Chapter One:
The Meeting
The birds were chirping, the butterflies fluttering about, the bunnies hopping to and fro, the squirrels collecting nuts...all was well in the forest. All was well until a wail pierced the tranquil atmosphere, that is. The bunnies scampered away; the squirrels climbed their trees and ducked in their homes; the butterflies flapped their wings and flew into the air, vanishing quickly; the birds hushed their singing and huddled in their nests. The noise had startled all the animals in the forest, and every one of them hurried to hide, fearing danger.
One animal in particular, however, did not fear, and he was disturbed far more than the others were. For in his waters had fallen a glistening ball, and it had nearly struck him on the head as it sank to the very bottom. But that was not the worst of it. Immediately after the object had fallen, a cry rang out so loud and shrill that even underwater as he was, the frog could hear it clearly.
And the wailing did not cease. So the frog resolved to see what it was that had so loudly and so rudely disturbed his peace. He swam to the top of the spring and hopped out onto the dry land. In front of him was a beautiful young child, and though he had seen her many times before, he did not know whom she was. The young child-who could be no more than ten summers old-sat beside the water's edge, crying her little heart out. The sight softened the frog, and he forgot to be angry.
"What troubles you, young one?" he said in his throaty, raspy voice.
The child brought her pretty little head up at the sound; but as she saw no one, she laid her head back down and continued to sob, taking no notice of the frog.
"What causes you such strife?" The frog tried again, and thinking that she had not seen him, he hopped until he was right in front of her.
The child, when she had lifted her head again and seen the big, ugly frog, gave a cry of horror and jumped away from the spring, for she did not like frogs and was afraid of them. She would have run away, too, had she not heard the strange, croaky voice again.
"Pretty child, where are you going in such a hurry? Be not afraid of me."
Now the child knew there was no one else about the forest and said, "Is-is it you, frog, who calls to me?"
And the frog nodded its big head in the way frogs tend to do and answered, "Yes, it is I, pretty child. Would you tell me what it is that ails you so?"
So the child said she had dropped her precious golden ball into the water, and as the pond was so deep, she could not get it back.
"Is that all?" croaked the frog, and the child beheld him in wonder. "If it pleases you, young maiden, I will go and fetch your golden ball, but first promise me something in return."
The child did not hesitate, so overjoyed was she to get her ball back. "Oh, for sure, kind frog, anything you want you shall have."
"I wish to be your companion, and to be with you as you play, and to eat from off your plate the things you eat, and to sleep beside you on your bed." All this the frog requested, and the child assured him that it should be so, if he brought her back the golden ball. She did not mean it, however, for she supposed that the nasty frog could never leave the spring and would never find her.
But the frog did not know this, and jumped down into the spring. Down and down and down he went until at last he reached the bottom, and here the frog quickly swam around and found the golden ball. Into his mouth it went, and to the surface he hastily climbed. Before he gave the girl the ball, however, he desired to know her name.
The child was displeased with the delay, and refused to tell him, demanding he give her the golden ball. But the frog did not concede and threatened to drop it back into the water. At last the child cried, "I am Princess Affina! Now give me back my golden ball, you wicked, nasty frog."
And the frog did as he was told, but no sooner had he done this than the princess up and left him. He called for her to wait for him, as he could not hop so fast, but the princess did not hear him-or if she did, she paid him no attention. The frog did his best to follow after her, but he lost her soon enough and had to go into his spring again.
The next day, the frog waited for the princess to come, for she liked to play by his home and came there often. But the princess did not come that day, or the next day, or the day after that; and soon a week had passed by, and no sign of the princess was seen.
The frog now knew that Princess Affina had no intention of keeping her promise, so he set off to find the palace. Through the bushes and up the hills he went, till at last he came before the king's home. But here he met a ferocious little dog, which chased him into the fountain in the queen's gardens; and a footman who heard the ruckus found the frog and took him to the forest, where he was placed in the spring. And there the frog did remain.
Author's Note: Hello! Surprisingly, this is turning out far more fairytale-ish than I'd imagined. Well, as you will come to see, this is my very different yet familiar-ish version of "The Frog King" (aka Iron Henry) or "The Frog Prince". In case you didn't catch it, this is not over yet; there are still some chapters (about this same length) to come but not many.