Love’s Labour Lost???? :P

Part 1
The Princess stopped to catch her breath. Her first trip outside the kingdom, and she decided she was going to enjoy herself as best as she could... Where was the bamboo - lined trail, her friends had told her about???
She stopped to look around... Two roads - right and left... Which one? The left she decided.. The lesser trodden one, she thought, grinning to herself.

She stopped with a gasp. A beautiful pond, lovely, with water as blue as the sky... Lush green grass around the banks, water lilies softly swaying to the wind... She had seen the place often in her dreams... Dreams that were drenched in romance and love. In her dreams, this was the place, she had met her Prince Charming.

She wistfully looked around... The place looked so empty. No Prince Charming here, she decided... As she stood swallowing her disappointment, she heard it..

A Croak... Crrooo – aaa- k

The Princess grinned to herself... “I look for a prince, and I find a frog.” “Maybe it’ll turn into a prince", she decided... All she had to do was…


She had exhausted all the tissue she had... Ugghhhh... The bad taste just wouldn’t go from her mouth... oh well... if her kiss was going to turn the frog into a prince, it was worth the trouble... and just as the thought formed in her mind, she fell down in a dead faint.

She awoke; she knew not how long she was faint. She saw the sun ready to set and she looked around for the Prince.. There was no sign of the prince or the frog... “Strange.. Maybe I was dreaming all the time.. “

She made her way home, wondering about her strange experience. “I’ll wait a fortnight... he must have turned into a prince. And if he doesn’t come by then, I’ll go look for him”, she decided.



Part 2

The Frog-turned- Prince stood glaring at the dashing stallion. It was a gorgeous creature, with a body that was a warm brown with a white spot on its forehead.. That was exactly the problem, he thought. The horse thought too much of himself, he fumed. .
The stupid horse didn’t let him ride along peacefully. The horse kept throwing him on the ground.. He climbed on it one more time and resumed his journey.

He knew in his mind that he was supposed to find a princess... Her face was etched in his memory. He knew the horse, Thornfyre had the power to take him to her. He just couldn’t understand why he had to do it... How much ever he racked his brains, he just couldn’t understand it. He decided he might as well find her, as he had no other princely duties awaiting..
After a tiresome ride of two days, (the horse had thrown him down several times by then) He reached an idyllic forest on the borders of the kingdom where the Princess resided..

As he rode along, his throat parched with thirst, he was thrown yet again to the ground by the horse... He landed close to a lovely pond... it looked vaguely familiar... As he sat drinking the sight and the water in, he heard it...
A soft, sexy Cr-ooo-aa-kk He couldn’t believe his ears... He couldn’t believe his eyes. There, right in front of him sat the most delightful frog he had ever seen.. She had skin as green as gangrene, large bulging eyes, a tongue thrice as long as her body, a large bloated belly... As his heart skipped a beat, he realised he had fallen in love with her... At first sight...

And just as he sat there, sharing his heart with the bloated creature, he found himself, reducing in size, his skin changing in hue to a pale ugly green, with brown spots... He croaked in return and of course, the other frog fell in love with him, right back… They stood staring at each other, their bulging eyes quivering...

Part 3

The Princess was tired of waiting... She was now more eager to find out if she had been dreaming. She decided to go back to the pond.
She set out the next day. After a journey filled with anxious anticipation, she came to the pond. She looked around for the Prince.. There was a place where the grass had been bent and broken. As if someone had sat on it. But he was not there.. Her Prince was not there. The Princess sat there, looking wistful, her eyes flooding with tears.
She blinked her tears away.. Her glance focused on the sight. Two frogs, not one.. Two hideously ugly frogs …, the kind that are born to make us appreciate beauty in everything else. She looked at them with disgust and distaste. She had missed the other frog previously. How stupid of her to think the frog was a cursed prince. “Grow Up”, she muttered to herself. “Frogs are frogs... however idyllic the setting maybe... “She laughed at herself, remembering how she had kissed the frog. As she lightly trod back, she heard a soft rustling behind her... She turned back to look at two wise eyes looking back at her. Thornfyre came closer and knelt down next to her. Even as she looked at it, amazed, she climbed up the horse’s sleek body. And Thornfyre charged away.. As the wind blew at her hair and face, the Princess realised how good it felt to be herself. How right it felt to be on the wonderful horse.. and what a wonderful friend she had found in the beautiful Thornfyre. Dream come true? Naa... this was better than the stupid dream... anyway :D

The frog looked at the beautiful Princess till her figure faded from sight. He turned back to look at his mate.. He knew and realised no princesses’s kiss was going to turn him into a real prince. he was a frog, that his mate was right for him.. but he just couldn’t shake away the thought of how life would have been.. as the Prince of the beautiful Princess..


The End