Fairy-Tale Love
Once upon a time, in a prosperous kingdom far, far away, there lived a beautiful princess.
More than anything, she loved to read romance stories. Day after day she would curl up in the palace library, reading tale after tale of faraway lands with damsels in distress and knights in shining armor. Ever gallant, the prince never failed to swoop in at the last minute, defeating the villain and vowing to protect his lady till death do them part. Oh, how it would make her swoon…
One day, the beautiful princess decided it was about time to experience her own happily ever after. Armed with determination, she spoke to her father, the king, who was glad to arrange a list of suitors. “Anything for my precious daughter,” he said, and ordered his subjects to do her bidding.
The princess went on to meet some of the most upstanding men in the land. Sons of nobles, princes from neighboring nations, knights who toiled endlessly for the safety of the nation… but try as she might, she could not find her fairy-tale love. The men were handsome, affluent, and polite, but their words did not stir her heart. They had no steadfast declaration of love to offer, and those that did shower her with praise were nothing but insincere. Everything paled in comparison to those beautiful words on paper.
After her tenth failed date, the princess retreated to her library once more, overcome with hopelessness. Alone and disillusioned with reality, she cried and cried, wishing she could be a character in one of her stories. She picked up one book after another and wistfully caressed each leather-bound cover. Here she would be the beautiful merchant girl, there she would be the damsel rescued from the clutches of a dragon. And there, there she would be the princess who finds true love by kissing a frog…
She paused. That particular story sounded feasible enough. Sure, there was magic involved, but her kingdom did have alchemists and fortune tellers…
“If all men are pigs, surely frogs are worth a try.”
Leaving behind her cozy library, the princess scoured the garden in search of the perfect frog to love. It just so happened that the king was an avid collector of amphibians, so she had plenty of specimens to choose from.
She started with the tree frogs: small, cute, and a beautiful emerald green. Their small size made them agile, however, so she could never approach them fast enough to hold one in her hands.
Then she tried the toads; after all, that had been the species of choice in the story she had read. They proved easier to catch, but the thought of bringing that slimy, warty skin to her lips was beyond nauseating. After several attempts, she let them be.
Just as she was ready to give up hope—hands covered in mud and petticoat ruined beyond recognition—a small blue frog caught her eye. It remained steadfast as she approached, watching her with its big glassy eyes.
This. This was the one. She could feel it. Her love story was ready to begin.
She had no problem picking it up. It seemed transfixed by her, like a prince lost in the beauty of his princess. She pictured the man behind the frog: he would have blue eyes, most likely, blue as the frog’s sapphire skin. That would most likely mean he was blond, though she would be equally enchanted if he turned out to have dark hair.
Resolute, she brought the frog up to her lips and gave it a passionate kiss. It felt… slimy, and tasted like mucus. A small price to pay for true love.
Once finished, she gingerly placed the frog back on the ground, took a step back, and waited. For a minute, nothing happened, and she began to question why she had ever thought such an outlandish idea would work. But then the frog hiccupped, and it began to morph.
First was its skin. It started to bubble, as if infested with wriggling worms underneath. Then it swelled, twisting this way and that, expanding to make room for the growing limbs. Its torso elongated, and the creature grew a thick neck as it continued to stretch and increase in size.
The princess watched, horrified, as the bulging frog—now as large as her—stood upright on its hind legs. Its knees, more frog than human, buckled out to the sides, and its shoulders were hunched forward. A thin layer of mucus coated its entire body, with a skin that was still blue but pale and uneven in areas.
“Whyyyy,” the morphed creature croaked, voice filled with pain.
The princess had no answer to give; instead, she fainted from shock.
When she awoke, she was back in her bedchamber. The king, who until then had been busy pacing about the room and arguing with the royal doctor, rushed over and held his daughter’s hands.
“My child! What happened to harm you so?”
Still trembling, the princess gave her account of the events from start to finish. The king listened quietly, only frowning at the description of the monstrous man-frog. At this, he turned to the doctor, who nodded.
“It must have been that new breed you just brought in, Your Majesty. Its venom, when ingested, can cause hallucinations. It is unpleasant for sure, but Her Highness will be perfectly fine after some rest.”
The king hugged the princess, overcome with relief. “Oh, my sweet daughter… when will you learn that reality is harsher than fiction? Magic is no remedy here, you know that.” He squeezed her hands. “Come, it has been so long since we last spent time together. How about I tell you more about those frogs you were chasing? I’m sure you’ll find one charming enough to keep as a pet.”
The princess smiled at her father and nodded. Perhaps her quest for love had not been so fruitless after all.