WILBER FROM WALLANU
by Karen Sipps
One day in the tiny town of Wallanu, Wilber was sitting in the woods, leaned up against a tree. I’m never going to see anything new, or do anything fun. Wilber dreamed of going to big cities, and doing lots of neat things. But Wilber was only a frog. Frogs never get invited to do cool things. Frogs can’t drive cars, or ride bicycles. We can only hop. And you can’t travel very far when all you can do is hop!
“What’s wrong with our pond?” asked his cousin Lilly. “I like it here! We know everybody, and everybody here loves us. I even have my very own lily pad, with a bright pink flower right in the center!”
“There’s nothing wrong with Whatzerland” said Wilber. “Don’t you just want to see more? To do more? To experience life, and then come back with fun stories about what you saw, and what you did, and all the new frogs you met?”
“I suppose. But I like it right here, Wilber”, said Lilly, as she jumped off her pad and into the pond.
Later that night, just before Wilber settled down into his BED, his mother came to kiss him goodnight.
“Good night, Mama” he said with a sigh.
Now, Wilber’s mama could tell he was sad. So she said to him “Wilber? What’s the matter? You hardly ate your fried flies for supper, and you didn’t even eat your fliescream sundae for dessert. Are you sick?”
“No, I’m okay”, sighed Wilber.
“Now Wilber, if you don’t tell me, I can’t fix it, now can I?” said
his Mama.
Wilber looked at her with sad brown eyes. He knew what she would say. He’d heard it from everyone else. She would tell him no, he’s too young, or it’s too dangerous, or the world’s too big. The moon’s too round, the water’s too wet, there’s no reason to go because the pond is just fine. But he loved his mama and he knew she would make him feel better, even if she did say no.
“I want to see the world, mama!! To travel and go places, and see things, and do things. To help other frogs, and rabbits, and squirrels, and whoever else needs a friend.” Wilber told her all about the places he saw in his dreams. New forests, big ponds, small ponds, lakes, and rivers.
And when he was all done, and the moon had gone, and the sun was starting to rise, and Wilber and his Mama had been talking for a really really really long time, Wilber’s mama only said “I see. Well sleep tight, Wilber, and we’ll talk about it in the morning”.
The next morning, Wilber jumped out of bed. Somethings is different! I can feel it! He could hear voices outside.
“Tighter! Tie them tighter, and seal up that side!!” he heard.
“What’s going on?” asked Wilber. There were 50 frogs in the YARD by his family’s pad. They were all helping to build what looked like a little boat. It was made up of lots of teeny tiny pine cones that were stuck together with tree sap! It had a sail made out of a piece of cloth someone had found, and a steering wheel made out of a coke bottle top. “What’s going on?” asked Wilber again. But no one would tell him. “Lilly?!? What’s everybody doing in my yard?”
But Lilly just giggled. “You’ll see” she said.
At lunchtime, everybody stopped what they were doing. Wilber’s mother had made Fly chili, and everyone came up for a bowl. “Won’t anyone tell me what this is all about?” asked Wilber.
“Can we tell him now?” he heard someone ask. “Shhh” “Shhh” Quiet!” he heard.
Then, all at once he heard “Surprise!”. “It’s all for you”, said Wilber’s Mama. “The boat is for you!”
“For me??” asked Wilber in surprise.
“Yes, for you. Some people are created to live in certain places and be perfectly happy. Others are created for something more. We all love you Wilber. If you think you’re meant to go chase your dreams, then go chase your dreams.” said his Mama.
Wilber suddenly saw what they had been doing. They built this boat for ME! They had put some clothes, and blankets, and all of his necessities inside. They had put a cover on it so it would not get waterlogged. It was all for him, so when the next big rain came, he could hop in his sailboat and find his dreams.
“But I thought you all thought it was a dumb idea for me to go?” asked Wilbur.
“WE like it here, Wilber”, said Lilly. “But we also like YOU, and we want you to be happy, even if it’s in someone else’s pond.”
Wilber was so happy, he could hardly stand it. Wilber went up to every single frog and gave them a hug to thank them for what they’d done. He had never been so happy before, as he was the day that all his friends built him a boat to show him how much they loved him.
And one day soon, not too far away, it rained and rained, and rained and rained. Wilber looked at his mama, who looked at him, and gave him a big hug and a kiss. She knew it was time for him to chase his dreams. “Goodbye Wilber! We love you. Come back when you can!”
And Wilber hopped in his boat and headed off to explore the world.
THE END
XXXOOO,
Mrs. Karen
The greatest of all things we can do for our friends and family is to love them. 1 Corinthians 13: 4-13 says:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. . .And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the GREATEST of these is love.
This material is copyrighted 2009-2020 and the author retains all rights. This story is made available by the author as a service to parents, teachers and libraries, and may be printed for use by the above persons, but may not be distributed, published, copied, or otherwise used without prior written approval from Mrs. Sipps. All rights reserved.