There was once a tadpole that hatched in the bottom of an old well. His name was Doubt, and all he knew was the well and the circle of sky overhead.

When Doubt was old enough, he changed from a tadpole into a frog. Even though he was now able to hop out of the well, he never tried as he thought that his well was the whole world.

One day another frog looked into the well and saw Doubt. “Hi!” he said. “My name is Wild. What are you doing down there? The sky must be so small. There is much more food to eat and water to swim in out here in the world. Why don’t you come out?”

Doubt glared distrustfully at Wild. “I can see the sky up there: it’s as big as the top of the well and it always has been. There’s no other world; you just want to take my well!”

Wild sighed. “That’s too bad my friend; there is so much you are missing out on.” He turned his back and with a powerful jump was gone.

Doubt tried to ignore what the other frog had said, but he couldn’t stop himself from wondering. “Where did that other frog go? The sky is only as big as the well, so where did he jump to? Did he hop into the sky and become one of the stars? Anyway, this makes no sense; I have enough food here, my water to swim in, and a rock to climb on…”

And Doubt convinced himself to shut down his wonder.

Sometime later, a turtle appeared at the lip of the well and looked down at Doubt. “Hello there. How is life down in your well? Why don’t you come out and see the rivers and lakes?”

Doubt looked at the turtle and said, “Who are you? What do you mean by ‘river’ and ‘lake’?”

“My name is Easy, I am a turtle. A river and a lake are big masses of water, millions of times bigger than your well.”

“Millions of times bigger than my well? Really?” asked Doubt doubtfully.

“Yes, much bigger. Some are so far away that you can’t even see them from here!” Easy smiled and slowly moved away.

Doubt’s heart thumped in his chest. “All I have to do is jump out of the well,” he thought. “Then I will know if they are telling the truth or if they are lying.” But he had never been outside of the well and his fear was too strong, so he decided to stay where he was.

When he fell asleep, Doubt dreamed of the frog and the turtle telling him how much he was missing out on. His life was no longer the same: he distrusted the frog and turtle, but he also doubted himself. His fear still controlled him.

Doubt felt the contradiction inside himself, but he didn’t understand it. He missed the other frog and the turtle, and hoped that they would come back and talk to him again. They never did.

Doubt felt so sad that he didn’t even want to look at the sky. Then one day he heard a lovely sound; it was the beautiful voice of a female frog. He tried to sing back, but his voice sounded quite ugly compared to hers. He snapped his mouth shut and glanced gloomily up at the sky. Then he saw her, a beautiful green frog with a golden stripe just like his.

“Hello,” she said. “My name is Joy. I’m on my way to the big pond, but my skin feels quite dry. May I jump into your well for a swim?”

Doubt stared at her, so happy that she wanted to jump into his well. He climbed onto his rock and said, “Of course, you are welcome.”

With a graceful dive Joy jumped down and landed perfectly in the water. When she surfaced, she swam laps around the edge of the well. Doubt couldn’t help staring; he had never seen such a beautiful creature.

“Is it true that there is a world outside this well?” he asked.

Joy stopped swimming and said, “Of course! There are many things outside this well: streams, lakes, oceans… the outside world is bigger than you can imagine. It’s full of challenges and new things to experience.”

Then she clambered up onto the rock beside him. “Well, I’d better continue on my journey. Thanks for letting me have a swim!” She prepared to jump out of the well.

“Wait!” cried Doubt, gathering his courage. “Can I join you?”

Joy smiled and said, “You are free, like me: you can go anywhere you want.” Then she leapt up onto the lip of the well.

Doubt looked around at his rock, the water, and the walls of the well, then sprang up beside Joy.

The sky was so big that he froze in amazement. All around them was a meadow filled with wildflowers, and more insects than he could count. Not far away he saw a pond fed by a stream that disappeared into a rainforest. Beyond that was a mountain, its top hidden by streaming clouds.

Doubt turned to look behind him and saw that the meadow stretched all the way to a cliff, and beyond the cliff was the most water he had ever seen: the ocean.

“Whoa, it was all true. I was so blind!”

“Come along,” said Joy as she hopped away. “Let’s go to the pond before we dry out.”

Doubt had no doubt any more. He jumped happily after Joy and began his wonderful new life.