My Name is Prince Albert

                                                                   
    Here is the an introduction to my first published book.  It started here on writing.com a couple of years ago and grew to 25,000+ words.  Of course, this is only the beginning of the story.  There is a battle with a witch.  Albert falls in love with a princess and gets dumped only to find his true love was close to him all along.  There is joy and lonliness and a surprise ending.  There might even be a second book in the works.

    Thankyou, WDC Ronald D. Drobeck

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      “Hello! My name is Prince Albert!

    “The faeries told me you were coming today! I am happy they have chosen you to hear my story. It seems only right. When I’m done, I may never come back to my old pond home, so the story of my life in this kingdom shall live on through you.

    “If you are ready, come sit with me on that old log; I will tell you an amazing story.

      “I know you’re surprised to hear a frog talk, but you are hearing correctly! I am obviously a frog now, but I wasn’t always. In the beginning, I was a tadpole. And a very fast tadpole I was. I could race ahead of my brothers and sisters and stop in an instant. Then I’d race to the other side of the pond. Certainly the fastest in this pond! It was during one of these dashes that I discovered my legs, one leg on each side of my tail, and one leg on each side of my body. They helped me to dash even faster. One day, I swam so fast, I flew out of the water and landed on dry land.

    “In a panic, I moved my legs and wiggled my tail until I slipped back into the pond, where I felt more comfortable. I could not get the feeling of the dry land out of my mind. Swimming on the surface of the pond, I could see the dry land. I could smell the dry land. I decided I wanted to go there again!

      “The next day, I wiggled my tail, pushed my legs, and leaped out of the water on purpose. I landed on the dry land with a thud. The sudden stop made me breathe the air. I found I could stay on the land for a long time by inhaling the air. Many, many times, I landed on the dry land. As I got more comfortable, I found my two new front legs helped me move left and right.

      “As my tail got smaller, my back legs grew longer and stronger. I could be back in the water with one hop. I could swim faster than ever, and with one leap be back on dry land.

      “I was certainly the fastest swimmer and the greatest leaper around this pond.

    “I spent so much time on land that I decided to make my first dry land home in a can under the root of a tree by the edge of the water. From there began my very first adventure!

    “As I could leap farther and farther, I traveled longer distances from the pond. One day, I jumped nine times and found myself on a path that went as far as I could see in both directions. This was the path that other dry land creatures traveled. I had seen them and heard them from the pond.

    “One day, I jumped nine jumps from my tree root home back to this path. I could hear and feel those other creatures coming closer and closer. If I moved or made a sound, I would be discovered, so I remained quiet. The sounds came closer. These sounds were gentle and melodic. I remained still as they got closer.

    “As they passed, they smelled strongly of the fragrance the breeze would bring when it came over the hillside. The sounds and fragrance faded, and I jumped back to my home in the root of the tree. I slept with thoughts of my day. I knew I would have to go back there and see these wonderful creatures again.

    “I jumped back to the path many times, but did not see them for a long time. Then, one morning, I heard them.
    “One was speaking of a frog prince. I enjoyed their voices, and for some strange reason I could understand what they were saying! Later on I learned from the faeries that I had been enchanted. For now, it was all amazing to me.
      “She was telling a story about a princess who wished for a prince that would rescue her, fill all of her heart’s desires, and then live happily ever after.”

      “The lonely princess, while walking along a pond, found a frog on the path. Wanting to tell someone of her loneliness, she picked up the frog and told it of her desire to find this handsome prince.

      “As things happened in those days, her wish was heard by a faerie that liked the princess because she was kind, sweet, and innocent. The princess so touched the faerie that she decided to grant the wish. When the princess finished telling the frog of her plight, she kissed the frog, put it back down, and then disappeared down the path.
 
    “That night, while the princess was sleeping and dreaming, a change took place under the root of a tree by the pond. The frog turned into a handsome prince. The next day, the frog prince met the princess on the path. She called him Albert, and they almost lived happily ever after.

    “Her evil brother did not like Albert and found out that faerie magic had created him from a frog. He captured the faerie that cast the spell and promised her freedom if she would tell him the secrets of this handsome prince that had mysteriously shown up in the kingdom.

    “He was told that as long as Albert stayed away from the water in the pond where he was born, he would remain a prince! If he was exposed to his pond’s water, he would turn back into a frog. The evil brother threw pond water on the prince, and the prince turned back into a frog. When the evil brother boasted of what he had done, the princess found out and confronted him, so he imprisoned her in the castle tower.


    “Of course, she escaped from the castle, with the help of the faerie. The princess went back to the pond, found the frog, and kissed him again, and Albert turned back into a handsome prince. The prince and princess went back to the castle and, with help from all of the faeries, tricked the evil brother and had him vanquished from the kingdom. They then lived happily ever after.”


The End

    It was a nice story with a happy ending.

    I wanted to live “happily ever after!”

    Why couldn’t I? Why shouldn’t I? I decided to try.

    One sunny afternoon, as I waited by the path, the princess and her handmaiden came walking down the path. When they were close, I stepped into their path. The handmaiden saw me first, picked me up, and with mischief in her voice, said, “Here, your highness, the frog prince!”

    With a giggle, she dropped to a knee, I within her open hands, and offered me to the princess in jest. The princess gave the handmaiden a mock appreciative smile, pulled the maiden’s hands toward her lips, and gave me a kiss on the top of my head. With the silliness over, the handmaiden gently put me down alongside the path, and the two disappeared down the path toward the castle, chirping and laughing.

      I lay by the side of the path for a long time, limp and exhausted. When I partially recovered and could hop again, I slowly jumped to my home in the root of the tree. I was trembling, and the ground beneath me was spinning! I could feel my frog body beginning to change. Here we go!  Here we go! Then, there was nothing. Nothing! I did not turn into a prince. I slept.

    To this day, I do believe I began to change. After all, I did change from an egg to a tadpole, and then from a tadpole to a frog! What comes after frog? I figured this princess didn’t really need a prince at this time, and there was no faerie. The magic wasn’t there. At this moment, I did not know the princess and I would meet again, some day.

    I did decide to give myself a name. I now call myself “Prince Albert,” after the prince in the story. After all, I’m the only frog I know that has been kissed by a princess!

An Extraordinary Day

    Although I often thought of the princess, a second meeting with her scared me so! I’d watch from afar when she passed by with her handmaiden. Once in a while, I would watch from the other side of the path because I saw them when I was returning from following the flower scent I smelled when I first met her. I found the smell was coming from the other side of the path. It got stronger the farther I went. Each day I followed the smell as if being pulled. The smell excited me!  I let it lead me. I was a willing adventurer.
 
    One day I went so far so long into the day that I could not get back to my tree root home before dark. As the light faded, I found a place where the haunting flower smell surrounded me. It became too dark to see, and the smell was making me sleepy, so I found a fallen tree and burrowed a nest in the leaves piled under its overhang and went to sleep. A very busy day! A very dreamy sleep! I dreamt of fast swimming, long jumping, the princess, and that flower smell. I slept so deeply, it took the midmorning warmth of the sun to wake me.

      I awoke suddenly, as if falling, and jumped up from my nest. I was standing in the middle of a ring of mushrooms and pale blue flowers! It was a faeries’ ring.

    This was a supersensuous sight, flooded with an equally supersensuous smell. These two senses were fighting to be the most overwhelming when a third sense heard a soft and clear giggle from over there. No, over there! Or over there! A faerie trick!  It is sometimes hard to understand what your senses are telling you when you’re standing in the middle of a faeries’ ring. I believed I was about to meet the faerie ring’s owner.

    A faeries’ personal flower ring is a circle of enchantment. It belongs to the faerie that nurtured it. It is a very pleasant and passive trap for whatever ventures into it. The stupor produced by the sight and smell is a seduction. The only way to escape is to befriend the faerie or to become her enemy. To befriend a faerie is to become enchanted and have a friend forever.  To become her enemy is to have an enemy forever. Misfortune and bad luck will befall you. Everyone knows, only a fool becomes the enemy of a faerie!

    There was movement above and to my right, which shocked my numbed mind back to consciousness. She was there, brighter than the sun. It was a faerie trick to get closer as you shield your eyes. A way to see what you are! As quickly as she was there, she was gone. Then there came a small, commanding voice.”

      “Do you call yourself Prince Albert, and are you of the tree root by the pond?”

    “Yes, that is me!” I answered.

    “Why have you come to my faerie ring?” she asked.

    “I was following the flower scent. I fell asleep and woke up within your ring. I meant no harm!” I said.

    “It is the way it was supposed to be, Albert!  I and others have observed your life since you were a tadpole. We believe you are special and are here to fulfill one of nature’s wishes. You were enchanted and guided here. I warn you, the tasks nature wishes you to do are very important and may be dangerous! These tasks may take you far from your tree root home and the comforts you know there. Do you have the heart to take the challenge and fulfill nature’s wishes?”

    I told her, “I have nothing but happy memories at the pond, but they are all memories. I am where I am now, and I do have the heart to go farther.”

    “Welcome, Albert!  I am Naomai. You will not have to do this alone! I and others will be there to help with all of their knowledge, and with all the faerie magic I can bring.”

    With this, Naomai reappeared as a normal, hovering faerie. I could hear her wings buzz gently as she came down to the ground close to where I was standing. Her fears about me gone, she wished to make me comfortable by turning down the glow and continue speaking at my eye level.

    “You were given special powers when you were very young, Albert. You are enchanted. You must understand, with these powers there is an enormous responsibility, and if misused, the powers can bring great harm to yourself and the people around you. I am here to be your guide as you learn to use these gifts properly.”

    “Are you ready?” Naomai asked.

    “I am ready!”