My name is Emma. I am a gold, scaly fish who doesn’t know how to swim. I have bad luck, but my best friend Jane, a golden retriever, helps me through all the hard times. We live together in our magical castle which stands fourteen stories high. Our parents are the king and queen of our land. We live in the nation of Zigen. All animals and creatures are the best of friends. There is not one soul who doesn’t get along with all of the others. I love all my family and friends. They are so nice. Our nation is filled with much peace and happiness.
One summer day Jane and I went exploring in our back yard. We do this almost every day in the summertime. Since school is out we have a lot more time to play outside in the warm sunny weather. Last time when we went exploring we found the fairies’ land. It was high up in the woods. It was a very beautiful trip. The fairies were very fun to play with. They knew how to make the trees dance and the sky sing. Jane and I had a very good time playing with the fairies. We told them that we would come back sometime really soon.
When Jane and I go exploring we always make sure that we pack our bag. We have even come up with a check list. On our list there is: water, snack food, disposable camera, blanket, towel, swimsuit, goggles, sun screen, umbrella, rain jacket, rubber boots, our stuffed animals, a picture of us, and, most importantly, our exploring journal. Our backpack holds all of these items very easily. This bag was Jane’s birthday present. It holds everything you can fit into it without having to smash it in there.

As Jane and I went exploring on this hot, sunny day we found lots of treasures. Hoping to add to our collection of valuable treasures we searched extra hard. It took most of the morning for us to find a place to sit and eat. We hiked and hiked until we found a beautiful place to lay our blanket down. Jane and I were very excited to empty her birthday backpack. We were going to write in our exploring journal. We thought that this eating area should be entered into the journal because it was so beautiful. After we were done eating and writing we packed the birthday backpack and went exploring once again.
We found the most beautiful pond in the whole nation! It was a very pretty rainbow mixture of calm water. Jane was so excited to go swimming. We both changed into our swimsuits and put sun screen on. Jane got her goggles on and dove into the water. I was very upset because I couldn’t swim in the beautiful water. Not being able to swim happens a lot in the summertime. Jane looked like she was having so much fun swimming in the magical pond. I really wish that I could swim.
As I watched Jane swimming, our friend Carl, a very purple dragon, suggested that Jane teach me how to swim. I was thrilled to have a chance like this. I was also very happy when Jane thought it was a great idea. When Jane told me all of the swimming rules, I was scared that I would forget them. I swallowed so much water on this hot sunny day. Jane was getting very frustrated with me. I don’t think Jane understood my fear. Even though I’m a goldfish, I fear drowning in this magical pond. At some points I didn’t have complete trust in my best friend. She had no fear of the water at all. That scared me because what if she wasn’t careful and I drowned?
As the day went on Jane’s temper and my attitude were very poor. We both were tired and it was almost time for supper. It must have been fate, but when Jane and I were just about ready to give up Carl came back. He looked like a beast from far away, but he is the nicest dragon that we know. Carl told us to be patient and to have faith. After Carl flew off to go help the fairies, Jane and I decided not to give up. He gave us the strength to try once again.

After Jane explained exactly how to swim once more, we tried again. I did it! I was now able to swim. Jane had taught me how to swim in the magical pond. I have never felt this happy. It was better than flying with Carl. Now I could swim with Jane and all of my friends all summer long. This was the luckiest magical pond that we have ever found.
Jane and I were so excited to write all of this new information in our exploring journal. I have never been able to swim before. We couldn’t wait. We took a picture of the magical pond and then we drew what it looked like. Jane wrote out exactly what happened as I told her the details. Our book now had our magical pond in it. We decided that we should thank Carl for helping so much.
We had to hike up through the woods to the fairies houses. This was a very long and tough journey. When we finally reached Carl he was so happy for the both of us. He told us that we could do anything as long as we really wanted it. Carl was my hero. He was also Jane’s hero. Carl is very wise and very smart. Jane and I decided that if we ever had any other questions that we would ask Carl. We knew that we could trust him and it seems like he has the answers to everything.
On our trip back to the castle, Jane and I talked of what a great day it was. We were both very excited to tell the king and queen about our great success. They were going to be so proud of our accomplishments. We also had to mention Carl to them. He is the one who encouraged us to keep on trying. Without Carl, Jane and I would have given up and just went home. I’m very glad that Carl is so wise and smart. Jane and I had the best day of our lives swimming in the magical pond. Filling out our exploring journal was also very fun. Jane and I both like to draw and tell the stories in the exploring journal. Even though there was a time that our trust wasn’t there, we learned to trust each other better than before.
Jane and I both know now that if you have trust in your family and friends you can get a lot done. If Carl hadn’t come to help us, Jane and I wouldn’t trust each other that much. I am very
thankful for the support of my family. I love to swim and now I can’t be made fun of. Even though all the people in our nation are kind, they still joke with each other. Everyone thought that it was very funny that me, a goldfish, couldn’t swim. Little did they know that I would learn how to swim in the magical pond.