On a frosty, sparkling shore lived a fluffy little penguin named Peep. All the other penguins would splash and dive with happy squawks, but Peep just stood at the edge, shivering.
"The water is so cold!" Peep whispered. "It pinches my toes!"
Mama penguin said, "Jump in, sweetie! There are wonderful things to see down there." But Peep would hide behind an ice block.
One day, their neighbor, Mrs. Quack, set her precious egg on a sunny patch of ice to keep warm. The egg lay right beside the water hole. Suddenly — ker-plunk! — the egg rolled straight into the water.
"Oh dear! Oh dear!" cried Mrs. Quack. "My egg is sinking!"
Everyone froze. The water was terribly cold. No one dared dive in. The egg was already bobbing in the hole.
Peep looked at the egg. It was so small and helpless. And then, Peep forgot all about being scared. He ran, squeezed his eyes shut — and jumped!
The water stung his wings, but Peep paddled with his feet as fast as he could. He dove deep, scooped up the egg with his beak, and swam back up to the surface.
"Hooray!" cheered all the penguins.
Mrs. Quack grabbed her egg and gave Peep a big kiss on his wet nose. Peep stood there, dripping, but beaming. The water didn't feel so cold anymore. It even felt nice!
Peep looked at the water hole, smiled, and whispered to himself:
"I did it."
And he was never scared again.