Pip the frog heard singing drifting across the water. The Great Pond Chorus was rehearsing behind the lotus leaves. He wiggled his back legs. Ready, set, hop!
Pip the frog spotted the lily pad stage and leaped right onto it. He opened his mouth to sing the past-tense song. But his tongue tripped!
The lily pads turned gray. The dragonfly dropped its snack mid-air. Pip shut his mouth and waddled backward into the reeds.
Pip the frog found three friend frogs by the reed bed. Together they practiced the past-tense song. Croak, croak, practiced they were.
Practice bubbles popped too early with wrong verb endings. On the third try, the bubbles floated steady and bright. The friend frogs clapped their webbed feet.
At sunset, Pip the frog practiced the present-tense song. But he mixed it with the future-tense melody. The fireflies blinked in the wrong rhythm.
His friend frogs sang past, present, and future in a circle. The pond colors shifted back to normal. Pip copied their croaks until the moon rose high.
Summer concert night arrived. Pip the frog stepped onto the Great Pond Chorus stage and opened his mouth wide.
He sang past, present, and future in one breath. Every lily pad, firefly, and frog glowed in perfect color.
A hush fell. Then the whole pond erupted in croaks and cheers.
Now Pip the frog sings the chorus song every evening. The pond village glows gold, green, and blue in time with his voice.
The other frogs gathered around his lily pad to listen. Pip croaked a soft goodnight note.