Don't Give Up!

Once, two frogs were merrily hopping along. They were having so much fun together that they didn’t notice where they were going and ended up jumping right into a pail of fresh milk!

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They swam around and around trying to get out, but the sides of the pail were too steep and slippery.

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For a long time they struggled on, but there seemed to be no way to escape. Finally, the older frog lost all courage. "I can’t go on like this any longer," he cried. "I’m too tired and there’s no hope of us ever getting out of here."

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"Don’t give up, dear brother," urged the younger frog. "Have faith. Surely there must be a way."
"It’s no use," replied the older one. "We’ll never get out of here alive, all is lost." And with that cry on his lips, the older frog gave up and sank to the bottom of the pail.

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It made the little frog very sad to lose his dear friend, but gathering up all his courage and hope he became more determined than ever not to give up. "To give up is to be dead. I must keep on trying to get out," he told himself.

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More hours passed and the young frog’s legs became so tired that he could barely move them.
"Oh, why go on?" he asked himself, but then he remembered his dead friend lying at the bottom of the pail. This sobering thought gave him new strength. "As long as I’m alive, I must keep trying," he again told himself.

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So with great effort, the young frog continued to paddle around in the bucket, chopping the milk into little white waves as he went.

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Then an amazing thing happened.

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Suddenly the little frog found himself standing in the pail on something solid. He looked down and discovered that he had churned the milk into butter by his constant paddling around!

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So, thanks to his great courage and determination the brave young frog was able to jump out of the pail and was once again safe and free!

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and, thanks to Mr. Dirt Farmer for submitting this little story of inspiration and perseverance!