The Periwinkle Frog

Chet Sanders was Prince of Offen. Even as a young lad, he knew that the royal bloodline would consist of a lot that would take up his day, so he always made sure he'd run off to play and act his age. Switching into the clothes of the librarian's young son made it easier for him to pretend his life wasn't cluttered with so many responsibilities, so he found it easier to feel less like the odd one out when playing with the other kids of the kingdom.

Out of all the kids in Offen, though, one of the children that really stood out to him was Trisha Periwinkle. Even when he was playing games with any of the other kids, something always pulled Trisha and Chet together. They were sometimes teased about it, but even they were able to laugh at it.

As he got older, his responsibilities grew, which meant he had less time to spend with the friends he made, especially Trisha. That was the only thing that made him hate himself for not revealing he was royal: he didn't have time to explain why couldn't spend as much time with them or even say "goodbye". Everyone else who grew up either forgot they played with him or wondered what happened to him.

Among the latter was Trisha Periwinkle, whom grew up to be a painter. She enjoyed the environments and inspirations Offen had to offer. She loved how the different colors and movements tell stories and how much she wanted to decipher them. Occasionally, her mind would wander and she would paint a little boy playing with a little girl and wonder "what if?"

One evening, as she was staring at the painting, she heard some noises coming from her windowsill. As a result, Trisha walked over to find the source, but didn't see anything. Before long, she felt a stabbing sensation in her back and fell out of her window as her body started to shrink and change shape. Once she regained focus, she heard a faint remark of unconditional love saving her before she looked at her limbs. She saw that her limbs were green and her default movement was hopping as opposed to walking. She hopped around the kingdlm trying to see if someone will help her, but she had to deal with the constant risk of being stepped on or kicked. It was hard to tell if anyone could actually hear her and she felt alone. Even when she tried staying by other frogs, she felt out of place.

At the same time Chet Sanders shoved his way out of the castle to get some air. He was at the point of his life where he would soon be King and was expected to choose a bride. The whole situation stressed him enough to change his hair color and he wanted to distance himself from it for a while. Unbeknownst to Chet, his father had a feeling the Prince wouldn't willingly choose, so he reached out to a witch to inconspicuously help seek out a potential bride that would be good enough for Chet and that it wouldn't just be a superficial union.

Chet sat on a bench by a pond and started to read a book. While he was occupied, a lonely frog looked at his book and hopped next to him to read it with him.

"I used to love that book," she said thus startling him.

Before Chet could run off from shock, the frog took a good look at his face.

"Wait, Chet? Is that you?" she asked.

To say Chet was bewildered by what was going on was an understatement. When he got a better look at the frog's eyes, he felt his entire world flip.

"Trisha?" he asked.

The frog nodded.

"What happened to you?"

"I guessed it happened some time ago. Something felt like it stabbed me and I fell out of my window and I guess one thing led to another?" she explained while clearly embarrassed.

For the first few days catching up, they were spending time by the pond reading and Chet was gradually revealing his royal heritage to her when he was becoming more certain that she liked him as a person. Over time, as much as they thought they shouldn't, they were starting to need each other more than friends would feel like they need one another. It was clear that Trisha was uncomfortable as a frog and Chet wanted to do something about it, but felt powerless. He accidentally expressed his concerns to her one night.

"You know, Chet, just being here for me feels like more than enough," she assured him.

Chet picked her up with both hands and looked at her sadly.

"You deserve more, though," he told her.

As if they focused more on each other's souls than their appearances, they both shrunk the gap between them until their lips destroyed it. Pretty soon, Chet felt hands at the back of his neck and pulled away as he saw a beautiful woman with the same soft eyes that he recognized from the girl he felt close to at youth. Upon seeing Chet's eyes, she looked down and saw that she was completely human and she was in the same outfit from the first day.

"Trisha, you're not a frog anymore!" he said while amazed.

"I guess that's what that voice meant by 'unconditional love'," she remarked.

It wasn't long before she was brought home with Chet as his love, but it did take a long time for them to be married as well as pronounced King and Queen of Offen. Trisha's experience made her feel uneasy about frogs, though, so Chet helped her keep her distance from them altogether.