MULTIPLY Writer's Block - Challenge #53 - And they lived happily ever after

“Hi Cinderella, fancy meeting you here. I thought that Princesses had servants to do the shopping.”
“I could say the same for you Snow White. I just couldn’t stay in that boring castle any more, the walls were closing in on me and had to get out for some fresh air. At least there is something going on in town. How’s your husband Snow White.”
“I was just going to ask you the same Cindy, although my prince said he saw your prince at the local jousting tournament last week.”
“Let’s not talk about that” said Cinderella. “Princes might be wealthy, but not always wise. Mine didn’t get home until early in the morning and he was so drunk he slept with his crown on his head.”
“I know what you mean, mine wasn’t much better. He arrived home just as I had finished breakfast. He fell down three times before he got to the bedroom and woke the children up with the noise he was making. Sometimes I think it would have been better if he had not found me sleeping in that glass case. At least I had my peace and quiet there. After all the stepmother was not as bad as we thought. She might have cracked a few mirrors, but she saved me a lot of trouble giving me that apple. Well look who’s coming.” Cinderella and Snow White greeted another one of their Princess friends.

“I must ask how she is keeping, you know, she married a frog.”
“You mean she found a French prince.”
“No Silly, she kissed a frog”
“Hello girls, talking about me”, and another princess arrived on the scene.
“Snow White said you kissed a frog. What part of France did he come from” Cinderella asked.
“If he had come from France I would feel a lot happier. No he was a real frog as green and slimy as they come. In the meanwhile he has lost the green colour but the slime; well let’s not talk about it. Promised me something special, I cannot even remember what it was, if I kissed him and what did he turn into – a prince, and of course he was at the tournament as well. Instead of coming home afterwards, he decided to take a walk to the pond to see his old colleagues of the day’s gone by, before he had his transformation. Didn’t come home until daybreak and soaking wet he was. Climbed into bed smelling like a pond; typical frog prince.”

Our three princesses did not seem to be very happy.

“You know it was all very easy for Fairy Godmother to wave her wand and send me off to the ball. I regret the day that my husband found my foot small enough for that glass shoe. Should have kept it on my foot or thrown both away on the way home. What do I have for it now? a husband that spends all day in bed recovering from his excursions in the evening. I have to look after the kids and believe me his sons are developing into real princes just like their father; spoilt and lazy.” Cinderella was really annoyed.

“I know what you mean Cinderella.” Said Snow White “I have told my children to steer away from dwarves if they ever take a walk in the woods.”
“And I thought I was playing safe kissing a frog.”
“That was typical you, always wanted to do something different. What do you have for it now.”
“Well to be quite honest” said the frog prince’s wife, “I am thinking about suing for divorce under grounds of cruelty.”
“Really” said Cinderella and Snow White together. “I thought we were all supposed to live happily ever after.”
“Is that a joke? Try living with a frog prince. Sometimes he doesn’t even walk when I call him, but hops. His children are a right mixture. Two of them croak instead of talking and his daughter has green hair. He finds them beautiful children and you can imagine how they get laughed at in the school. I have had enough of this fairytale life. “
“Exactly” said Cinderella. “Sometimes I give up hope as well. When I think back to the days where my only work was to clean the fire place. My prince is never at home and I think he has something going on with one of my stepsisters. I mean if he wanted it that way he didn’t have to bother finding a foot to fit the shoe. He could have just taken what was available without all that song and dance about a glass slipper. Imagine how my stepsister is laughing at me.”
Snow White joined in the conversation
“My husband sleeps all day and I don’t think he even knows what his children look like. I spoke to him about it once, but he just gave the answer if I can sleep for nearly one hundred years, then he can sleep for a few hours during the day.
And so the conversation carried on.

In the meanwhile the three husbands had met in the local bar.
“Three pints of mead” said the Prince Charming, and Snow White’s husband with the frog prince took their seats at a table with Prince Charming.
“I am glad to get out of that palace” said Prince Charming.
“Where’s the wife” asked the Frog Prince.
“Said she was taking a walk into town. Glad to get away from her, nagging all the time.”
“Know what you mean” said the frog prince “mine is always getting on at me for visiting my friends down at the pond. After all I grew up with them. It’s the only place where I can have a few intelligent conversations. My wife is always on at me to wipe my feet when I come home, to wash and dress in clean clothes. She finds I smell of swamp. After all she didn’t have to marry me. All I wanted was a kiss and not a marriage certificate”
“We do have problems” said Snow White’s husband. “How I wish I had never found her in that glass case. She really looked pretty, so white and peaceful. Gave her a kiss and have regretted it since. She woke up and I don’t think she has slept since. She never gives me any peace with her constant nagging. Funny thing was before I found her I met seven dwarves and they warned me to just ride past if I happened to find a woman fast asleep. Now I know why. They were mumbling about at last having peace and quiet at home since she started her sleep and said her stepmother did them a favour.”
“I even heard that stories have been written about us” said Prince Charming. “All about the romantic way we met our wives and the happy marriages we all have. Seems we are all living happily ever after.”
“After what?” said Snow White’s prince.
“After the deluge” answered the frog prince.
The three men then finished their drinks and left the bar. As they walked down the road they met their wives.
“”Hello darling” said Prince Charming to Cinderella. “How nice to see you, looking as beautiful as ever.”
“Snow White, my most wonderful wife” greeted her husband
“Oh my love, how glad I am that you rescued me from that amphibian life I was leading” said the frog prince to his princess and they all walked home to their castles and lived…….. happily ever after?