One morning, a little frog named Coco sat at the edge of a pond beside a big berry bush. She always picked the biggest berry — never a small one, never a medium one.
Her friends sat on the mud bank eating their berries. Pop. Pop. Pop. Easy. But Coco was tugging at the fattest berry on the top branch. She pulled and pulled. It snapped off, and she caught it with both front feet.
"Got it!" she said.
She stuffed the berry into her mouth. It bulged in her cheeks. She pushed with her tongue. Nothing. The berry was stuck halfway in, halfway out.
A little newt named Tam waddled over. "Why is your mouth so round?" asked Tam.
"Because I picked the biggest one," said Coco, all muffled.
"Spit it out," said Tam. "Pick a small one."
"No," said Coco. "This is my berry."
A dragonfly named Juno fanned the berry with her wings. It did not shrink. Tam pushed on Coco's cheeks. The berry rolled but stayed stuck. A turtle named Bop tapped the top of Coco's head with one foot. Nothing.
"Just pick a small one," they all said.
"No. This is my berry."
Coco scrunched her whole face in one big push. Her eyes squeezed shut and pressed down hard — and the berry slid right in. Gulp.
Everyone stared.
"Your eyes went DOWN," said Tam.
Coco blinked. She did it again just to feel it. Eyes down, swallow, eyes back up.
She picked one more big berry and showed them all. Eyes shut, push, gulp. Tam and Juno and Bop cheered each time.
Then they sat together on Bop's warm shell in the last sun, passing berries around and eating them one by one.
"Tomorrow I pick an even bigger one," said Coco.
The pond went still. The fireflies came out, one by one.