushy marshes, to the castle. She ran to the bathroom. She squeezed all the bubble bath into the tub – splurge – and dropped in three big soaps – plop, plop, plop! Then she ran a nice, hot bath. She scrubbed her head and her back and her legs and her arms and her face until she was super clean! Then she hurried back, through the deep dark forest, to the dragon’s cave.

Inside the cave, the dragon was sleeping. The Most Beautiful Frog in All The World was trapped in its big yellow claws. The frog looked worried. The frog said, ‘Ribbit.’

Polly the Fairy stepped carefully inside the cave. No-one could see her because of her wish, and when she stepped into the cave, her pink fairy boots didn’t make a sound on the stones underneath.
She got closer -
The dragon snorted in its sleep.
She got closer –
The dragon’s nostrils twitched.
She got closer –
The dragon took one big SNIFF – and it smelled…absolutely nothing.
Polly gently opened its claws and helped the Most Beautiful Frog in All the World to escape. It looked into her eyes gratefully and it said – ‘Ribbit.’

When Polly and the Frog got back to the forest, the Black Knight and the Grey Knight cheered and danced.
‘Let’s go back to the castle for a party!’ said the Grey Knight.
From the caves, they heard the rumbling sound of a dragon waking up.
‘Good idea,’ said the Black Knight, ‘but I think we’d better run!’
So the Black Knight and the Grey Knight and Polly the Fairy, and the Most Beautiful Frog in the World, all ran as fast as they could back through the long grass – swish swash swish swash – and the slushy marshes – squelch squotch squelch squotch – until they got back to the castle.
‘What about the dragon?’ said the Black Knight.
‘It might come back for the frog!’ said the Grey Knight.
‘I think the dragon might have something else to keep it happy,’ said Polly the Fairy. She could see the dragon flying high over the deep dark forest, eating the tasty magic cake.
The frog said, ‘Ribbit.’