Princess Lilith

One morning, Princess Lilith went out walking in the forest.  This was not the enchanted forest, but pretty close to it.  She soon found herself alongside a small stream.  The stream was attended by low dogwood and wood rose and the clear water murmured as it threaded along the shadows of larger maple trees.   

Princess Lilith removed her slippers, raised her long billowing dress and stepped into the stream, allowing the chill water to tickle at her ankles.  And that’s where she first saw the small frog sitting on a green, moss-covered rock on the bank nearby.

The frog did not object when Princess Lilith scooped it up and brought it close to her face.

The frog was unlike any other she had ever seen.  It was deep red in color—almost Real Red, the same color she had recently found at the Sherwin Williams paint store when she went shopping for castle paint.    

“I am Princess Lilith,” she informed the frog.  “I have long been seeking a handsome prince.  It is said that kissing the right frog will turn the frog into a handsome prince.  I can only imagine what a handsome prince you would make!”

Princess Lilith kissed the frog.

Almost immediately an acrid taste swelled across her tongue.  She dropped the frog, splashed out of the stream, and retrieved her slippers.  Dizzy and unsure, Princess Lilith made it about twenty feet into the woods before she fell over, dead.

--Mitchell Hegman