4. The Princess is the frog. A Winter Wonderland tale.

It was wintertime and our very own Princess had gone to visit her father’s home. The king’s palace seemed bigger and brighter than ever. Himself looked brighter and happier every time she went to pay him a visit.

One day that her father was busy dealing with paperwork and the kingdom’s economy, she was looking through the humongous windows of the castle. The view was gorgeous. The entire forest ahead was covered in snow, from the glistening treetops to the white-coated clearing leading to the forest. What a beautiful sight she thought.

But wait who’s this up ahead?

She saw a small figure in the distance, just coming out from behind the trees, a girl with fair skin and fair hair. She was not alone. By her side stood two creatures, one very distinctive with a neck almost overlooking the treetops and fur as colourful as the snow was white, the other, the princess could not quite make-out, it was too small over there in the distance.

And in seeing her, something stirred up inside the Princess. This girl, she felt, was an enemy. An enemy to whom? She did not know, but there was something sad, angering and maybe misunderstood about her. And it seemed she wasn’t the only one thinking it.
On the other side of the clearing, approached a group of boys and girls. All had fair hair and fair skin, just like the previous girl, but they did not seem to get along at all. She saw one of the boys taking a weapon, but before the Princess could cry out a warning, Giraffe was hit in the heart and killed instantly. And then something even more shocking happened. It was as if the girl had had this magical bond with the creature, and she too, fell to the ground. As if she had turned to stone, her body dropped in the snow, lifeless. The princess could see the snowflakes falling on the girl’s face and not melting. And she could see the girls’ eyes turning bloodshot. All of a sudden, she wasn’t behind the comfort of the castle’s windows anymore, she was right there, standing next to the lifeless body.

And she saw she wasn’t the only one who had come to take a closer look. One of the faired haired boys, stood out from the crowd and kneelt besides the ice statue the girl had turned into. And with a sound of disapproval and astonishment from the crowd, he lifted her up and carried her over his shoulder. It seemed he could sense the crowd’s negative reaction, maybe he was afraid the crowd would act even more violently, or maybe he thought this had already gone too far, and so he ran away from them, taking the girl with him.

He ran for what seemed to be a long time, through the forest, making sure he was loosing the angry mob before finding the place he came to look for.

He found the entrance of the cave and opened it by saying secret words. There were words of love, words of kindness but also words of hate. Hate for one dark haired boy in particular. And the Princess thought, “Why does he hate him so much? Who is he and What had happened?” But then she realized… How was she here, inside the secret cave with them in the first place? She looked around and it seemed, it wasn’t ‘Them’, it was just her and the boy. And she was standing, there, by his side. Not a lifeless body with bloodshot eyes, not an observer either, it was her along. And she looked around, feeling so thankful and warm and bright inside this enchanted place, she smiled to the boy next to her. She had so many questions to ask, but as he took her hand to lead her inside what seemed to be an amazing enchanted castle, she knew what her first question would be:

“Who is this happy boy with curly blond hair and rosy baby cheeks on the painting?”

XoXo – From Winter Wonderland Dreamtime with Love.

Next: chapter 5. The Princess is the Frog. Spring has Sprung.