In tonight's bedtime story for sleep, we return to Fritz the Frog's pond- but the star of this story is actually his cousin, Philomena. This story is based on a tale from the Native American Ojibwe tribe, and tells us all about determination, and self belief. Relax, get sleepy, and letโs begin!
Upgrade to Koko Club Today! ๐๐
Remove the ads, enjoy bonus episodes every Wednesday and go Yearly to get a shout out from Abbe!
Start your 7-day free trial now on Spotify, Castbox & more ๐คฉ๐https://kokoclub.supercast.com
Join via Apple Podcasts: https://bit.ly/joinkokoclubonapple
Follow For More Fun ๐ฅณ๐ช
Check out our YouTube: @koalamoonfm
Instagram: @koalakids.fm
Tiktok: @koalakids.fm
About Koala Moon ๐จ๐
The No1 kids bedtime stories & sleep meditations podcast that helps children sleep like a dream. Hosted by the world's biggest fan of bedtime stories, Abbe Opher! All episodes are safe for babies, children and really big kids 0 to 100, so settle down tonight and get sleepy with the world's greatest bedtime stories & sleep meditations for kids.
How are we doing with the show? Let us know โ๏ธ
Upgrade to Koko Club ๐๐
- Bonus episodes every Wednesday.
- 100% Ad-free listening, for quicker bedtimes.
- Go YEARLY for a shout-out from Abbe.
- Exclusive 12-Hour Compilation episodes.
- The entire back catalogue of 200+ episodes.
- The full series of favourites like Hector & Sunny & Jupiter Twins.
Start your 7-day free trial now ๐คฉ๐ https://kokoclub.supercast.com
Narrator ๐ Abbe Opher
Author โ๏ธ Jane Thomas
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:10
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Koala Moon, a podcast of
00:00:14
Speaker 1: original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtime
00:00:20
Speaker 1: a dream.
00:00:22
Speaker 2: Welcome new recruits.
00:00:23
Speaker 1: And thanks to your adults for subscribing to the pod
00:00:26
Speaker 1: and unlocking hundreds of hours of add free listening for you,
00:00:30
Speaker 1: including the epic eight our Cocoa compilation. We wouldn't still
00:00:35
Speaker 1: be here without your support, so this is for you
00:00:38
Speaker 1: crazy kiddos, Viola and Gus, Evelyn or Evelyn from Seattle,
00:00:44
Speaker 1: Alma who's nine years old, Tiberiusphedra and Australia from Alberta, Canada,
00:00:51
Speaker 1: and Maddie and Petie from Alameda, Canada. Speaking of Cocoa,
00:00:58
Speaker 1: he wants me to tell you to listen to the
00:01:00
Speaker 1: coming episode, Coco and the Koala Moon. Click to follow
00:01:04
Speaker 1: the podcast and you'll get the episode automatically. It sheds
00:01:08
Speaker 1: light on why the name of the podcast changed from
00:01:11
Speaker 1: Coco's Sleep to Koala Moon. Is coming very soon and
00:01:15
Speaker 1: he doesn't want you to miss it. Tonight's Sweet Story
00:01:19
Speaker 1: is set in Sleepy Forest again, but it's inspired by
00:01:22
Speaker 1: an old tale from the Native American or Jibwei tribe.
00:01:26
Speaker 1: It's a wonderful story with a wonderful message which Jane
00:01:30
Speaker 1: has retold with the help of some little frogs we
00:01:33
Speaker 1: know quite well. Do you remember Fritz. He's the kindest
00:01:37
Speaker 1: little creature with a huge heart. If you recall, he
00:01:41
Speaker 1: was very busy on Valentine's Day hopping around the forest,
00:01:44
Speaker 1: determined to spread his love and friendship amongst his friends. Well,
00:01:49
Speaker 1: today we're going to meet his little cousin, who is
00:01:52
Speaker 1: also extremely determined in her own way, which will become
00:01:56
Speaker 1: clear if you listen closely. Before we get started, let's
00:02:01
Speaker 1: get ready to relax and listen by taking some calming breaths.
00:02:07
Speaker 1: Count to four. As you breathe in, hold for four
00:02:11
Speaker 1: and breathe out for four. Okay, breathe in two three four,
00:02:19
Speaker 1: hold two three four and breathe out two three four
00:02:26
Speaker 1: lovely and again in hold out and see if you
00:02:39
Speaker 1: can slow it down a little bit. If you can
00:02:42
Speaker 1: breathe in.
00:02:46
Speaker 2: Hold.
00:02:49
Speaker 1: And whoosh your air out, okay, keep going even slower
00:02:57
Speaker 1: still and as you breathe out side out Okay. Whilst
00:03:03
Speaker 1: you're getting comfy and ready, I'm going to start the
00:03:08
Speaker 1: Littlest Frog's Longest Race by Jane Thomas Deep in the
00:03:20
Speaker 1: heart of Sleepy Forest, in the place where the fireflies
00:03:24
Speaker 1: shine the brightest. This sits a lily pond, and on
00:03:28
Speaker 1: that lily pond, on a leaf that drifts close to
00:03:32
Speaker 1: the reed beds, lives a little frog called Fritz. He's
00:03:36
Speaker 1: the tiny frog with the huge heart who calls out
00:03:40
Speaker 1: good morning to every other animal, however big or small
00:03:44
Speaker 1: they are, and is cheerful and kind and friendly with
00:03:47
Speaker 1: everyone about a mile away, which is a terribly long
00:03:53
Speaker 1: way when you're a frog quite so tiny as Fritz.
00:03:56
Speaker 1: There's another pond. It is long and now and sheltered
00:04:01
Speaker 1: from the winds and breezes by the tallest reeds in
00:04:04
Speaker 1: the forest. The surface is barely ever disturbed by a
00:04:09
Speaker 1: single ripple. It is a place that is particularly perfect
00:04:14
Speaker 1: for two things. The first of those is for families
00:04:18
Speaker 1: to bring their littlest swimmers when they're first learning the
00:04:22
Speaker 1: ways of the water, so you'll often find tiny frogs,
00:04:27
Speaker 1: ones you've only just grown out of being a tadpole,
00:04:30
Speaker 1: splishing and splashing their way along the edges. The second
00:04:35
Speaker 1: thing that the pond is perfect for is racing. Animals
00:04:41
Speaker 1: of all kinds come here to race through the still
00:04:45
Speaker 1: perfectly straight waters, charging from one end to the other,
00:04:50
Speaker 1: and sometimes back again and again and again, rushing to
00:04:55
Speaker 1: see who can be the fastest. Oh, and there's actually
00:05:00
Speaker 1: a third thing. The pond is good for two, but
00:05:03
Speaker 1: it's only on very rare occasions this one happens. Albatrosses
00:05:09
Speaker 1: need a lot of space for taking off and landing,
00:05:12
Speaker 1: and this pond provides the ideal setting for them, a
00:05:17
Speaker 1: natural runway that just keeps going and going, and is
00:05:23
Speaker 1: usually long enough for the visiting albatrosses to come to
00:05:26
Speaker 1: a stop or head off into the skies above sleepy forest.
00:05:32
Speaker 1: Whenever there are swimming sessions for the little animals, or
00:05:36
Speaker 1: whenever there are races on the pond, lifeguards sit along
00:05:41
Speaker 1: the side a few meters apart. Otters are, of course,
00:05:45
Speaker 1: some of the finest, sleekiest, swiftest swimmers in all the world,
00:05:51
Speaker 1: and they make the perfect lifeguards, sitting high on stone
00:05:56
Speaker 1: towers and scouring the pond for any little ones who
00:06:00
Speaker 1: stray too far from the edge. Today there's going to
00:06:05
Speaker 1: be a race on the pond. The posters have been
00:06:08
Speaker 1: up for weeks, carefully painted onto large leaves and hung
00:06:13
Speaker 1: from reeds and twigs throughout the forest. There are multiple
00:06:18
Speaker 1: different divisions as this is the biggest race day of
00:06:22
Speaker 1: the year. So otters and swans and frogs and fish
00:06:29
Speaker 1: and every kind of swimming animal you can name will
00:06:33
Speaker 1: be heading to the pond. Since it is the biggest
00:06:37
Speaker 1: race day, everyone puts a little more effort into their outfits.
00:06:42
Speaker 1: Many of the ladies and girls like to wear fancy hats,
00:06:46
Speaker 1: and they can spend weeks creating them, weaving fruit and
00:06:50
Speaker 1: feathers into the finest vines and leaves. It's the sort
00:06:55
Speaker 1: offication when those who have pocket watches will add them
00:06:59
Speaker 1: to the waistcoats, and they look for any excuse to
00:07:03
Speaker 1: take them out, just so everyone can say, ah, there
00:07:07
Speaker 1: is a gorgeous gold pocket watch on a gorgeous gold chain.
00:07:13
Speaker 1: It is perhaps unsurprising that a hare, distantly related to
00:07:18
Speaker 1: the hair who helped a certain young lady called Alice
00:07:22
Speaker 1: when she fell down a rabbit hole, is the official
00:07:25
Speaker 1: timer for the races that take place. The little frog
00:07:30
Speaker 1: Fritz isn't going to appear in any of the races
00:07:33
Speaker 1: this year, but he's going to cheer on his cousin Philomina.
00:07:38
Speaker 1: She is And it is barely believable that this is possible,
00:07:43
Speaker 1: but it's absolutely true. Even tinier than Fritz himself. Philimina
00:07:50
Speaker 1: is a dainty little frog who's been practicing her swimming
00:07:54
Speaker 1: strokes for months now. She knows just how to push
00:07:59
Speaker 1: against the water with her legs and pull against it
00:08:03
Speaker 1: with her arms, rising and falling with her body as
00:08:07
Speaker 1: she rushes forwards. She can spread out the webbing on
00:08:12
Speaker 1: her hands and feet and pull and push as much
00:08:16
Speaker 1: water as possible with every stroke. The day before the race,
00:08:22
Speaker 1: Philamina's mother takes her to one side to offer some
00:08:26
Speaker 1: words of wisdom. She sits Philamina down in front of
00:08:30
Speaker 1: her and make sure the little frog is watching her
00:08:33
Speaker 1: face closely as she speaks, and she tells a story
00:08:38
Speaker 1: that has been told thousands of times the whole world
00:08:42
Speaker 1: over of a hair and a tortoise and their famous race.
00:08:49
Speaker 1: She tells of how the hair was the fastest animal
00:08:52
Speaker 1: in all the land, and how he could easily win
00:08:56
Speaker 1: the race and knew that he could too. She tells
00:09:01
Speaker 1: of the hair setting off and disappearing into the distance,
00:09:05
Speaker 1: leaving the tortoise easing slowly through the dust the hair
00:09:10
Speaker 1: left behind. She tells her how the hare looked back
00:09:15
Speaker 1: from the top of a hill and realized that tortoise
00:09:19
Speaker 1: was nowhere in sight, and the hare settled down in
00:09:23
Speaker 1: the shade of a tree to sleep awhile in the sunshine.
00:09:28
Speaker 1: It is, after all, so very easy to fall asleep
00:09:34
Speaker 1: when the warm summer sun comes trickling down between the
00:09:38
Speaker 1: leaves of a tree, and gentle breezes carry the scents
00:09:43
Speaker 1: of lilac and lavender, and there's a soft mound of
00:09:48
Speaker 1: moss that makes a perfect green pillow. But the tortoise
00:09:55
Speaker 1: is wise because he never stops going forwards, And at
00:10:00
Speaker 1: one point he passes the hare sleeping soundly in the
00:10:05
Speaker 1: shade of the tree, and wonders, just for a moment,
00:10:10
Speaker 1: if he might win the race after all. And he wonders,
00:10:15
Speaker 1: just for another moment, if he too might take a
00:10:20
Speaker 1: break and curl up inside his shell, cozy and warm
00:10:25
Speaker 1: with the summer sun. But he knows that he must
00:10:30
Speaker 1: keep pressing forwards. And so Philamina's mother finishes, making sure
00:10:37
Speaker 1: throughout her story that little Philamina is carefully watching her
00:10:42
Speaker 1: as she speaks. The tortoise manages to win the race,
00:10:47
Speaker 1: and the hair is left feeling foolish. Even though you
00:10:53
Speaker 1: are tiny, dear Philamina, don't lose hope, her mother says,
00:10:59
Speaker 1: there will be bigger frogs with stronger legs and longer arms.
00:11:04
Speaker 1: But keep on going, keep on pushing, and you will
00:11:09
Speaker 1: do well out there tomorrow. Little Philhemina fell asleep that night,
00:11:16
Speaker 1: curled up on her lily pad beneath a blanket of
00:11:20
Speaker 1: the softest, downiest fluff of the bulrushes, dreaming of the
00:11:26
Speaker 1: race and paddling her little arms and legs in her dreams.
00:11:33
Speaker 1: Fritz and his friends decided to visit Philamina the following
00:11:36
Speaker 1: morning to wish her good luck in the race and
00:11:40
Speaker 1: to let her know they would be waiting for her
00:11:43
Speaker 1: at the finishing line. Fritz was sure to tap his
00:11:48
Speaker 1: cousin on the shoulder and turn her face to his
00:11:51
Speaker 1: as he spoke, careful to check that she was watching
00:11:55
Speaker 1: him as he whispered of her courage and strength. They
00:12:00
Speaker 1: went together as a group towards the racing pond, moving
00:12:05
Speaker 1: slowly across the mile of sleepy forest that divided where
00:12:09
Speaker 1: they lived and where she would compete. And as they
00:12:13
Speaker 1: hopped their way over tree stumps and around drooping green
00:12:18
Speaker 1: ferns and hedgerows bursting with roses and honeysuckle, they met
00:12:24
Speaker 1: other animals who were also heading to the pond. This year,
00:12:30
Speaker 1: it turned out it wasn't just animals from sleepy forests
00:12:34
Speaker 1: who were going to compete. The pond had become so
00:12:38
Speaker 1: famous for its length and straightness and stillness that other
00:12:44
Speaker 1: animals came from far and wide to join in the races.
00:12:49
Speaker 1: And so Philamina and her family and friends met other
00:12:54
Speaker 1: creatures from places like Dreamy Dell and the Floating Cloud
00:13:00
Speaker 1: and even the village of Lower Starry Skies. Philamina waved
00:13:07
Speaker 1: shyly to these unknown animals, who all waved shyly back,
00:13:12
Speaker 1: and sheard smiles and thumbs ups, and everything was wonderful
00:13:18
Speaker 1: on the beautiful sunshine apple day until animals from the
00:13:24
Speaker 1: wacky Woods appeared. As they started to stream past Philamina
00:13:30
Speaker 1: in her group, the animals of the Wackywood pushed closer
00:13:35
Speaker 1: and closer, gorping at the tiny frog, who hopped slowly
00:13:40
Speaker 1: from stone to stone, careful not to twist an ankle
00:13:45
Speaker 1: or hurt a wrist before the big race. You are
00:13:49
Speaker 1: so tiny, they called out, who don't stand a chance
00:13:55
Speaker 1: of winning, Just sit on the sidelines with us. Philamina
00:14:01
Speaker 1: looked straight ahead and kept on hopping. In her mind,
00:14:06
Speaker 1: she replayed the story of the hare and the tortoise
00:14:10
Speaker 1: her mother had told her the night before. It was
00:14:13
Speaker 1: as if she didn't notice the animals of the Wacky
00:14:16
Speaker 1: Wood at all, and this made them call out even more.
00:14:23
Speaker 1: Why by the racing when you're so small, they called.
00:14:28
Speaker 1: Your entire body could fit into my hand, another said,
00:14:32
Speaker 1: concerning their voice. But it was as if Philhemina was
00:14:37
Speaker 1: in another world all by herself, looking ahead to the
00:14:42
Speaker 1: reeds and stones and paths and hopping perfectly between each.
00:14:50
Speaker 1: As Fritz was about to tell the animals of the
00:14:52
Speaker 1: Wacky Woods to mine their own business, a shadow came
00:14:57
Speaker 1: over the group, and the swoosh of wings filled the air. Philamina,
00:15:03
Speaker 1: feeding the shade on her back, turned to look up
00:15:07
Speaker 1: and saw a huge, glorious white swan gliding down towards them.
00:15:14
Speaker 1: The swan landed awkwardly in the way swan's dow, her
00:15:20
Speaker 1: big yellow feet slipping and sliding on the muddy ground.
00:15:26
Speaker 1: She lowered herself gently, and Fritz hopped over quick to
00:15:31
Speaker 1: greet his friend Penny. He called, and the swan grinned
00:15:37
Speaker 1: at him, her black eyes bright and sparkling in the sunshine. Fritz,
00:15:44
Speaker 1: I hope I'll find you here. Listen, it's no good
00:15:49
Speaker 1: for your cousin to have to hop the whole mile
00:15:52
Speaker 1: before she has to race. Why don't I give you
00:15:56
Speaker 1: all a lift on my back. Fritz showed all the
00:16:01
Speaker 1: frogs how to hop onto the soft white back of
00:16:04
Speaker 1: Penny and just where to nestle so they could be
00:16:08
Speaker 1: safe between her wings, and once they were all on board,
00:16:12
Speaker 1: he called forward to Penny that they were ready. She
00:16:16
Speaker 1: spread her wings and flapped them up and down, up
00:16:21
Speaker 1: and down. Penny floated on the breeze, her wings straight
00:16:27
Speaker 1: by her sides and tilting this way and that to
00:16:32
Speaker 1: fly with ease through the warm air. From high above,
00:16:37
Speaker 1: Philamina could see animals coming towards the pond from all directions.
00:16:44
Speaker 1: She saw badgers and foxes coming from the north, and
00:16:49
Speaker 1: sheep and horses coming from the east, and beavers and
00:16:53
Speaker 1: moles coming from the south. And from the west. She
00:16:58
Speaker 1: even saw kingfish and koalas making their way through sleepy forest.
00:17:04
Speaker 1: Philamina smiled to see the koalas yawning and stretching and
00:17:10
Speaker 1: almost seeming to nap every few steps, but she loved
00:17:14
Speaker 1: that they too, were determined to make it to race day.
00:17:19
Speaker 1: When they arrived at the racing pond, guided onto a
00:17:23
Speaker 1: runway by a rabbit who held two carrots and waved
00:17:27
Speaker 1: them to show the swan where to land and where
00:17:30
Speaker 1: to park. It was a scene like nothing Philimina had
00:17:34
Speaker 1: ever known before. A huge red and white striped tent
00:17:39
Speaker 1: had been strung between the oak trees, and inside there
00:17:44
Speaker 1: were stalls piled high with food and drink the little
00:17:48
Speaker 1: frog had never known. Philimina's mother took her hand and
00:17:54
Speaker 1: guided her towards a check in table, letting the very
00:17:59
Speaker 1: serious badger in charge of operations know that she was
00:18:03
Speaker 1: there and would be ready to race. The badger explained
00:18:09
Speaker 1: that all competitors were asked to wear swimming hats with
00:18:14
Speaker 1: their names on, so that other animals could call out
00:18:17
Speaker 1: from the side and shout words of encouragement, and Philamina's
00:18:22
Speaker 1: mother looked at him a little oddly, and the badger,
00:18:27
Speaker 1: for a moment, seemed embarrassed. Filamina was too busy staring
00:18:32
Speaker 1: at the other competitors, who were all warming up and stretching,
00:18:37
Speaker 1: to notice any of the awkwardness, and only asked her
00:18:41
Speaker 1: mother for a hat, as everyone else seemed to be
00:18:44
Speaker 1: wearing them. Her mother pulled a smart blue hat from
00:18:49
Speaker 1: her bag and poured it onto Philamina's head, nodding and
00:18:54
Speaker 1: smiling to let the little frog know that it fitted
00:18:57
Speaker 1: just so. One of the creatures from the Wacky Wood
00:19:03
Speaker 1: passed Philamina and called again that she was too small
00:19:07
Speaker 1: and couldn't possibly win the race, but Philamina focused on
00:19:12
Speaker 1: her mother and the hat, and the thumbs ups from
00:19:16
Speaker 1: the creatures of Dreamy Dell and the floating clouds. They
00:19:21
Speaker 1: stood and watched the start of the next three races,
00:19:26
Speaker 1: with Philamina carefully watching to see how every one climbed
00:19:30
Speaker 1: onto the starting blocks and then at the same time
00:19:34
Speaker 1: launched themselves into the pond and charged forwards, thrashing and
00:19:40
Speaker 1: churning the water and creating ripples and waves where normally
00:19:45
Speaker 1: there were none. At the far end, a terribly long
00:19:50
Speaker 1: way away, indeed, she could just about see Fritz and
00:19:54
Speaker 1: his friends, and Penny was tall and regal above them
00:20:00
Speaker 1: was her long, elegant neck, nodding her way up and
00:20:05
Speaker 1: down to show Philhemina she could see her too. Philimina
00:20:11
Speaker 1: tugged her mother's hand and pointed to the starting block
00:20:15
Speaker 1: at the far side of the lineup, and her mother nodded, yes,
00:20:21
Speaker 1: that would be her place to go. Finally, it was
00:20:26
Speaker 1: Philamina's turn. Animals from all over were in the lineup
00:20:32
Speaker 1: with her, and Philamina found herself alongside a very large
00:20:36
Speaker 1: frog from the Wacky Woods. He made some comments about
00:20:41
Speaker 1: her size and how easy it would be to beat
00:20:45
Speaker 1: her to the other end of the pond, but she
00:20:49
Speaker 1: was too busy looking at the water to notice that
00:20:52
Speaker 1: he said anything at all. When they climbed onto the
00:20:57
Speaker 1: starting blocks, all of the looked straight ahead, looking exactly
00:21:04
Speaker 1: where they would need to go. Only philmina little Philimina,
00:21:09
Speaker 1: looked to the side, focused on the large frog from
00:21:13
Speaker 1: the Wacky Woods, who only moments before had said such
00:21:18
Speaker 1: mean things to her.
00:21:21
Speaker 2: As she watched the large frog's leg muscles start to
00:21:25
Speaker 2: twitch and launch himself into the pond, Philamina pushed herself
00:21:30
Speaker 2: forward with all her might and threw herself into the water.
00:21:37
Speaker 1: She closed her eyes and shut out the rest of
00:21:39
Speaker 1: the world, feeling the water rush against her face as
00:21:44
Speaker 1: she pushed with her legs and pulled with her arms.
00:21:49
Speaker 1: It was a long pond and a long race, and
00:21:53
Speaker 1: she focused on her breathing, taking care to breathe out long's,
00:22:01
Speaker 1: pushing the breath from her body for one, two, three, four,
00:22:09
Speaker 1: five strokes because Filhelmina had her eyes closed, and because
00:22:16
Speaker 1: she was so tucked away into her own watery world,
00:22:20
Speaker 1: it came as something of a surprise to her when
00:22:24
Speaker 1: her little webbed hand suddenly touched the end of the pond.
00:22:30
Speaker 1: She looked up into the face of Fritz, who was
00:22:33
Speaker 1: leaping and hopping and smiling at her as if he
00:22:38
Speaker 1: might jump as high as the swallows that swooped and
00:22:42
Speaker 1: danced in the sky. Filamina glanced to her side and
00:22:48
Speaker 1: watched as seven other hands reach towards the end of
00:22:52
Speaker 1: the pond. She watched as seven heads emerged from the
00:22:57
Speaker 1: water and looked to either side to see where they
00:23:01
Speaker 1: had come, and in that moment, Philamina realized she had
00:23:07
Speaker 1: won the race. The big frog from the Wacky Woods
00:23:12
Speaker 1: was the first to come over to Philamina. Hey, he called,
00:23:18
Speaker 1: well done. How did you do that? Philimina kept smiling
00:23:23
Speaker 1: at Fritz and waving to Penny, and watched as her
00:23:27
Speaker 1: mother hopped as fast as she could to come and
00:23:30
Speaker 1: give her a hug. Oi The big frog called, I'm
00:23:36
Speaker 1: saying well done. Philimina saw only the huge bouquet of
00:23:42
Speaker 1: forest flowers that Fritz's friends presented her with, and then
00:23:47
Speaker 1: felt the weight of a medal being hung around her
00:23:50
Speaker 1: neck on a beautiful red ribbon. The big frog tapped
00:23:56
Speaker 1: her on the shoulder and Philamina wheeled round. Listen, the
00:24:03
Speaker 1: big frog said, and Philamina looked straight at him. I
00:24:08
Speaker 1: wanted to say, well done, really good effort. But how
00:24:13
Speaker 1: did you do it? How did you win when my
00:24:16
Speaker 1: friends and I were all so horrible? I said all
00:24:20
Speaker 1: those mean things to you? How did you ignore us
00:24:23
Speaker 1: so well? Philamina shrugged and smiled at him. It was easy,
00:24:32
Speaker 1: she said, slowly, and a little awkwardly. But you weren't
00:24:37
Speaker 1: put off. It's really hard to ignore people saying you
00:24:41
Speaker 1: can't do something, after all, insisted the big frog. Yes,
00:24:47
Speaker 1: said Philamina. I'm sure it is, but you see, I'm deaf,
00:24:54
Speaker 1: so I didn't hear anything you said. Anyway. The big
00:24:59
Speaker 1: frogs slapped his knee and laughed. That explained it all.
00:25:06
Speaker 1: It explained why he had seen Philamina's friends take care
00:25:11
Speaker 1: to make sure she was looking at them when they spoke,
00:25:15
Speaker 1: and why the badger had seemed awkward talking about the
00:25:19
Speaker 1: swimming hat, and why the little frog had looked across
00:25:24
Speaker 1: to him to know when the race should start. And
00:25:30
Speaker 1: the big frog wondered what he might be able to
00:25:34
Speaker 1: do if he too, could ignore those who said that
00:25:38
Speaker 1: he wasn't able to do something. That night, as Philhemina
00:25:45
Speaker 1: curled up asleep beneath the blanket of soft down of
00:25:50
Speaker 1: the bulrushes, she remembered the moment of reaching the end
00:25:56
Speaker 1: of the pond and looking to the sigh and winning
00:26:01
Speaker 1: the race, and she smiled to herself as she disappeared
00:26:08
Speaker 1: into her dreams, filled with memories of the dancing fireflies
00:26:15
Speaker 1: that guided them home, and the feel of the drums
00:26:20
Speaker 1: in her feet through the forest floor, and the soft
00:26:25
Speaker 1: winds that filled the air. As Penny flew off into
00:26:30
Speaker 1: the night, her huge white wings pushing her towards the
00:26:38
Speaker 1: moon and the stars and the sky known to anything