“How can I be so excited, but nervous at the same time?” Stammers Oliver.  Oliver is the bullfrog of Canvas Creek in the Watercolor Woods.

“Is it time?” Pip, the deer mouse, and Mia, the bluejay squeak and hurry down the huge bald cypress tree they call home.

“Not yet! The Canvas Creek Jumping Contest is in two weeks.  My first competition,” Oliver nervously tells his friends.

Ember, the screech owl, overhears and swoops down near Oliver, “Would you like a coach?  I can help you prepare and your friends can cheer.”

“Perfect,” Oliver agrees.

Pip, Mia, and the twin pond sliders, Walter and Josie of Stippling River, cheer from the sidelines as Oliver practices from dawn to dusk every day.  “Go, Oliver!  Stretch those muscles!” They yell.

The day before the Canvas Creek Jumping Contest, Oliver practices one more time.

“You are honing your jumping skills,” hooted Ember.  “I believe you are ready to compete.”

Rising early, Pip, Mia, Walter, and Josie hurry to Canvas Creek.

Excitement brews.  Animals from all over the Watercolor Woods want to see the bullfrogs show off their agility and strength, taking turns leaping across the creek.

Pip hurries the gang along, “Let’s go!  We need to find a good seat near Oliver’s jump.”

“Here.  Here,” point out the twins.  “Right here! This is the best vantage point.  Oliver can hear us cheer, and we can see him jump.”

“Look at the turn-out this year!” Notices Pip glancing around at the crowd forming.

Mia chirps, “You have this Oliver.”

“Oliver, the bullfrog of Canvas Creek, take your position,” calls the announcer.

“There is Oliver,” Walter points out.  “He is taking his position at the creek’s edge.

“I can see his heart pounding from here,” Josie frets.

To help ease Oliver’s nerves, his friends cheer, “Today is your day Oliver!”

Ember coaches, “Believe.  Anything is possible.”

With a deep breath, Oliver tells himself, “I can do this.”

He, then, sets his eyes on the mark in the distance.  “I can do this,” he says to himself again.

Oliver hears his friends and the crowd chanting, “O-li-ver!  O-li-ver! O-li-ver!”

Summoning all his strength and courage, he crouches low.  Using his hind legs, Oliver launches into the air.

The crowd silences as he leaps!

“I am doing it!” He yells.

With a triumphant splash, he cries, “I did it!”

The crowd roars, “He did it!  He did it!”

Oliver waits with his friends while the judges tally the scores from all the contestants.

“Oliver, the jump was magnificent.”  They each share with him.

The judges call, “The first-place Jumping Champion is Oliver of Canvas Creek.”

The crowd gives out a chorus of cheers and applause.

“I won!” Exclaims Oliver, standing proud with a grin from ear to ear.

“Thank you, Ember my coach, and all my friends who have cheered and encouraged me every day while preparing for this competition.”

“You are the reason I won.   Thank you!”

The walk home is filled with stories of Oliver and how far he jumped.  Each time the story is told, he seems to jump farther and higher than the time before.