The Story
Morning light spread across the pond. Not a breeze moved. The water was so still, it looked like a piece of clear glass.
Blue Toby hopped to the edge and peered down. He expected to see pebbles and reeds. Instead, he saw clouds — bright and soft — drifting beneath his feet.
“How can the sky be down there?” he wondered. He leaned closer. A blue frog looked back at him from the sky’s mirror.
At first Toby made a funny face. The frog did the same. He wiggled his toes. The frog’s toes wiggled too. He smiled. The frog smiled back.
Then a dragonfly zipped by. The air rippled. The mirror shivered into tiny waves, and the sky disappeared.
Toby waited. He could have splashed. He could have chased the dragonfly. Instead, he stood very still and breathed very slowly.
Little by little, the ripples faded. The water smoothed. The sky returned, clear as before. And the blue frog returned too — steady, calm, and bright.
“When the water is still,” Toby whispered, “I can see the sky. When my heart is still, I can see myself.”
He sat there a while longer, letting the day begin. When he finally hopped away, the pond kept the secret: sometimes the clearest view is found in quiet.