The Frog Next Door

A gender-flipped modern retelling of The Frog-King, or Iron Henry from Grimm’s Fairy Tales

Jan Caldwell was a divorced single mom with three handsome sons. But the youngest of her sons, Ash, was especially striking. Whenever his grandfather came to visit the grandsons, he would often tell the youngest that the sun was astonished whenever it shined on his face. They lived in an estate at the edge of a vast dark forest. Under an old lime tree in the forest was a long-neglected fountain filled with dirty rainwater. On warm days, Ash would go out into the woods and sit next to the fountain with his phone and text his friends. He was attached to that phone.

One afternoon, he set the phone down on the edge of the fountain for a moment while he reached for some snacks in his bag. He accidentally bumped it, and it dropped into the filthy water. In what seemed like slow-motion, he watched his phone plop into the water and sink into its murky depths. It was a deep fountain, and when the phone reached the bottom, he couldn’t see it anymore. Once he realized what had happened, he began to cry. He cried louder and louder until suddenly he heard a voice say, “What’s wrong boy? You look so sad that you’re starting to make me cry.”

Ash looked to where the voice came from and saw a big frog stretching its thick, ugly head from the water. “Hey! Did you just say something, frog?” he said. “I’m crying because I just dropped my phone in the water.”

“Don’t cry,” answered the frog, “I can help you, but what will you give me if I bring your phone back?”

“Whatever you want,” he said. “You can have my snacks, my money, or even the jewelry I’m wearing.”

The frog answered, “I don’t care for your snacks, money, or jewelry. I’m a frog! But if you will bring me back with you to be your best friend and eat with you and sleep with you in your bed—if you will promise me this I will go into the water and get your phone back.”

“Sure,” he said, “I promise you anything you want if you will just bring me my phone back.” But in his mind, he was thinking, “Seriously? A talking frog wants to be my best friend? How can a frog be a person’s best friend?”

Once the frog got him to promise, it dove underwater. In a short while, it came swimming up again with the phone in his mouth and threw it on the grass. It delighted Ash to see his phone once more. He picked it up and ran away with it. “Wait, wait,” cried the frog. “Take me with you. I can’t run as fast as you.” But it was no use to croak and hop after him. He would not listen as he ran home and forgot about the poor frog, who had to go back into his fountain home again.

The next day, when Ash was sitting at the dinner table with his mom and brothers, something came creeping splish splash, splish splash, up the front porch. It rang the doorbell and cried, “Ash, handsome Ash, come open the door for me.” He ran to see who was outside, but when he opened the door, there sat the frog in front of it. Then he slammed the door and hurried back to dinner again, and was quite frightened. His mom saw that he was distressed and said with a laugh, “What are you afraid of, Ash? Is there some giant outside who wants to carry you away?”

“Uh… no,” he replied. “Not a giant. Just a disgusting frog.”

“What would a frog want with you?”

“Well… yesterday I was in the forest sitting by the fountain with my phone. I put it down for just one second, and it kinda fell into the water. So I was like, crying, and the frog got it for me, and it kept asking, so I promised I’ll be its friend, but I didn’t know it’d follow me all the way home! So now it’s waiting outside and wants to come in.”

The doorbell rang again. Ash and his family heard the frog cry, “Ash! Come on, Ash! Open the door for me! Don’t you remember your promise? Ash! Handsome Ash! Open the door for me!”

His mom looked at him and said, “Well, you promised. Go and let it in.”

He went and opened the door, and the frog hopped in and followed him to his chair. There it sat and cried, “Lift me up beside you.” He delayed until his mom made him do it. Once the frog was on the chair, it wanted to get on the table. When it was on the table it said, “Now, push your plate closer to me so we can eat together.” He did this, but it was easy to see that he did not do it willingly. The frog enjoyed what it ate, but Ash choked on almost every mouthful he took. Eventually, the frog said, “I’m full and satisfied. But now I’m tired. Carry me to your room and let’s go to bed.”

Ash began to cry. He was afraid of the cold frog and hated touching it. And now it was going to sleep in his pretty, clean little bed. But his mom got angry and said, “You can’t just hate on someone who helped you out when you were in trouble!” So he picked up the frog with two fingers, carried it upstairs, and put it in the corner of his room. But when he was in bed, it crept to his bed and said, “I’m tired. I want to sleep too. Bring me to your bed, or I’ll tell your mom.” Then he became enraged, picked it up and threw it with all his strength against the wall. “Shut up! Nasty frog!” he shouted. But when the frog hit the ground it was no frog, but the neighbor’s daughter, Jamie Burton, who had gone missing months before. She had such beautiful kind eyes. She told him how a wicked witch had cursed her. She also told him that he was the only person who could have saved her because she was in love with him. And that tomorrow they would go together to her house to meet her parents. Then they went to sleep.

The next morning when the sun awoke them, a limo sat waiting for them outside. The limo was shiny and white and emblazoned with gold emblems. Next to it stood Jamie’s chauffeur Faithful Henrietta. Faithful Henrietta had been so unhappy when her boss was turned into a frog, that she had three metal bands put around her chest so that her heart wouldn’t burst with grief and sadness. She helped them both in and got in the driver’s seat. She was so full of joy at seeing her boss again that tears streamed down her face. And when they were part way there, Jamie heard a cracking sound as if something had broken. So she called out to her chauffeur, “Henrietta, I think something in the car just broke.”

“No, ma’am, it’s not the car. It’s the band around my heart, which was put there when I was so sad that you were turned into a frog.” Then again, as they were driving, something cracked, and each time Jamie thought the car was breaking apart, but it was only the bands around Faithful Henrietta’s chest because her boss was finally free and happy.

Soon after Ash met Jamie’s parents, he had his mother’s blessing to marry her.