The Peasant Princess

"Ekaterina! Go out to the well and fetch some water for dinner!" my mother calls from the kitchen.

"Yes, ma ma," I say, making my way through our small living room. I grab the bucket by the door and head outside. The warmth of the fake atmosphere seeps through my rags. I tie the bucket to the rope of the well. As I lower the bucket, I practice my glamour. My parents don't let me practice at home. I imagine caramel skin, blonde hair, slim hands. A freckle here and there. A sharp nose, big eyes, long eyelashes, full lips. A slim and slightly curvy figure. A nice dress.

Rrrribit. My concentration breaks, and I look to my left. A green frog sits on the side of the well, looking at me. No, not looking. Staring. I smile uncomfortably, but I wave anyways.

"Hey there, little fella. Are you lost?" I look around as if I'll find more frogs. Everyone knows that there aren't any frogs on the moon. So how is this one here? "Little fella, where did you come from? How did you get here?" It just tilts its head to the right a little bit.

I can't believe I'm talking to this frog as if it might answer me. But there's a frog on the moon, and who knows why? There could be a secret behind why this little frog is here. I bring the bucket back up and start to untie it. That's when the frog startles me.

"Rrrrelp," it says. At least, that's what I hear. I nearly drop the bucket. I get it set on the side of the well when the frog speaks again. "Rrrrelp."

"Excuse me?" I ask, shaking my head in disbelief. The frog makes a weird sound -- almost like a cough.

"H....help. I need help," it says. My eyes widen at this.

"How can you talk...?" I ask. I shake my head again. "I'm sorry. What kind of help?"

The frog responds by hopping into the pocket of my shredded apron. "May I explain later?" I nod and pick up the water bucket.

"I'll get you back to my house and you can explain tonight, alright?" I whisper, feeling insane talking to a frog like this. Frogs shouldn't be able to talk. Am I going crazy? The frog just crawls deeper into my threadbare pocket, as if searching for warmth. I don't see why it would need warmth, though. It's plenty warm outside.

I walk us back to my house. Well, shack. It's not exactly big enough to be a house. We only have a kitchen, a small living room where all five of us kids sleep, and a little closet-room where my parents sleep. My three sisters are younger than me, and my brother is older. I set the big water bucket on the counter and hide Mr. Frog behind my lump of blankets against the living room wall.

"Don't move. I'll be back soon. And....try not to make any sound if you can help it," I add as an afterthought. Mr. Frog shrinks down in the blankets with a nod. At least I think it's a nod. I head back into the kitchen to help my mom with dinner.

"Where are Lily, Cadence, and Tatiana?" I ask my mom. " I haven't seen them since breakfast."

"I sent them to work at the shop. Well, Lily offered to work there today and teach the little ones to sew. You know your sister. Always wanting to keep me at home so I don't have to work," she says with a low chuckle, not turning to look at me. She kneads the dough with her tough hands. She might be a seamstress, but she's also a mom.She has a lot of work cut out for her.

"So are pa pa and Ze'ev down at the street booth? How is that, by the way? Have we sold a lot of fruit?" I question, starting to help knead the dough.

"Actually....your father went to the palace today. He went and got a job as a palace guard. We weren't bringing in enough money with the booth after the raids. They took the fields from us....but I was wondering if you'd like to take over the street booth and maybe try to sell some quilts there or something? We could use the money and the extra advertising," she explains. I nod with a small smile. I'll be able to do something other than sit around and fetch water.