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The Frog Prince In a faraway land, a princess was enjoying the cool evening breeze outside her family's castle. She had with her a small golden ball, which she loved to play with as a way to relax. On one particular toss, she threw it so high in the air that she lost track of it, and the ball went rolling towards a pond. The ball plopped into the water and quickly sank out of sight. The princess began sobbing in despair, and wished for her toy to return to her. Then, a small frog popped out from the pond. "What's wrong, beautiful princess?" asked the frog. The princess wiped away her tears and said, "My favorite golden ball is gone, and nothing I do will bring it back." The frog tried his best to comfort the princess, and assured her that he could retrieve the ball if she would grant him just one favor. "Anything! I will give you all my jewels and handfuls of gold!" exclaimed the princess. The frog explained that he had no need for riches, and only wanted a simple kiss from her in return. The thought of kissing a slimy frog made the princess shudder, but in the end she agreed because she really loved her golden ball. Without much effort, the agile frog jumped back into the pond and located the golden ball. In a blink of an eye the frog had retrieved the ball and returned it to the princess. Keeping her word, the princess kissed the frog. Suddenly, the ground began to rumble and a haze of smoke filled the air. To the princess's surprise, the frog was really a handsome prince trapped by an evil witch's curse. Her kiss had freed the prince from a lifetime of pain and misery. After that, the prince and princess became great friends and spent many days down by the pond, tossing her golden ball back and forth.