The Frog Collector
Chapter One

It was a beautiful afternoon when the princess left the castle for the lakeside. She couldn’t stop smiling and her heart was beating so fast that she thought she would die before she got there. Every day she went to this lake, which was near a forest, so that she and her beloved could watch the twilight.

She arrived on the scene anxious. There was no one there. Her smile broke and she looked around and wondered:

“Where is he? He is always the first to arrive!”.

So she began to wait. But having waited long enough, and annoyed by the delay, she began to walk along the edge of the lake in search of the young man.

The girl, who didn’t usually go very far from the castle, entered through the trees and quickly saw the path become unfamiliar. She walked on, and, being immersed in her thoughts, did not notice the wooden sign that indicated that entering that part of the forest was forbidden.

After a while the sounds became rare, the princess could only hear the faint chirping of a bird, the rustling of leaves on the trees, and the croaking of a frog. Suddenly she saw a house among the trees, and around it a large garden with many flowers. Then the princess awoke from her thoughts and didn’t recognize where she was.

“I have walked too much!”, she exclaimed. “Is there someone in that house who can help me?”.

She decided to go to that place. Behind her, a frog followed her croaking nonstop. When she arrived, the princess saw a big, beautiful house that didn’t even look like it belonged in the forest. She went to the door that was open and said:

“Hello!”.

There was no answer. The girl noticed that the windows were also open and the house looked abandoned, so she went inside. As she admired the huge room, it felt wrong for her to walk into someone else’s house like that. Furthermore she had already gone too far, so she decided to go back. However, a young girl entered the room quickly and was so startled by the princess’s presence that she fell to the floor, knocking over the plates she was holding.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you”, the princess lamented, and quickly went to help the young girl.

The girl said nothing, would not get up from the floor, and was so horrified to see her that the princess felt bad to be there.

“I would just like to…”, the princess started to speak, but was interrupted by a shout from another woman who had also arrived in the room:

“Emily, stop being stup…”.

The voice stopped abruptly and the princess watched an elderly woman who looked like the other’s grandmother enter the room and look as amazed as the young woman on the floor.

“H… hello, dear, H… how did you get in here?”, asked the old woman in a friendly tone.

“The door was open… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you! I just wanted to know if anyone saw a young man pass by here, but it’s getting late, I have to get back”, answered the princess fearfully, still looking at the girl on the floor.

“It’s okay, you’re not bothering! And don’t mind Emily, she is always clumsy. I did see a young man around here, but it was yesterday. I helped him find flowers for someone. He was dressed in shining armor”.

“That’s him! He’s always wearing armor. So it was you who helped him…“ Those were beautiful flowers. He told me that someone helped him find those beautiful flowers. Thank you very much then”, said the calmer princess.

“It was nothing, dear”, said the woman helping Emily, who looked even more shocked, to get up from the floor. Emily quickly began to clean up the damage she had done by falling.

“Sit down, have some tea”, invited the old woman.

“I won’t stay long. I’m sorry”, said the princess, who was a bit uncomfortable with the delay in her seat.

“Everything is fine, but may I ask what happened to the boy?”, asked the woman.

“It’s just that he didn’t show up today where we agreed, but I guess I was just rushed. I should have waited longer”, reported the princess.

“I just hope it’s not a disappearing magic”, said the woman thoughtfully.

“A what?”, asked the girl without understanding.

“Disappearing Magic. Never heard of it?”, said the woman amazed.

“No, what is it?”, asked the curious girl.

“Has it really been that long?”, said the old woman to herself. Then she turned to the princess, “I’ll show you!”.

Then the woman pulled close to them a small table that was in the room, asked Emily for a plate, who handed it to her, placed it on the table and added:

“Look at this plate, and name the food you like best”.

The princess thought this was strange, but she did. Suddenly, a beautiful pie began to form on the plate. The princess was perplexed to see the scene.

“Ho… How…”, she tried to say, but surprise at what he had just witnessed wouldn’t let her.

“Taste it, it will be the best food you have ever eaten”, said the old woman smiling.

The princess tried to pick up the pie, but her hands went through the food in such a way that she couldn’t catch it. She turned to the woman, who was wide-eyed at the scene and smiling slightly, and heard her say softly:

“Amazing! You really are not affected by magic… That’s why you got here“

The princess was astonished and didn’t know what to say.

The woman continued excited:

“It must be hard to understand if this is the first time you have seen it, but this magic you have just seen is only one of several types. The young man you are looking for may have fallen into one of them. If you want, I can help you find out where he is, whether he has fallen into magic or not”.

“I really want to meet him, could you really do that?”, asked the princess, filled with hope.

“Of course! Look at this”, said the woman, pulling from a pocket a crumpled flower that fit in one of her hands. It was a beautiful flower with black petals and a yellow center. “It is because of this flower that magic can be made. It is in many places in the kingdom. Unfortunately this is the last one I have here. And I can’t go out and get others. If you bring me at least about thirty of these plants, I will be able to know where the young man you are looking for is”.

“Thank you so much for helping me”, said the princess radiant.

“That’s alright, dear. Besides, this will help me too. I’m tired of staying in here. I’ve been in here too long without seeing the outside world and I need to get out”, said the old woman.

“Why can’t you leave?”, asked the curious princess.

“Come with me, I’ll show you”, said the old woman, and left the house.

The princess, who was not understanding anything, also went after her. Emily, who tried to hear the conversation while cleaning up the mess she made when she fell, also followed them from afar.

They were in a place away from the house when the princess heard:

“Ohiah Wobh Gyon”.

“What?”, asked she to the old woman.

“It’s nothing, dear. It’s just a song I like”, said the old woman suddenly stopping. “Look at that”, said the old woman pointing forward.

The princess looked around and witnessed a strange scene. A frog was trying to pass to the side they were on, but could not. There seemed to be an invisible wall blocking his way. They came closer to him.

“Do you see that? There is a magic in this place that involves the whole environment covering the sky and the earth. It makes sure that nothing can get in or out of here. It is an invisible prison”, said the woman.

By now the princess had stopped wanting to find logical answers to the new things she was witnessing. She just watched the scene incredulously and began to wonder if she was the only one in the kingdom who thought things like that didn’t happen. She looked back and saw Emily pointing at the frog and at her.

“What are you trying to tell me?”, asked the princess.

“I’m telling you that this is what is stopping me from getting out of here and…”, the old woman began to say, turning to the princess, but stopped when she saw that the girl had not addressed her.

Then he quickly looked at Emily, who soon stopped making the gesture and went into the house.

“Sorry, dear. I said she was clumsy in everything. Even to ask. It’s just that she can’t talk and is very fond of frogs and wants you to bring him in”, said the woman smiling.

The princess followed Emily with her gaze for a while, then turned again to the woman.

Resuming her demonstration, the old woman reached out and touched an invisible wall. She tried to move to the other side, but couldn’t, and then her hand began to heat up so that she had to take it away.

“Did you see? I can’t leave here”, said the woman.

“But how did I…”, said the princess also extending her hand and trying to do the same as the other, but she couldn’t reach anything.

“You must have some magic about you that even you don’t know about. That’s why you can’t eat the magic food and pass this prison. Although I am a witch, I don’t know why you are able to this too”, said the old woman thoughtfully. “A witch or a warlock is one who works magic”, she added, when she realized that the princess did not understand the term, and continued:

“Go ahead a bit, I want to test something”.

The princess walked unhindered past the place where the invisible wall should be until she was a considerable distance away.

“Incredible! Throw something trying to hit me. It could be that rock”, said the old woman, pointing to one.

The princess picked up the stone and threw it next to the woman, but the stone stopped in mid-air with a thud and fell to the ground.

The woman continued her instructions:

“Now take this stone and enter here holding it”.

The princess did so and the stone passed the invisible wall in her hands. The old woman picked it up and said:

“There it is! Everything you touch can go in or out”.

The princess thought for a while and then said cheerfully:

“Then you can leave if you touch me too”.

But the woman did not return the smile and said:

“I’m afraid not”.

She touched the princess and tried to pass to the other side, but only the princess succeeded.

“I don’t understand!”, exclaimed the princess.

“Neither do I”, said the woman with her head bowed. She quickly added: “But now you can help me get out of here. Bring me the flowers and both your beloved and I will be free”.

The princess rejoiced.

“It’s late… I have to go, but even if he has already shown up and is waiting for me at the palace, I will bring the flowers for you sometime to help you get out of here”, said the princess and started to walk away.

“Wait! The frog for Emily… And I don’t know your name yet either. Mine is Mirian”, said the witch.

The princess picked up the frog, which had now stopped trying to get over the wall, and reentered the invisible prison. She handed it to the witch and said:

“My name is Agatha”.

“Until another day, dear”, said the woman, smiling.

The princess also smiled, turned and left.

When the girl disappeared from sight, the witch changed her countenance and threw the frog in her hand as hard as she could against the invisible wall. It hit and fell to the ground motionless.

“I hope you didn’t die. I might need you”, she said, looking at him angrily.

Then he turned to his house and spoke:

“Now it’s the turn of that fool mute…”.

***

Far away from there, the princess reached the lake again thinking about all thing she saw in the forest. And as much as she wished she could, she saw no one waiting for her. With tears in her eyes, she watched the sun go down alone this time after a long time.

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