Kiss your frogs - a modern fairytale

Her glass slipper

1 week late

*Lenka*

It’s a beautiful Wednesday morning as I walk into the park. I am here early and right now only people with annual passes and people staying at the Parks hotels have access. So right now there aren't really any crowds or lines.

I breathe in deeply and smile to myself, I love the atmosphere on a summer morning. It is truly magical.

There is music playing from the speakers and I can’t help singing along, taking a few happy steps as I smile to the people around me and bidding them a good morning. My experience is that if you are kind to others you get positivity in return.

Two ducks are crossing the road from one patch of grass to another and I stop, looking at them. “Well good morning, Mr and Mrs duck ... are you here to see your cousin ?”

One duck stops, looks at me and quacks, making me laugh. “Oh I am sure you are quite right Mr Duck”.

I walk along, for some reason feeling elated, like something is bubbling inside me. When I reach the place in front of the big fairytale castle I am surprised to find it practically deserted. I mean usually there are always people here, but for some reason, today there is no one.

The music changes to a beautiful song from one of the princess movies. And grabbed by the atmosphere I put my binder of drawings on a bench and start dancing slowly, humming along to the music.

“I know you ... I walked with you once upon a dream”. I sing along softly, waltzing in a circle with my eyes closed.

I wish my life could be like a fairytale princess, I mean not the whole pricking your finger and sleeping forever thing, or living with dwarves or in a tower, but the prince showing up, spotting her. Not a real prince of course, but a fairytale prince ... that special someone.

Well I have always known that I have a good imagination, but right now I can practically feel the prince’s hands take mine, hear his light footfall in the waltz. Hear his breathing.

My eyes spring open. He is there, my prince ... tall, dark and handsome, smiling warmly at me.

I gasp out loud, kinda jumping back. It is him, no doubt, the man of my dreams, I mean literally ... This is the man I have been dreaming of and tried to draw so many times.

“I’m awfully sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you”. He says softly, grabbing my hand in his much larger.

I wonder if it is a coincidence or if he just quoted sleeping beauty on purpose, so I feed him the next line. “Oh it wasn’t that ... it’s just that ... you are a ...”.

“A stranger ?” He lets me pull my hand free, but grabs it again gently.

“Hmm”. I look at him, he is so handsome it’s almost unreal, with the warmest hazel eyes I ever saw and the most beautiful smile.

His eyes are twinkling. “But don’t you remember we’ve met before”.

I swallow, do he know ... about the dream I mean ? Maybe he isn’t real, Maybe I have finally gone mad and he is just a figment of my imagination. “We ... we have ?”

“Well I have been watching you”. He realizes the expression running over my face. “Oh ... I mean ... not weirdly ... just I ... I noticed you ... you always dance and sing ... I like that”.

“You don’t ... find it odd ... weird”. I look up at him. He is very tall and very well built too.

He smiles warmly and shakes his head. “Oh no, we should all dance and sing a lot more”.

My heart is hammering like crazy and the blood roaring in my ears. I feel kinda dizzy and breathless. This is overwhelming and scary.. how can this not end badly for me.. how can he possibly be real ? “I.. I need to go.. I have to.. have some place to be”.

“Are you sure ?” He looks disappointed.

“Yeah ...”. I am not sure why I panic like this, it’s like it is all just too much. “I need to go, sorry”.

*Aiden*

She pulls her hand away, backing up. And I feel panicked that she might disappear without even telling me her name. “Wait, Princess ... at least give me your name ... a number to reach you ? Anything”.

But looking like a deer in the headlights she runs off and I can’t run after her, people have already started looking, also it would just scare her even more.

I sigh and mumble a curse to myself ... dammit ... I scared her off. I have seen her several times, mostly in the morning, and something about her intrigued me immensely. I was actually looking for her when I spotted her dancing with herself.

Then I spot it on a bench, the binder she always carries, in her hurry she has left it behind. I pick it up and open it. On the inside it has a sticker with name and phone number making me smile and mumble. “Now I know how to find you Princess ... or should I say Lenka ?”

I walk back to the hotel, flipping through the binder. It is drawings, really really good ones ... most of them either fairytale themed or looking like they belong in some fantasy or children's book. Wow, she is so incredibly talented.

But then I flip to a drawing that almost makes me drop the whole binder. That’s me ... I mean not really me, but still me ... I have no doubt about that, but me, like if I had been drawn by someone who, I don’t know how to explain this ... someone who knows me but has never met me. Has never seen me, but has drawn me from reaching out and touching me, a blindperson maybe, it probably doesn’t make sense.

There are many pictures of this ... imaginary me ... several have words scribbled on them ... like: ‘Where are you ?’ And ‘Who are you ?’ ... and all of them seem unfinished, like she was missing the final part to finish them.

I hurry back to the hotel and straight to Daniel’s room, knocking impatiently.

“Yeah yeah, hold your horses”. He opens the door, wearing a towel around his waist, another one in his hand like he was drying his hair. “Hi Aiden ... what do I owe the pleasure ?”

“I have something to show you.. something important”. I know Daniel will give me a fair and wise assessment.

He steps aside. “Come in ... and give me five minutes to get dressed, then I’ll be happy to help you with whatever it is”.

While Daniel gets ready I am spreading the drawings out on his table side by side, the ones of imaginary me. I wonder what Daniel will think.

“So what do we have here ?” Daniel asks, as he steps back in the room, now dressed. “Drawings ?”

I nod. “Yeah ... just hmm ... look at these and tell me what your first thought is”.

He looks intently at them, leaning down over the table. “Who did these ? They are amazing.. so detailed and the texture..”.

“What do you see ?” I cut him off.

“Well you ... all of them are some form of you”. He turns to look at me.

I nod. “Me ... but ... would you think these were drawn by some ... stalker ... or some fan ... ? I know the question is weird but ... please”.

He turns to look at them again, picking up some for a closer look. Then he shakes his head slowly. “No ... this might sound weird, but it’s like they are drawn by someone who had you described by someone else ... or ... drew you from a fuzzy memory, not like they are done by someone obsessed by you”.

“Thank God”. I mumble as I start to carefully collect the drawings. Daniel spots the open folder and picks it up, flipping through the rest of the drawings.

He looks at me. “So are you going to tell me who did these and what this is about ?”

“I guess I should”. I take the folder and put in the drawings. “There is this … Young woman. I have seen her almost every morning ... she ... Well there's just something about her and she ... Well it was like I knew her, without ever having met her ...”.

A knowing smile spread on his face. “This sounds very ... serious, so how did you end up with her drawings, because they are hers right ?”

“Yeah ... they are”. I bite my lip. “This morning I went downstairs and waited. I wanted to ... Well, see her up close. Maybe meet her. I kinda scared her and she ran off like a fairytale princess ... leaving her proverbial glass slipper behind with her name and phone number”.

“Just out of curiosity ... What did you do to scare her off ?” He looks at me curiously.

I feel my cheeks flush slightly. “I ... well she was dancing in the square and I ... I danced with her, you know like the princess and the prince ... but then I might have told her that I had seen her and she ... panicked”.

Daniel chuckles. “That is such an Aiden thing to do ... but of course you scared the poor woman.. I mean she has been drawing your picture for years, and from the text without knowing who you are ... and there you are in flesh and blood, of course she ran”.

“But I had no idea ... how could I ?” I feel bad for scaring her. “I ... I just had to meet her”.

“Of course you did, she is your soulmate after all”. Daniel says with a teasing wink.

“Wait what ?” I feel my mouth drop open. “I never said anything like that”.

He just smiles. “No ... but … look at the signs Aiden, you can’t deny those ... so let's call her so you can ask her out, get married and live happily ever after”.

“Let’s start with calling her”.