pink and green, beautiful colors that call to me and make her want to dive into the water in spite of her fear.
Thump! Something jumps onto the canoe seat. It is a green frog with bulging orange eyes and long rubbery legs.
“I am Frog! I am a good bug hunter!” announces the frog, as his long red tongue darts out and catches a fly unlucky enough to be going by. “Yum,” rumbles Frog, smiling at her expression as if he would like to eat that too.
“You worry too much,” Frog informs her. “I have come to teach you how to leap like a Frog.”
Frog pulls her to her feet and they stand on the seat of the canoe. “Hold hands,” Frog commands, and grabs her hand with his long fingered green one. It feels cool and damp and sticky.
“Now stretch those toes,” he directs, and she feels her toes stretching, stretching, until they are as long as frog toes. She splays them out wide and presses them hard into the seat of the canoe, anchoring herself firmly.
“Bend your knees,” calls Frog, and they squat down low. “Now thrust upward and stretch!” Frog says, and they stretch their legs out to the farthest length they can go, which to her surprise is very far indeed – she can see the tops of the trees!
“Squat again down low,” says Frog, and they go down again. “Now up again,” he calls, and up they go, this time stretching even further – now she can see over the trees.
“Down!” says Frog, then, “Up! We are getting ready to jump. Practice! Practice!”
Up Down, Up Down, Up Down they go, practicing. When they go up she sees the course of the river, which is getting closer and closer to the Western Sea. They are approaching the mouth of the river. Old Trout is still swimming by the canoe, his tail fin moving back and forth,