Daily story, April 28, 2025

The prince hopped around his pond for three days, waiting for a princess he could tempt with a kiss. As the sun rose on the fourth, he was snatched up by a crow. The witch had thought of that: his soul passed to the bird, and he went soaring off. The freedom of flight was almost worth the pain of his frog body dying.

His new wings carried him to the castle, where the most beautiful woman he had ever seen was playing with a golden ball. He landed a little way away and watched—watched the wrong thing, it turned out. A plump ginger cat that never caught much of anything got its jaws around his throat. His mind poured into its belly along with his bird blood.

He dropped the ruined crow and padded over to the princess. She scratched between his ears, and he purred. This was his chance. He biffed her lowered nose gently with his forehead; she smiled and planted a gentle kiss between his eyes. He felt the cat’s skin stretch and split as his true body returned to him.

On the fifth day, they found him guilty of witchcraft on the princess’s favourite cat, and took his head off.