Next to Heaven: January 2010

Friday, January 29, 2010

Thursday, January 28, 2010

This week's chosen prompt:

Gregory MaGuire (author of books like Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister) is wildly popular right now (as is the musical Wicked). Write your own “re telling” of a classic fairy tale.

***

The Frog Prince

Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess. She had long brown, curly hair, green eyes and olive skin. She lived in a large castle in the countryside with sprawling acres and large, lush Oak trees.

Her parents wanted the beautiful princess to find a perfect prince. One for her to marry and be happy with. The princess searched long and hard to no avail.

Everyone around her adored her. However, she did not adore them back. Every prince and every man she met were not suitable to her. No one could make her laugh, no one would listen to her, no one loved her like she wanted to be loved. They all just wanted to be with her because of the small fact that she was a princess.

She wanted someone who could look past the princess title and see her for who she really was. Spunky, adventurous, funny, charming and kind. Not a dolled up fantasy girl. She wanted a man who would love her for what's inside. That man, she was beginning to realize, did not exist.

After another failed date with a probable suitor, the princess decided she had had enough. She was tired of searching for her one true love. Love would just have to find her. Plain and simple. She was tired of looking. She strolled out of the large castle doors and across the sprawling acreage.

Once she grew tired of walking, she came upon a large pond. The princess plopped herself down on the soft, green grass and threw her body down on the ground with an exasperated huff. She tucked her arms behind her head and stared up at the bright blue sky.

The clouds lackadaisically floated across the sky. They meshed into one another forming odd shapes and slowly separated. Was being happy that difficult of a task, she thought to herself. With that, she drifted off into a light sleep, dreaming of what would be the perfect life.

She was later awakened by a horrendous and oddly loud noise. CROAK! She turned to her side, throwing her hands over her head. CROAK! She furiously sat up squawking, "What is that?!" She looked around her for the loud, annoying noise that had woken her from her slumber. The sky was now fading from bright blue to purple and orange. CROAK!

She looked ahead towards the edge of the pond and there sat, on a soft round stone, a very large frog. Staring right at her. CROAK! "You," she said. "You are the one making all that noise." "CROAK!" agreed the frog. The princess laughed to herself. "A frog," she said. Hmpf. She stared again at the sky noticing the sun starting to set and inevitably darkness would be coming soon. She turned to the frog and said, "Well you know it's a good thing you woke me up! I might have slept here all night." She stood up to dust her skirt and all of the sudden, in a low, raspy voice the frog said, "No problem darlin."

The princess stared, dumbfounded. A talking frog, she thought to herself. Impossible. She continued looking at the frog. "Did you just speak?" she asked. CROAK! The princess sighed. "I really am going crazy," she said softly. "See ya frog," she said as she strolled away from the pond. "Will you come back tomorrow?" asked the frog in his low raspy voice.

The princess stopped dead in her tracks and abruptly turned. There sat the frog, on his smooth little stone, staring at her. CROAK! She walked towards the frog, got down on her knees and said, "Did you just ask me to come back tomorrow?" She and the frog sat staring at one another for a short moment when the frog opened his little froggy mouth and croaked out, "Yes. Yes I did." She fell back on her heels, shocked as to what was really happening.

The frog hopped off his little stone to right in front of the princess. "Are you afraid?" he asked. She thought about the frog's question briefly before answering and replied, "No. Surprisingly not." The frog smiled a froggy smile and asked the princess, "But will you come back tomorrow?" The princess replied, "I can if you would like." "I would very much," replied the frog. "You see, it gets quite lonely here and I have no one to talk to. You are very beautiful and look peaceful in your sleep." The beautiful princess blushed, warm red filling her cheeks "I can come back tomorrow."

"That's wonderful," said the frog. He hopped away from her, back to his stone. "You better get home though, it's getting dark. I will look forward to seeing you tomorrow," said the frog. The princess stood waved to the frog and said, "See you tomorrow." As she turned, she noticed a small smile creep upon her face.

That night, as the princess lay in her bed, she thought about the little frog. She couldn't help but notice how alike they were. Both alone and not a soul to talk to. She drifted to sleep that night thinking about the sweet little frog. She awoke the next morning and in a hurry dressed, grabbed breakfast and dashed out the doors of the castle towards the pond.

There, on his smooth little stone, sat the frog. CROAK! She approached the pond and cautiously sat in the same place as the day before. "Good morning," croaked the frog. "Good morning," replied the princess. After a brief, somewhat awkward pause they began talking. The two sat and talked about their two very different lives for hours. The princess told the frog of her dilemma and how she wished she could find a suitable and loving husband.

Dusk came and the princess knew she needed to start heading back to the castle. "I have really enjoyed today, but I should be heading back," she said. "Yes you should. Will you come back tomorrow," asked the frog. The princess thoughtfully replied, "Yes. I will come back tomorrow."

For weeks the two met on a fairly daily basis. They would talk, gaze at the clouds, and speak of their dreams. One afternoon, while the the princess and the frog were looking at the sky, she turned to the frog and said, "I have something silly to say, but I want to say it." The frog chuckled a frog-like chuckle and said, "Go on." The princess hesitated and turned back towards the sky. She began, "Well. Gosh this sounds so silly....well it's just that....it's just that...I wish..." She stopped and then in a hurried manner said, "I wish you weren't a frog!" The embarrassed princess covered her face with her hands. The frog was silent.

She turned to the frog and said, "I'm sorry. It's just that you are so kind. You are a good umm person er frog. Whatever. It just sucks because the one person I can talk to and be myself around is a frog!" She threw her hands up in exasperation. Then she added, "No offense."

The frog thought for a moment before responding. "None taken. And you should know that I feel the same way." The two sat and stared at each other for a long moment. "There's also something else you should know," said the frog. The princess looked at the frog with a puzzled face. "You see," started the frog, "I am not a frog." He took a long pause observing the princess's reaction to his statement. "Well I am a frog, but not an ordinary frog. Obviously, as I can talk, but I was once a man. A handsome man at that. I was a prince actually. A long while ago, an evil witch transformed me into a frog and this is what I've been ever since. A green, slimy, frog" he said with great sadness in his voice.

The princess felt incredibly sorry for the frog. "What an awful, awful thing!" said the princess. Then she paused. "Did you say you were a prince?" she asked. "Yes. Yes I was," replied the frog. The princess softly spoke, "Well I am a princess." The frog smiled his big froggy smile. "Is there anything that can break the spell," asked the princess curiously. If a frog could blush, he would have blushed. "Well," he said sheepishly. "There is one thing." "What?" asked the princess, "What is it?" The frog looked long-fully up at the sky before responding, "The spell says that true loves kiss will break the spell and I will turn back into a man."

The princess stared at the frog. For once in her life, she felt hope and what was maybe love. She bent down to carefully pick up the little frog and bring him eye-level. He carefully eyed her. She took a deep breath and said, "Here goes nothing." At that moment, the princess's small lips touched the smelly green frogs.

The wind began to blow and her long, curly brown hair swirled around her face. There were bright twinkles in the air and the sun shined brightly. There was a small pop and then all was quiet. She smoothed her hair from her face to see before her a handsome - no beautiful - man with dark brown hair, green eyes like emeralds, and perfect white teeth. His skin was smooth and a similar olive color like hers, but darker. His face was beautiful. He was tall and a good build. He was smiling...at her.

She looked up at the frog turned prince and gasped. The prince motioned for her by holding out his hands and reaching for hers. She slowly released her hands from her mouth and placed them in his. They stood there, toe to toe, for what seemed like minutes. Then suddenly, the princess spoke, "You really are a prince." Her voice was so quiet it was almost a whisper.

The prince laughed a loud, deep laugh and said, "Yes. Yes I most certainly am, but I am human again!" He boasted loudly. "You have saved me from the evil witch's spell! You did it! You really did it!" The prince gently lifted the princess off the ground and twirled her about. The princess wrapped her arms around the prince and hugged him tightly. It felt so right. She slowly released him and placed her small hands on his face. "I finally found my prince," she whispered as she looked into his eyes. A smile widened across her face. "Even if I had to kiss a frog to find him!" They laughed and kissed again, but this time him a man and her a woman. They strolled off into the setting sun, hand in hand, each gazing at the other.

They married...And Lived Happily Ever After!

{I know I'm a sapp and I love happy endings. Hope you enjoyed my story}

This post is brought to you by Mama Kat's Losin' It and her Writer's Workshop series. Please visit her blog and play along if you like.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Monday, January 25, 2010

Friday, January 22, 2010

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Monday, January 18, 2010

Sunday, January 17, 2010

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