Week 11 Storytelling: "The Bullfrog Lover"

There was once a young man named Henry who really wanted to win the heart of the beautiful Marie. Ever since Henry and Marie were young children playing in the garden, Henry knew that Marie was the girl for him. However, Marie's mother did not approve of Henry, she thought he was an inappropriate match for his daughter for many reasons, and Marie did not really like Henry in a romantic way. 

Henry, however, refused to take no for an answer. Determined to make Marie his bride, he sought out the help of the witch, Esmerelda. Esmerelda gave Henry a magical potion that allowed him to take the shape of a bullfrog. Henry thought this was a perfect disguise because there is a pond near Marie's cottage that she would visit with her mother nearly every day. 

The next morning after visiting Esmerelda, Henry drank the magical potion and was turned into a bullfrog. Though it took him a while to get used to his new legs, he quickly got the hang of it and hopped his way to the pond to wait for Marie to visit. 

After what felt like days of waiting, Henry finally heard footsteps approaching the pond's edge. He quickly recognized the figure in front of him as Marie's mother. He was disappointed that he did not get to see Marie, however he knew this was still a perfect opportunity to sway her mother's opinion. So henry started shouting, "The fault finder will die," repeatedly until Marie's mother left, afraid and unaware of the voice's origins. 

Marie's mother was scared of the voice and sought the help of her friends. Together, they determined that the voice was a clear sign from God that she should not interfere with Marie's romantic life. 

The next day Henry waited in the same place for Marie to visit the pond. When she arrived, this time alone, Henry stood on the water's edge and admired her beauty. He could spend days looking at her because she was so beautiful. Henry lost track of time admiring Marie, and quickly realized that she was leaving. Just before she was out of earshot, he shouted, "A bullfrog will marry you," over and over again. 

The next day, Marie's mother visited the pond alone because Marie was afraid of the voices she had heard. Suddenly Marie's mother heard the same voice from days prior saying, "your daughter will die." Completely terrified of the voice and what it had to say, Marie's mother began to grab her things to leave. 

Suddenly, a bullfrog jumped on the ground in front of her. As the potion began to wear off, Henry began to take back his natural human form. Marie's mother realized quickly that the voices her family had been hearing at the pond was actually Henry trying to persuade her daughter to marry him. Thinking his efforts were sweet, she allowed him to follow her the their cottage so that he may talk to Marie in person about marriage. 

Though Marie's mother though Henry's efforts were cute, Marie did not feel the same way. She found that Henry's efforts were creepy and invasive to her privacy, so she asked him never to come back. 

Authors note: 

This story is very much unfinished because I am having trouble writing what I want to say. This is my version of the Cherokee tale, "the bullfrog lover." However, in the original story the two main characters got married at the end, which I did not appreciate because I found the bullfrog's actions to be very invasive. I think it is important to write stories like these so that young people know that it is okay to say "no" when someone makes them uncomfortable. I really would like suggestions for the end of my version because I'm not sure how exactly I want it to end. Should Henry get in trouble for his manipulative actions? 

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