Title: Toad
Character(s): The Frog Prince/An unnamed girl
Folklore: German
Rating: PG-13
Summary: What caused the frog prince to be changed into a frog.
Warning(s): Possible trigger for rape victims.



It was embarrassing, what had become of him, what life had made of him. At one time, he had been a prince, a prince of a vast kingdom that touched the mountains, the prairies and the sea. He was the second son of a benevolent ruler, having all of the perks of royalty, but none of those pesky requirements. And he wasn't very old before he began working his way through money, food, drink, sport, women, spectacles ... any vise that he could feasibly over-indulge in, and he had not been sorry for a single second of it.

But then, one day, an old man came to the castle. He was hooded and cloaked, leaning on a smooth, oaken staff, and helped along by a young and beautiful woman. The prince was smitten with her the moment he saw her. He knew it wasn't love, but it was certainly desire. No, love would mean that he actually cared about another living being, and he was much more concerned with what other people could do for him.

So, he tried to seduce the young woman, giving her candy, flowers, beautiful clothes, anything he could think of to gain her attentions. But it didn't matter how hard he tried, nothing seemed to impress her. She would send everything back to him unopened, not worn or smelled. And the more difficult she made it for him, the more enjoyable it was for him. Perhaps, because he was a prince, and had always been catered to, the tougher the pursuit was made by one of his lynxes, the more enjoyable it was for him. And the harder this one made it for him, the more he desired her ... the more he had to have her.

One evening, when he knew that she would be away from the apartments that had been set aside for her, and her father ... well, the old man would be busy elsewhere, he let himself in. Her father would be working long into the night, he had made sure of that, and she would be back before too long. So, he found a comfortable spot, and he waited for her. He would make her see the error of her ways, and she would thank him for opening her eyes. Or at least, that is the way that imagined it would go.

She came back to her rooms much later than he had anticipated, but that didn't matter. What he had planned could be over with very quickly, provided that she did not struggle, and let him have his way. But he secretly hoped that there would be a bit of one, and his breath quickened at the thought.

That was when she knew she was not alone, for he had been tucked in a corner, the shadows covering him. And when she saw him, betrayed by his own desire for her, she stood, staring at him like a deer. Her body was rigid, but could have been made to move lithely and quickly, at only a second's notice.

"I have been waiting for you," he told her.

"I see that," she said coolly. "And why is that? Have I not made it clear that I do not desire either you, or your attentions?"

"Oh, yes," he said, coming forward, "you have. But there is something you did not calculate."

"And what was that exactly?" she asked.

"You didn't count on the fact that I am a prince, and I will have my way."

A mad gleam entered his eyes, and a snarl curled his lips as he grabbed a hold of her. He pulled her close to him, and held her firmly as he began to kiss her sloppily on the neck. She tried to pull away from him, and push him away at the same time. But this only seemed to make him more aroused, for that's when he began biting her neck.

"You are hurting me," she said angrily, struggling even more so against him.

"Oh, come now," he said, his not breath on her ear, "you know you like this."

"No," she said, "I don't. Stop now."

"Or what?" he asked, laughing at her. "We are quite alone."

She stopped struggling, becoming intensely still. This was going to be so much easier than he had imagined; she had come to terms with what was going to happen, and was going to allow it.

But then, he stopped. His hair was standing on end, and he couldn't draw in breath. He pulled back from her, his hands coming up to his collar, trying to open it. If he could just loosen it, he could pull in air more easily. It had to work. But it didn't.

Then, he looked at her, and she was staring calmly at him.

"What makes you think that I need anyone's help?" she asked. "My father has been training me since I was a child. And you will no longer haunt my steps."

He felt as though there were ants crawling under his skin; they were angry, and they would be appeased. Then, he felt his entire body start to cramp, and his vision was filled with a bright light that blocked out everything else.

When he could finally see again, everything was changed, everything was larger. When he looked over at her, he was looking at the hem of her dress, and when he tried to speak, his tongue shot out at her dress. He tried to look down at himself, but could not move his neck. So, he tried to twist around, and he flopped onto his back, unable to right himself again.

He saw hands coming down, picking him up. She pulled him up to her face, a wide smile pulling at her lips. And as he rested in her hands, she went to her bureau, picking up a looking glass, and making sure that he could see himself inside it.

"You see?" she asked him. "I really did not need anyone else's help, and you really should have let me alone."

He tried to scream at what he saw. Resting in her hand, where he sat, was a large and darkly green frog. She had turned him into a frog. A frog!

He had to find someone; had to get someone to change him back into himself. She certainly wasn't going to do it. But if he could get himself to her father, he was sure that all could be righted.

"And what you don't realize," she continued, "is that no one is ever going to know what happened to you."

She grabbed a small sack, putting him inside, and could feel himself being moved. And it did not stop, not for some time. And when it finally did, and she dropped him onto the ground, he had absolutely no idea where he was, or which way was home.

"Find your way back from that," she said, turning away from him, and disappearing in a flash of light.

That was so many centuries ago that he had begun to loose count. His kingdom no longer existed, nor did any of the people that he had known ... or the girl that had changed him into his current state. And he had absolutely no idea how long he would live, or how to change himself back.

So, he sat on a rock, inside an aquarium, inside a pet shop, wishing that he could die.