The next instalment of Finn the Frog and his Missing Star
****************
He didn’t have a proper home like the way the birds have their nests, he usually just camped wherever his adventures lead him. He always knew where he was as he had explored the jungle a thousand times over and knew it inside out.
“I need to find my friends”, and he hopped through the woods and found Penelope Parrot, who was looking for food on the ground.
“I’ve lost my star flag, please can you help me find it?” he begged.
“Of course I will,” Penelope said “Where did you have it last?” she asked.
Finn pointed to the soil where he had been sleeping. “Erm, a flag is very light so maybe a gust of wind blew it into the trees, let me go and check, I’ll come and find you afterwards” and she opened her wings and headed towards the treetops, Finn shouted “Thanks for the help, I’m going to find Harriet Hippo”, and off he bounced towards the river.
The river was full of mud and rocks, but the one thing Finn knew was that most of the rocks were actually hippos hiding in the water, not very well either.
Finn hopped along quickly and arrived at the water hole where he saw Harriett hippo, she was sleeping, but that’s what she liked to do the most.
“Have you seen my flag, I can’t find it anywhere?” He shouted quite loudly, waking up the enormous hippo.
Waking abruptly, Harriet’s eyes bolted open and it took her a minute to realise who was talking to her “Sorry I haven’t seen it here, let me go and check the water hole, you never know it may have just blown over here and landed on the water”, and she sunk back into the water and searched for the flag. Finn wondered if Harriett would take another nap during her search and so he didn’t wait around for the results.
Only a few seconds passed, and Finn could hear the sound of monkeys through the trees, so waving Harriett Hippo goodbye, he bounced off towards the sound of the monkeys.
When he got there he saw the monkey family running around playing superhero chase, a game very close to regular chase, but everyone is a superhero. He saw Marian Monkey running behind a tree, Marvin Monkey was already halfway up a tree, but then he saw an unfamiliar face joining in with the play. He was a small monkey, and Finn heard Marian shout out “I give up Mel, where can your brothers and sisters be?” – Mel must be the youngest and newest member of the family, thought Finn. He was about to go and say hello when Mel turned around, and Finn saw his cape. It wasn’t his cape though; it was Finn’s flag, wrapped around his shoulders.
Penelope Parrot came back and while fluttering her wings in the air; she said “Finn, you’ve beaten me to it, Mel has your cape, I couldn’t find you at the watering hole, and I couldn’t wake up Harriett.
Finn was cross; he didn’t like that someone had his flag, his only treasured possession. He was about to storm in when Penelope stopped him.
“No Finn. Look at Mel, he’s only a baby and he looks so happy with it on. Maybe you should let him keep it?” she suggested. But Finn felt lost without his flag.
He was about to get even madder when one of Mel’s sisters came running through the trees towards them “Hello, don’t tell mum you’ve seen me, I want Mel to find me instead, he’s been feeling sad lately because he lost his favourite teddy in the jungle, I’d do anything to make him happy” and just like that Finn no longer felt cross or angry. He knew just what to do. He hopped straight through the opening and bounded over to Mel, who was looking around warily for his siblings.
When Mel saw Finn, he suddenly turned away in embarrassment, but Finn went over and gave him a reassuring pat on the back. Marian came over to see what the fuss was about.
“Hello Finn, is there anything we can help you with?” she asked pleasantly. Finn knew why Mel went shy, he knew Mel was going through a bad time lately, and he found happiness with his flag.
He couldn’t be cross with him at all. Just as Finn opened his mouth to speak Mel broke down in tears, took off the cape and gave it back. “Sorry I took the cape off you Mr Frog, please don’t be mad” he finished shyly. Finn took one look at Penelope, and the brave frog did a courageous thing.
“It’s OK; you need it more than me, I’m an adventurer at heart and exploring is what I like to do best. I will go and find myself a new treasure and I’ll try my hardest to find your teddy too. My name is Finn, and you have a sister hiding just beyond the trees near the river” Mel was so happy to hear this and he gave Finn a hug.
In the end, if being a brave frog means helping others before yourself then that is what you should do. Being angry is normal but when you see how happy someone else is when they’ve also had a problem you shouldn’t take their happiness away. This act of kindness is what truly made Finn a star.
THE END
********************
I hope you enjoyed this read, you can find more short stories, prose and scripts here.
I do appreciate any feedback so feel free to pass anything back, all suggestions, ideas, and improvements will be taken on board.
*******************
Tan M Butler 