Wiglet darted toward his favorite smooth river stone. Bonk! He bumped his nose and stopped. He twisted around to look behind him. His tail was only half its usual size! "Where did the rest of me go?" he bubbled.
He tried to swish hard and catch a floating green duckweed, but he just spun in a dizzy, awkward circle. Sinking to the sandy bottom, Wiglet felt something strange. Two tiny bumps had popped out near his back end. He kicked them against a pebble. What were they for?
The next morning, Wiglet tried to glide under a lily pad. But his bumps had stretched into long, bendy sticks with webbed toes! He tucked the strange new sticks under his chin while the pond water murmured and flowed overhead. His tail was now just a tiny stub. Regular swimming was almost impossible.
A shiny blue dragonfly hovered just above the surface. Wiglet paddled up to get a closer look. He kicked his new sticks, splashing loud water droplets into the air. The wild kicking didn't make him swim forward. Instead, it pushed him fast toward the top!
Wiglet pushed off a smooth river stone with both of his long new legs at the exact same time. Whoosh! He shot straight up through the water, breaking the surface and soaring high into the warm sunlight. He caught his breath as he hovered in the air, right next to the surprised dragonfly.
Smack! He landed wetly on top of a giant green lily pad. Wiglet looked back at the rippling pond and gave his very first loud "Ribbit!" He bent his strong new legs, pointed his nose at the next lily pad, and launched into the sky again.