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Koala Moon: Kids Bedtime Stories & Sleep Stories for Kids Podcast
Fritz's Froggy Wedding 🐸💒 Heartwarming Children's Story
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Narrator
Hello and welcome back to Koala Moon, a podcast of original children's bedtime stories and meditations designed to make bedtime a dream. And welcome into the Koko Club, Petra and Georgina Shield from Calgary. That's in Alberta, Canada. You are our newest recruits. We're delighted you've joined us. Now you can unlock your extra weekly episode as well as listen back to all the hundreds of other stories on the playlist. Just don't forget to hit follow or you can subscribe in your app so they magically download for you. Do tell us which characters you'd like to hear more from, please. Are you fans of the Dream Givers maybe? Or the Catronauts? Oh, could be Tilly and Bo. Please write in or send us a voice note, guys. You can use the link in the show notes and you can let us know your favourite characters or your best ever story, the one you keep coming back to. I'm so curious. Back to tonight now though, and I'm thrilled to break the happy news that soon we're all going to be lucky enough to witness the happiest day of a little frog's life so far. Before we begin, a quick message for the grown ups. If you'd like to support our podcast, enjoy ad free listening, unlock four bonus stories per month and much, much more, you can Coco Club subscribe in just two taps via the link in the show notes. But now here's a quick word from our sponsors. Hey there Koala Moon listeners. Do you love mystery stories like the ones we solve with our very own sleepy sloth sleuth? Then we think you'll love the podcast Mysteries about True Histories or Math for short. And guess what? Season two is out now. Max and Molly are two clever kids who use math, history, geography and problem solving to travel through time. And this season they're facing off against a sneaky new villain called the Power Hungry Pogs. Their mission, to rewrite history from ancient Egypt to Charles Darwin in 1875. Max and Molly jump to wherever in time they're needed. Next, with spies hiding in plain sight and secrets around every corner, it's full of fun twists and just about the right amount of mystery for curious kids. You can find mysteries about true histories right now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you like to listen. Happy sleuthing and sweet dreams. Our tiny froggy friend Fritz is tying the knot tonight. Do you know what that means? That phrase? It means getting married. So he and his blushing bride are soon to be wed and we are going to hear all about it. Every single detail. I love a good party and this story has given me some fabulous inspiration. Maybe it will you too. Before we get stuck in, let's just wind down a little and get ready to listen. Take some nice calm breaths. To start, count to four as you breathe in and hold for four and breathe out for four. I'll try it with you. Breathe in, two, three, four. Hold two, three, four and breathe out, two, three, four. Lovely. You can slow it down a little bit if you can. Breathe in, 2, 3, 4. Hold 2, 3, 4 and whoosh. Breathe out even slower still and maybe add a sigh at the end. I'm going to get started. I hope you're comfy. This is Fritz's Froggy Wedding by Jane Thomas. Fritz, the tiny frog who lives in the pond in the heart of Sleepy Forest, is waking up this morning knowing full well that this is going to be a magical day. And he knows it, because this, today, right now, is his wedding day. As you go through life, you'll find there are good days, like the ones when you wake up and the weather is absolutely what you want it to be. And you have your favourite thing for breakfast and you get given a star in school. And there are great days, things like winning a race you never expected to win, or learning to play that really difficult tune, or jumping into a pool from a higher diving board than you ever had before. There are brilliant days reserved for things like birthdays, when you get a pile of presents and you're told to eat cake and you blow out candles and make wishes. And finally, there are magical days. There will only be a handful of those and you might not even know that they're coming. Something unexpected can happen. And suddenly there you are, right in the middle of a magical day, wondering how you got so lucky to have it. That's what is about to happen to Fritz. It all happened very quickly, but that is the way of things sometimes, just as the first time after you eat a brussel sprout, you just know if you like them or not. Or the first time you pick up a tennis racket, you can make a pretty good guess if you're going to want to make play that game ever again. Sometimes you can meet someone else and just know somewhere deep inside, they are somebody you want to know for the rest of your life. Fritz met Felicity at a dance. Well, that's not so very surprising if you remember how very much Fritz loves his dancing. It was a dance in a huge barn with big bales of hay all around the edges of the barn. To act as seats and hay had been piled up at one end and on top of that stood a band who played things like tambourines and fiddles. And everyone lined up in the centre of the barn and the lead singer on the stage, a particularly bulbous bullfrog, called out instructions. So they knew which foot was meant to go where and when and to pick up their partner and swing them round. And it was all sorts of wonderful, because even those who don't normally dance could suddenly join in for once. Felicity is a frog who wouldn't normally dream of being near a dance floor. She likes to sit on the side with her friends and watch everyone else having fun. But that evening, with the bullfrog on the stage, the telling everyone exactly what they needed to do, she dared to try dancing. So when Fritz arrived, he saw this beautiful frog with her head thrown back, laughing and laughing, her red dress swirling around as she was spun about by her dance partner. Fritz couldn't take his eyes off Felicity, and before the evening had ended, he knew, he just knew, that this was the frog he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. If truth be told, Felicity knew it too. She giggled to one of her friends that she'd never seen such a handsome frog as Fritz and never laughed so much with anyone before. And never felt so wonderful as when he held her hands and galloped between an archway of arms and wings as other creatures did, as they were told by the bulbous bullfrog and stood that way in a line in the centre of the barn. They went outside and danced together beneath the light of the moon and the stars. Felicity resting her head on Fritz's shoulder, swaying slowly from side to side. A cool breeze appeared that night and Fritz removed his jacket and placed it gently around Felicity. And it wasn't long before the two decided they would be married and live, there was no question of it. Their very own happily ever after. Given half a chance, Fritz would have invited everyone in Sleepy Forest to the wedding. But Felicity is a shy sort of frog, and she couldn't imagine standing up in front of thousands of others and saying her vows to Fritz. So they made a compromise. Ten guests each. That would be more than enough. Ten guests, as we say, are vows, said Fritz, getting this absolutely clear. Ten guests each, said Felicity. That's all. No more. Right, said Fritz, thinking quickly. So as we promise to love each other forever and ever, we will have no more than 10 guests each. Deal? Felicity nodded and didn't think much more of it, about why Fritz was being so very careful. To get this exactly right. After all, as he told Penny the swan later, she made it clear that was how many while we were saying our vows. She absolutely didn't say how many friends could be there before or after the vows. So, with this in mind, Fritz started on his grand plan. Felicity wondered where he kept disappearing off to, but she was always busy with something. Her dress, the dresses for her bridesmaids, the cake, the arrangement of the water lilies in the pond, and always forgot to ask or wonder too much. And inside, she knew that whatever it was Fritz might be secretly planning, it would be something wonderful for sure. He only seemed to deal in wonderful. Fritz knew that Penny would need to have a big part of his big day, and he and Felicity asked if she would perhaps glide the bride down the aisle. Penny was beyond excited, puffing up her feathers with the importance of it all and promising that she would practise and practise to get it perfect. On the day, Felicity would be standing on a lily paddle attached by a length of twine to Penny, and when she reached the front, Penny would glide to the side and act as Fritz's best swan. It just so happened that Fenella, the tiny unicorn, was Felicity's best friend. And it was one of those strange things that Felicity and Fritz had never met before. They worked out, there must have been dozens of times they were in the same place, even in the same pond together, but their paths had never quite crossed until that evening at the barn dance. Fenella was to be Felicity's maid of honour, and she would be on a lily pad behind Felicity, making sure the bride's dress didn't drape in the water. The cake was ordered, of course, from Betty Badger's bakery, and she and her little team of Badger helpers loved nothing more than making wedding cakes. This was going to be three tiers of chocolate sponge with chocolate buttercream and white icing on the outside, decorated with water lily flowers. And right at the top, Betty Badger made by hand two perfect figurines of Fritz and Felicity. Fritz in a very smart top hat and Felicity in a beautiful pale pink dress. And the very top of the cake was made to look exactly like a lily pad. She added those little silver crunchy balls to look like a waterfall running down one side of the cake, narrow at the top, and building steadily until at the bottom, it seemed as if it was pouring out onto the tabletop on which the cake would stand. Tiny Steve, Fritz's miniature elephant friend, was going to lead the ceremony. He had to go and sit special exams in order to be able to do this, and he spent hours and hours studying so he could be sure of passing. And once he'd passed, he spent hours and hours practicing driving Dinky, the tiny giraffe, quite mad as he was, the one who had to sit there and say, yes, Tiny Steve, well done, Tiny Steve. No, that was perfect, Tiny Steve. Hundreds and hundreds of times. Dinky was also responsible for organising the orchestra and he was lucky enough to get the sleepy Forest Philharmonic to agree to come along for the afternoon of the wedding. They would hide among the bulrushes, so Felicity didn't need to worry about all those extra creatures seeing her, but their music would drift out over the pond and be the perfect addition to the day. The conductor, Patrick, the peacock from Heavenly Hats, had the orchestra practising the wedding march until their fingers ached and then kept going more until their fingers danced and moved even in their sleep, as if they were still playing the amateur practices. Until he can get it right, he told them sternly, the professional, until he can't get it wrong. And finally, after all the preparations, the big day has arrived. The great day, the important day, the magical day. Fritz is with Dinky, straightening his bow tie and making sure his shoes shine so that he can see his face in them. Felicity is with Fenella, climbing into her dress made from the petals of water lily flowers, so it starts a beautiful rich cream colour at the top and then cascades down to the floor as a delicate dusky pink. In her hands she holds a tiny bouquet of Forget me Not flowers, her favourite colour, blue that is also the colour of the silk bow Penny has tied around her long, slender swan neck. Fenella's bridesmaid's dress is Forget Me not blue too, and her unicorn horn is polished to perfection for this special day. Fritz is the first to appear on the pond, hopping onto his lily pad that he will soon share with Felicity. Tiny Steve is looking the smartest he's ever looked, and he's standing there with a half worried, half excited look on his face. As they wait for Penny and Felicity to appear, friends and family are seated on their lily pads, looking first at Fritz and then turning every few seconds to be the first to see Felicity. When she arrives. And there is a general air of excitement about the pond. The dragonflies have stopped dashing around and instead are hovering, their jewelled bodies the colours of rubies and sapphires and emeralds, silver wings shimmering as they stay in place. It's with great ceremony that Patrick raises his baton and with a quick Flick indicates that the orchestra must start playing, and then Penny comes into view, beaming above her beautiful blue bow. Felicity floats on her lily pads. Behind Penny. And behind Felicity is Fenella, ready to leap forwards if the dress even comes close to trailing in the water. But then something strange is happening, and Penny's let go of the twine that attaches her to the lily pads and she's moving to one side and Fritz is paddling himself forwards, a huge smile on his face, and the music is no longer the Wedding March, but something with a beat to it. Felicity holds her bouquet of Forget Me Nots up to her face and inwardly groans. So that that is why Fritz was so careful to check that it was only for the ceremony. The number of guests was restricted. Fritz is getting closer and closer, a huge grin on his face, and his feet are flying left and right, up and down, his dancing getting more and more dramatic. And then all the guests on the left side of the pond have leapt up and are dancing along with him, feathers and fur and fingers all flying through the air in perfect time. And then all the guests on the right side of the pond have joined in too, and the beat is picking up more and more, and Tiny Steve has dropped the stern and serious look on his face and is joining in the dancing. Fenella taps Felicity on the shoulder, and as Felicity turns around, Fenella grins. Sorry, she says with a broad grin on her face. Fritz didn't think he'd make it through the wedding without some dancing. It's a flash mob. And with that she started joining in the dancing too, twirling around and around, so she became nothing but a blur of blue dress with her silver horn shining at the top. Felicity stood on her lily pad and watched all the dancing around her, and then the bulrushes were parted and out came others from Sleepy Forest. Koko was there, his paws high in the air and then low to the ground, and there was Kira, and over there was Cuddle and Fudge and Mr. Cam mmm bear and Tiny Terry and Bao and Camo. And everyone who Felicity had ever known was joining in with the wild dancing. And all the time Fritz was getting closer and closer on his lily pad, dancing faster and faster, the sunlight flashing off his polished shoes. In the moments that the music ended, it seemed as if a hundred swans flew overhead, led by Penny, and they all dropped, a thousand rose petals that fluttered and drifted and floated down towards the pond, a carpet of soft pink spreading itself across the water. And then little Philomena was there, Fritz's tiny cousin who couldn't hear a thing but could feel the rhythm in her body, and she somersaulted through the air and landed at Felicity's feet, holding a box with two golden rings that shone and gleamed. I know you don't want to say your vows in front of everyone, said Fritz, gesturing towards all the creatures who were peering over and through the bulrushes, to all the birds hovering mid air, to everyone who stood on tiptoe on their lily pads trying to see everything that was happening. But I hope you'll say in front of all the creatures of Sleepy Forest that yes, you will marry me and yes, you will be mine and I will be yours forever and ever. And with that he leaned over to Philomena and took the rings from her hands, kneeling down in front of Felicity, his eyes big, his chest heaving as he gulped for air after all his dancing. But of course I will, said Felicity, beaming down at him. And all of you. She looked up and gestured to everyone else. I'll see you at the after party. Now leave us here so we can get married. All the animals laughed and cheered, whooping and hollering and whistling at Fritz and Felicity and then disappearing back into the reeds and heading towards the banks of the lake where the party was to be held. Penny swooped down from the sky and took up her position once more, and Fritz paddled to the end of the pond again, beaming from ear to ear. By the time Felicity and Fenella reached the end of the lake, their lily pads were quite covered in the soft pink rose petals the swans had dropped from above. Philomena took photo after photo of the extraordinary scene, making sure she caught the moment when Fritz and Felicity kissed and raised their hands in the air and everyone cheered. The moment when they became husband and wife. Before they joined everyone else on the banks of the lake, Fritz and Felicity slipped away for a while. This was, after all, their day. They wanted to share it with everyone else, but most importantly of all, it was theirs. They took off their shoes and Fritz rolled up his trousers and Felicity hitched up her skirts and they sat down beside each other and dangled their feet in the pond. It was a perfectly still late afternoon and the sea of soft pink rose petals before them barely moved now that everyone had left to join the main party. Far above them, an Albatross Airways flight headed away to distant shores, and Felicity squeezed Fritz's hand with a squeak of excitement because soon they too would be on a flight and headed to a picture perfect pond on the far off island of Mauritius. What an adventure to start their lives. A small cottage with a private dock, heading out onto a pond the colour of melted emeralds. They sat there for a while, feet dangling in the water, Felicity's head resting on Fritz's shoulder, wrapped up in watching bumblebees buzz back and forth, filling their little baskets as they danced from flower to flower. It was Penny who dared to interrupt them. A quiet cough as she cleared her throat behind them. Everything's ready, she said. Fritz jumped up and then helped Felicity to her feet, slipping her feet into her shoes and declaring that she must be Cinderella because the fit was perfect. They hopped onto Penny's back and arrived at the banks of the lake in style, gliding into land on the back of the swan with the forget me not blue bow around her neck. Everyone cheered and rattled their forks against their glasses, calling for speeches from the bride, the groom, the best swan, the maid of honour, anyone who wanted to stand up and talk. And so it was that half of Sleepy Forest rose to say something about Fritz and Felicity, raising their glasses time and time again as they called out to the bride and groom at the end of their speeches. And there was more cheering as the cake was wheeled out and Betty Badger was dragged from her corner, blushing and smiling, so everyone could raise their glasses to her too, and her gorgeous cake with the lily pad on the top. And finally, Patrick plucked some members from his orchestra and ushered them onto a stage. And the music started with Patrick calling out the moves so everyone there could dance together. Just as on the night when Felicity and Fritz had first met. Nobody noticed the sun starting to sink in the sky and the pink and golden streaks that stretched from one side of the world to the other. Nobody noticed when the first silver sparkles of stars appeared and a glorious silver moon rose slowly over the horizon. Nobody noticed as the fireflies came out and gave their soft green glow to keep the party going. Because everyone there was wrapped up in celebrating Fritz and Felicity, their perfect day and this perfect moment in the heart of Sleepy Forest. It is a day that they will talk about for years to come. The memory of a hundred glorious white swans with a thousand rose petals each pouring them from the sky to cover the pond in a delicate pink carpet as soft as velvet. Because some days are like that, Some days are good days when we wake in the morning and the weather is exactly as we'd hoped and we have our favourite thing for breakfast and we get given a star in school. And there are great days, things like winning a race we never expected to win, or learning to play that really difficult tune. Or jumping into a pool from a higher diving board than we ever have before. There are brilliant days reserved for things like birthdays, when we get a pile of presents and are told to eat cake and we blow out candles and make wishes. And finally, there are magical days. There will only be a handful of these and you might not even know they're coming. Something unexpected can happen. And suddenly, there you are, right in the middle of a magical day, wondering how you got so lucky to have it. These are the days of our dreams. These are the days that remind us that the world is full of. Of wonder. These are the days when we soar among the stars and dance all the way to the moon.