"The Death of the Frog Prince" A frog possess boil diseases and a bellyful of parasites.
He says: Kiss me. Kiss me.
At such a time she throws her ball in the air releasing it like bubbles,
into the well it goes.
It was ordained, as simple as the fates deal out the plague with tarot cards.
The ball sank like a cast-iron pot.
It is lost, she laments.
As a tear ran the well grew thick, boiling.
And who should appear: a frog
His eyes bulged like two peas and his body was carpentered into place.
Do not be afraid, he said, I am no vagabond.
I come to you as a tradesman.
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I have something for sale.
Your ball, he said, for just three things.
Let me eat from your plate, drink from your cup, and sleep in your bed.
She agreed though her intentions were not true.
And like an old dog he brought up her ball.
over joyed she ran like a doe back to her home leaving the frog quite alone.
That evening three raps at the door
Let me in, he demanded, you promised; now open to me.
She was forced to comply.
And so he sat on her lap. He was as awful and foul as an undertaker.
Soon he was at her plate, enjoying her food.
Forced to eat in tandem.
She choked as if she were eating rotten meat.
From her cup he drank
From her cup she drank as if it were Socrates' hemlock.
Next came the bed,
The silky bed. Ah!
I have been lost in a river of shut doors, he said, and I have made my way over the wet stones to live with you.
She woke up aghast.
I suffer for no frog, she said, and threw him across the room.
Kaboom!
A forfeit of her happy ending.
The frog prince has died.
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