Note: I do not own Degrassi, nor do I own the Grimm tales. (:
This is my very first Fanfic, so.. I don't really know how it's going to turn out! xD Please Review, thanks!
Clare was headed towards the old well in the woods behind her house. This is where she usually went to get away from the constant noise in her once peaceful home. It was a warm, damp summer evening, and fireflies were everywhere. As one landed on her hand, she stopped and looked to the stars in the sky.
"You know," she said to the firefly, "you are just as significant as those bright, glowing balls of gas up there."
With an encouraging lift of the hand, the firefly flew slowly away from her as she neared the well. Being careful not to make much noise, she crept up to sit on some fallen stones. She sat there for hours, thinking about how her parents used to get along, how they used to be so happy and in love with each other. Ever since her father landed a new job, he had been spending less time at home. Her mother was a complete mess, and there was never a time Clare had to herself, except when the two bickering parents were in the same place at the same time.
Hearing a small croaking noise, she jolted out of the cloud she was on and began to look for the source.
"Hello?", said a slightly nervous Clare, "anyone there…?"
Just then, Eli showed up, with a disgusting, slimy green frog. He had that signature smirk plastered on his face, and Clare was familiar with this look.
"So, Eli… what do you have in store for me this evening?"
"Well, I know you've been having a hard time at home", he said, "and I've got this magical frog here to help you out."
Eli then explained that the frog her carried had some kind of curse over him. He was once a loved young man, living a pretty good life with his parents and two younger sisters. He had awful dreams at night, dreams where a sneaky old witch would come to him and tell him that he would set his whole house afire with everyone inside, unless he helped her do her evil deeds. Of course he agreed in these dreams. Upon waking up, he felt relieved; thinking to himself that they were just dreams, and no harm would actually come to him or his family. After a few weeks of the terrible nightmares, the boy was up in bed, unable to sleep. He had an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach. He began to smell something weird after a while, and looked out his window. He saw a dark, flowing figure, hovering around, zapping fire to the sides of his house. He ran down the stairs, and out the door. Confronting the figure, he noticed it was the witch from his dreams. She started reciting some kind of spell, saying he didn't keep up his end of the deal. The next thing he knew, he woke up as a small frog, helpless and alone. Eli told Clare that if a person were to take him for what he was, and give him everything he asked for one evening, he would turn to man again, and be able to grant that person one wish.
Once Eli finished his story, he looked over to Clare, whose eyes looked like a scared little puppy.
"Eli, I think you've completely lost your mind." Said Clare, being rather blunt.
"Oh please, Clare. It couldn't hurt. All you have to do is feed him, keep him safe, and give him a nice place to sleep for one night, and then you both get what you want – and need, quite frankly."
"Well…", Clare said, "I guess it wouldn't hurt. It couldn't do any harm, anyway."
Eli seemed content with her answer, and moved closer to her. He gently put the frog on the edge of the well, and pushed Clare's bangs back a bit.
"Clare, you deserve so much better than what you have to deal with right now…"
With that, he placed a sweet kiss on Clare's bare forehead, and turned to leave the way he came to her.
Clare stood there for just a few short moments before turning to the frog. It was looking at her in the most peculiar way, before…
"So, are we getting out of here, or what?", said the frog.
Clare jumped a little, "Oh! Wow… I think this is a first. I guess you could sit in my pocket so we can safely carry you through the house…"
Clare was aware how strange it was to be talking to a frog, but since Eli had seemed so sure of himself, she just went with it.