"The Frog's Feelings"

In a small town, barely recognized, the locals often tell of a peculiar story involving a frog who was very aggrieved and felt he had a right not to get his feelings hurt by the other animals.  The locals often tell this to their children to teach them a very unique lesson in knowing how to pick their fights, and how not to get it in their heads that life is full of pillows and kind words.  "You can't get respect from everyone," I heard one local say to a child.  "If you don't want to hear something, ignore it, and don't expect pity if something, which might be true, hurts.  Life's too good to be lived inside a bubble, away from offenses."  But I'm getting ahead of myself:  that is what they say after the tale, and for good reason.
         The frog in this story did not heed such wisdom, and he ended up making things harder for the other animals.  Eventually, things became harder for him, too, but...  Well, I should stop trying to explain things and get right to the story:
         Once, in a magical forest where animals could talk, there was a frog who was very depressed.  He'd sit on his Lillie pad and croak sad ribbit sounds as he listened to the small birds chirp in the distance.  He did not like to hear the birds chirp; in fact, it made him more conscious of the ugly sounds he could only make.  As he moped, a toad floated in the pond with a turtle, as they had always done each day.  The turtle would tell a joke, and the toad would laugh a very annoying laugh.
         "How can you stand to laugh when the birds mock you with their songs?" asked the frog, interrupting the conversation between the toad and turtle, who both stared at the frog with confusion.  "Don't you two realize that we're the laughing stock of the whole forest?  We're not as delicate as the deer, and will never sing like birds.  Even the skunk and the raccoon and the mouse have fur that make them far more superior than us."
         "Why do you pay attention to this stuff?" asked the turtle.  "I never cared what the other animals do with themselves, and I rather enjoy the songs the birds sing as they flutter.  I even enjoy the magpies loud nature, though I always wondered what the fuss was about."
         "We don't get the respect we deserve," said the frog, inflating himself.
         "What good is respect if you can't respect yourself?" asked the toad.  "I'm as fat as the nearest stone, and as lazy as one, yet I'm not offended by the leaps of the deer and the soaring of the eagle.  My skin isn't as colorful or as smooth as your green skin, but I can hide just as well and I can be just as spirited, despite my round looks."
         "You are both very ignorant," snapped the frog.  "You do not see the other animals stepping all over you.  Well, I'm not going to be stepped on.  I'm going to make sure the animals know that I deserve just as much respect as any other animal."
         "Be careful," warned the turtle.  "Speaking your mind is well and good, I've done it plenty of times to that stinky skunk, but don't go forcing other animals to give you something only you can control."
         Instead of listening to the turtle, the frog leaped out of the pond and hopped across the forest until he came upon a robin who was cleaning herself near a stream and tweeting a beautiful song.  The frog, who was all bloated and mad, and said, "Your songs offend me.  Stop them now."
         The robin gave the frog a questionable look and asked, "Whatever do you mean?  I cannot stop my songs."
         This angered the frog even more, so I opened his mouth wide and stuck out is tongue.  In an instant, he ate the robin whole.  Strangely enough, the frog did not feel full.  He actually felt more energetic than usual, and his rage grew.
         With his furious hops, the frog came upon a mocking bird, mocking away at his tree.  "Stop your insults!" shouted the frog.  "You've hurt this forest long enough."
         "And you've hurt my eyes long enough," mocked the mocking bird.  Then the frog opened his mouth wide and stuck out his tongue.  In a split second, he ate the whole mocking bird in one swallow.
         The frog did not stop there, he went to every bird, every animal who refused him each time.  Soon, word went around the forest of the frog's furious campaign, and even the bears and mountain lions became fearful.  When night came, the frog slept at the pond, but the other animals gathered round the berry bushes and discussed the problem with frog.
         "It's clear to me that we should just give him what he wants," spoke the badger.  "After all, I'd rather shave off my fir than be eaten by a frog."
         Some of the animals agreed, some disagreed, but most were unsure.
         "He's asking too much," said the blue jay.  "A bird can't help what comes out of his beak, as much as he can't help but fly through the air."
         "Appeasement doesn't seem to be the wise course of action," spoke the toad.  "He might force me to lose the weight I'm unable to lose."
         "It is clear to me," the turtle said, "that frog must be stopped.  Things can only get worse if we don't stand our ground."
         "I still think he hasn't asked for much," squeaked the mouse.  "I mean, it wouldn't hurt if the forest was a wee bit more sensitive.  I'm kind of tired myself of nearly being stepped on."
         One after the other, the majority of the animals were convinced by the badger and the mouse, who saw no harm in giving the frog what he wants.  So they all ended the meeting and decided to do just that the next morning.  The birds were furious with the decision, and toad croaked loudly in disapproval.  "I for one rather be eaten than to live with cowards!" exclaimed toad.
         The next day, before afternoon struck, all the birds had been eaten by the frog, along with the toad and the turtle who tried to stand up to him with no luck.  Then the animals gave him everything he wanted.  They said his ribbits were beautiful songs, they made him fly through the air, and they even allowed him to dig holes and perch on tree branches.  For a while, the frog felt happy, but it only lasted a short while.  He suddenly became angry at the smallest things the animals did and ate them for it.  Eventually, he ate all the animals that lived in the forest until he found himself alone.  Not a bird to chirp, not a deer to leap.
         It was then he realized that he wasn't really angry at the animals in the forest:  he was really angry at himself because he never thought he was anything amazing, being just a green frog.  In the midst of this realization, an eagle swooped from the air at the frog, bearing its talons.  The frog did not open his mouth, did not stick out his tongue.  He instead laid on his back, exposing his belly, and as soon as the talons cut open his belly, a burst of light occurred, scaring the eagle.
         When the light vanished, all the animals found themselves back in the forest.  The birds were flying, and the deer were leaping.  The toad and the turtle were back their pond, telling jokes and laughing.  The frog was never seen again, but the animals always spoke of him, but never in spite because even though he was an angry frog, he was still their friend.  From then on out, the animals lived happily ever after.

The End.