A Lesson from Tiddalick the Frog

Ayla Murtaza

The following story by fourteen-year-old Ayla Murtaza was awarded a Gold Award in the Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition 2025. We are reprinting it here to encourage more young writers to become storytellers. Our editors are grateful to visual artist Sarah Mumtaz for sharing original work inspired by this piece.

Tiddalik the Frog used to live near a pond in a forest. He was brown-coloured with green dots all over. The pine trees were so tall that if they had mouths, the animals could not hear what they said. Every creature in the forest came to the pond to drink cool water, share stories, and play games. Life was peaceful, except when Tiddalick was bored.

Unlike the others, Tiddalick didn’t like helping gather berries or build nests. “Too much effort,” he’d say with a yawn. He often played tricks, some funny, most annoying. Once, he swapped the birds’ eggs, leading to a lot of confusion. Another time, he jumped on a turtle’s back yelling, “Shark attack!” just to watch her scream.

One morning, he felt like playing a prank on someone. He jumped at a fox and said, “You are being arrested!”. The fox was confused and asked why. The Frog replied, with a grin, “You stole a bag of gold coins from Mr. Fox”. Perplexed, the fox spoke, “But why would I steal from myself?” His eyes narrowed as he interjected, “Wait, is this another prank of yours?” Before Tiddalik could answer, Mr. Fox began chasing him.

Artwork by Sarah Mumtaz (pen on paper, 2025)

The moon began to rise, and the fox was still sprinting at him. The fox spoke with heavy breathing, “I’ll let you go this time, but one day, your tricks will go too far”. As the fox became smaller and smaller, Tiddlick’s eyelids went lower and lower. He fell asleep where he stood. 

The next day, he woke up thirsty. He rushed to the pond and gulped it dry. But he was not satisfied. He hopped to the outskirts of the forest. Jumping over and around bushes, he found a river. He drank until all that was left were bouncing fish. He went to other ponds, rivers, and even oceans, until the whole world was left with just land. 

A squirrel pleaded, “Please, just a sip! My babies—” 

But Tiddalick turned away. “Find your own,” he croaked. His stomach was so swollen that he could barely move. But he didn’t care. All he felt was the endless ache for more.

Nanabozho, the guardian of nature and balance, was enjoying his day, sitting on the clouds. He loved watching the sky. He happened to look down and saw the Frog. Water gushed from Tiddalick’s mouth, turning the forest into a swamp. Animals ran for their lives. Realising a flood might happen, Nanabozho quickly flew to the Tiddalick’s forest and built a giant raft with the trees. He went to every animal in it and placed them on the raft, with food but no water. 

Nanbozho flew to Tiddalick and saw that he hadn’t stopped yet. At that moment, he knew the whole world would be flooded, not just the continent. He placed his hand on the backs of each creature, and wings grew on them. 

He said, “You need to help me. Go to the other continents in the world and bring animals from there to this raft”. After three long hours of hard work, all animals were safe and the water had calmed down. Tiddalick had stopped.

Nanabozho announced, “I will retrieve Tiddalick”. 

The animals cried, “But he is the one who caused this! What if he tries to hurt us again? He is a monster!” 

Nanabozho paused, then knelt. “Sometimes we hurt people by accident. Give him a chance.”

He found Tiddalick curled in a muddy puddle.  

“I—I didn’t mean to flood everything,” Tiddalick croaked. 

Nanabozho looked at him with sadness. “Then help fix your mistake,” Nanbozho picked up Tiddalick and brought him to the raft. The animals kept a two-foot distance from him. Nanabozho turned to Tiddalick, “Dive into the water. Bring me dirt from the bottom.”

Tiddalick hesitated. His belly was heavy, and his legs trembled. But for the first time, he didn’t think of himself. He dove. As minutes passed, whispers rose. “Maybe he drowned.”

“Good.”

But then Tiddalick burst through the surface, holding a handful of wet, black soil. Nanabozho smiled.

“Thank you.” He placed the mud on Tiddalick’s back and whispered some words. Tiddalick became larger, hills rose, and trees formed. Slowly, Tiddalick the Frog had become land itself.

To this day, the animals celebrate the Festival of the Frog—not because he was perfect, but because he changed for the better.

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Ayla Murtaza is a 15-year-old student with a passion for storytelling and creative expression, studying in Lahore. Alongside her studies, she enjoys writing, reading and painting. Some of her favourite books are The Book Thief, The Hunger Games and The Lord of the Rings.

Sarah Mumtaz is a performance and visual artist working across live performance and drawing. Her predominantly black-and-white works carry a measured sense of the peculiar, shaped by a subtle, playful sensibility.