The Frog Prince
Once upon a time there was a castle in a faraway land. And in the castle lived a very spoilt Princess.
The Princess got absolutely everything she ever wanted. A golden-maned pony. A candy cane bicycle. And even a diamond covered dress, which she never even wore.
One morning, the Princess woke up with a greedy look in her eye.
“I want a golden ball, Daddy,” she said.
“Of course, sugarlump,” said the King, “anything for you!”
The King called his head goldsman and said, “Melt down our finest golden statue to make this ball immediately!”
“Yes, your Kingship,” said the head goldsman.
Soon he came back with a magnificent, shining golden ball for the Princess.
The Princess snatched the golden ball and rushed outside to the garden. But she tripped over! The golden ball flew out of her hands, high up into the air.
Then it came down and landed with a big splosh right in the middle of the garden pond. And sank straight to the bottom.
“Oh, fiddlesticks,” muttered the Princess.
Then the strangest thing happened.
“Needeep, I can help,” said a voice.
The Princess looked around but no one was there.
“I said I can help,” said the voice again.
The Princess looked down to see a little green frog smiling and waving up at her.
“There’s no such thing as a talking frog”, she thought to herself.
“Needeep,” said the frog.
“Oh, you can talk, after all!” said the Princess.
“Yeah, course I can talk. Now, do you want your ball back or not?”
“Oh yes, I do,” said the Princess.
“Okay, then,” said the frog, “but there’s one condition, needeep.”
“And what’s that?” replied the Princess.
“If I get your ball, you must promise to give me a kiss in return,” said the frog.
“Kiss a frog,” snorted the Princess, “eeewwww! That is disgusting! You’re all green and slimy and yucky and horrible.
Never in a million years would I kiss you. No way!”
“Suit yourself,” replied the frog, “needeep.” And he hopped back onto his lily pad in the middle of the pond.
The Princess spent the next half an hour splashing, wading and scooping for the ball. Without any luck.
“You sure you don’t need my help?” said the frog.
“Oh, all right then,” grunted the Princess, “my golden ball in exchange for one yucky froggy kiss.”
“Needeep!” said the frog.
He plopped into the water and quickly came back with the ball.
“And now for my kiss,” said the frog.
But the Princess just snatched the ball from the frog. She set off as fast as she could towards the castle.
But there was something the Princess didn’t know. You see, the King had been out walking in the garden and he had seen and heard everything.
“And where do you think you’re going, young lady?” said the King.
“Daddy?” replied the Princess.
“It looks like you’ve promised this frog a kiss. And we should always keep our promises. So…”
“Oh, but Daddy. He’s so slimy and green and yucky looking,” she said.
“A promise is a promise,” said the King.
So, the Princess went back to the pond. There was the frog, sitting on his lily pad. He had a big smile on his face.
He hopped over to her.
She huffed and puffed and held her breath. And then she said, “eeeeeew.”
But finally, the Princess bent down and gave the frog a wet, squelchy kiss on the lips.
Suddenly there was a loud bang!
When the smoke cleared, the Princess was amazed to see an exceedingly dazzling Prince.
“Golly gumdrops,” said the Princess, “I wasn’t expecting that to happen!”
The Prince smiled and told her that a wicked witch had turned him into a frog many years ago. And the only way to break the froggy spell was a kiss on the lips from a true Princess.
“Oh, Prince,” said the Princess, “I’m sorry for being so horrible to you and saying eeeeeew. I had no idea you were a Prince.”
“My darling,” said the King, “it doesn’t make any difference if he is a Prince or a frog—or a spider for that matter. You should treat everyone as you would like to be treated.”
And that is where this froggy fairy tale ends. Except to say from that day, the Princess changed and was kind to everyone she met.
The Prince and the Princess became the very best of friends.
Sometimes they went for a walk by the pond. The Princess laughed loudly when the Prince used to say, “needeep, needeep.”
The End