Cursed Kisses
I kissed the frog, but he didn’t turn into anything. I so much wished he did, but he kept croaking and only stared into my eyes. With no clues what to do with him, I returned from the forest. He followed me all the way to my house. I knew about imprints, of the ones that happen during birth, but I had no idea about any such effect due to humanly kisses. But this was a cursed frog, and I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know what they eat or what dinner to serve him. I kept him near my window and went to sleep. Even though he kept croaking now and then, his appetite for mosquitoes assisted my peaceful sleep.
Next morning he had somehow turned into a cat. I think it was the delayed effect of the kiss, but I was expecting a man, not another animal. There was nothing mentioned as such in fairy tales. He was docile and kept wandering around the house. He even followed me to market and sat in my basket. I brought him some fish which he devoured and ate before I could blink my eyes. Cats do love fishes or I guess I cook well. I had no idea what to do with him. I wanted to try my luck again and kissed that hairy fluffy cat. He just meowed, yawned and lay next to the window.
Next morning I understood something was weird about this curse. It’s not every day you find a cow sitting near your window, next to your bed. I had no idea what kind of magic it was. Every day I found some new animal near that window. Sometimes wild and sometimes dull. Fortunately, they all looked at me in the same way. I didn’t know any other way to connect to them. There is no cookbook to feed lions, tigers, Crocs, snakes or tortoise. Every day something new surprised me. One thing was clear: they didn’t repeat the pattern. Every day someone new. I also noticed they didn’t change when I left them unkissed.
Finding new animals around the corner is not normal. I resisted kissing the pig, I hated kissing cockroaches, and I almost went unconscious when I went to kiss the skunk. I kept gambling, and it finally paid. On the 41st day what I found right beside my bed was my dream. There was a stark-naked prince. He was shivering and asked permission to get inside the blanket. He was charming, mannered and cultured. I could not believe my eyes. Finally, the curse was over. He turned into what he was supposed to be. I cooked him food, gave him the bath and clothed him. He was my prince charming. All mine. All those kisses, which disgusted me seemed worth it.
We spoke all day long. He told me about the last 40 days. What he saw and what he felt. How much he appreciated my being patient. He remembered all. We went to market, then the play and also had our dinner outside. We sat under the stars and kissed. We kissed as it was our first. We kissed as if we knew each other for forever. Is was much better than my dreams. We made out that night. It was wild. He was surely a gentleman, but his animal strength was still intact. We made love and slept in each other’s arms.
But next morning he turned back into a frog. Croaking and gazing back at me while sitting calmly near the window. On next day he was a cat and on next he was a cow. The pattern was clear. I had to kiss these animals to see my prince charming again. It was not as disgusting as before, because I loved him. I knew what he felt when we looked into each other’s eyes. I knew he was conscious and aware. I also knew I can’t kiss him ever once he turns back into a prince. That was the only way we could live like human couples forever. I have urges to kiss him, we do hold hands, we eat together, we walk side by side, and we make love. But we never kiss. I still miss that kiss under the moonlight. But I don’t want my kisses to be his curse.
