Woo, thank you all for the 2nd place ranking! Glad you liked the skin. I didn't get a chance to put the story up before the end of the contest, but here it is below!

You've heard of the Frog Prince? Well here's the Toad Bride!

This story comes from a recently discovered collection of lost fairy tales. We've all heard of the Brother's Grimm, Hans Christen Anderson, and Charles Perrault - all authors who collected folk stories and fairy tales over many years. Well, there was another collector named Franz Xaver Von Schonwerth. We knew about him, but very few of his books survived and so he never because famous. A few years ago, they found 500 of his collected folktales in Bavaria, so now we have a bunch more old-world fairy tales to read!

The Toad Bride

There once was a man with three sons; two were clever and the third was foolish. He gave each of them some flax and told them, "Whoever spins the finest thread will inherit my house." The two clever sons found spinning wheels and got straight to work. The third son, not knowing how to spin thread, simply wandered off, trying to think how it could be done. He wound up walking into a swamp and started sinking into the mud. He saw some toads hopping towards them, and one of them said; "Give me your flax and I will help you out of the mud." The toad took the flax and hopped away. Not having the sense to free himself, and being a foolishly trusting young man, he waited for the toad to return. When the toad did return, she had a bundle of fine thread which they used to pull him out of the mud. The toad said, "Here, take this thread with you. Then let everyone know that you are planning to marry. Be sure to put a bridal veil and dress on the altar."

The thread that the third son brought back home was much finer than what his brothers had produced, and the father gave him the house. Everyone wanted to come to the wedding, but there was no bride in sight and they thought him to still be foolish. When the church bells began to ring, a toad hopped up on the altar and slipped into the wedding dress. All at once, she turned into a beautiful young woman. "You set me free!" she exclaimed. "I was put under a spell by an evil witch and the curse could only be lifted when a young many needed and accepted my help!" They married and lived in harmony for many years thereafter.