F R O G G I R L
Carleigh Ross
ONCE THERE LIVED a girl whose only joy came from hurting others. Her name was Lily, and there was something ugly and vile about her - not in appearance but in her actions. She made fun of the other children in the neighborhood for anything and everything. They only played with her because they were afraid of what she would do otherwise. She was cruel and nothing else. One summer, a new family moved in and their daughter was introduced to Lily. Her name was Ash, and she changed everything.
Everyone was watching, and when Lily started teasing Ash, they laughed, happy that it was not them that she was bullying. Lily had only just started when Ash turned on her heel and ran away, sobbing. Lily watched her go with a strange, new feeling in her chest.
Suddenly Lily’s eyes began to painfully swell and she stumbled on her feet. She stepped away from the rest of the children and said goodbye. Nobody said it back. They were happy that they were safe from the sharp edge of her words. Nobody followed. Nobody asked her if she was alright. When Lily’s skin began to prickle, she looked down at her hands and saw that they were webbed and green.
Her skin itched. Her beautiful, silky hair turned green and slimy. The wickedness in Lily’s heart had begun to turn outward. Lily tried to continue home, but fell when her legs became too long and her feet too big. She could hardly move thanks to the awkwardness of her new limbs.
Lily sat on the ground in defeat. “At least nobody can see me like
Somebody did see her, though: Ash - the new girl! She was sitting skin a sickly green color, Ash got up and walked over to her. In front of her sat the amphibious half-girl. Ash stared at Lily, and for her to make fun of Lily’s new green hair and skin, her bulging But she didn’t. “Are you okay?” she said instead. Lily shook her head. She started to cry. “I’m scared,” Lily said. “Please don’t leave me.” “I won’t,” Ash replied, and she kept her word. She wasn’t afraid to hold Lily’s frog hand as it changed.
this,� she whispered.
g on a bench, dried tears on her face, and when she saw Lily, her Lily at her, waiting for her to be as cruel as Lily had been. Waiting eyes, her long limbs and large mouth.
“I’ve been so mean... I’m sorry,” Lily said through tears, and within a breath, she had completely transformed into a frog. Ash held Lily up in her hands.
She stared at the creature, but the frog did not comprehend her. It used to be Lily, but now, it was just a frog.
A moment passed... “I forgive you,� Ash said.
If Ash had blinked, she would have missed it - where there on was a frog now sat a girl. As quickly as she had turned frog, sh changed back. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Lily was saying. “Lily!” Ash exclaimed. “Look! You’re not a frog anymore!”
Ash was smiling, and when Lily looked at her she realized how much nicer it felt to make someone smile instead of cry.
Her heart warmed, and with a start, she realized that she could longer find any faults in Ash, and everything that she had disli about her earlier that day had been completely forgotten. She pulled her into a hug. “Thank you,” she said. Lily swore then and there that she would never be cruel to anyone ever again.
nce he had
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d no iked
As they walked back to the neighborhood children, Lily opened her mouth. “Ribbit!” she said. Ash gasped and stopped walking. “Lily!” she said, afraid. But Lily only laughed. “Just kidding!” She said. The girls giggled on their way to the park, where the other children welcomed the new Lily and her apologies. They found that she was no longer cruel. She kept to her promise and took care in what she said and how it could be taken. She was kind. She was a good friend, and fun when they all played together, too, especially after she showed the children just how high she could jump, with a peculiar frog-like agility...
2020