Dreams Come True:

Page 8: Frogs and Riddles:

David locked the cell door when Regina turned to face him. "So, I'm a prisoner now?" Regina scoffed, looking at the Charmings. 

"If the curse is broken, why didn't we go back?" David asked her. 

"Because there's nothing to go back to. That land is gone." Regina said, glancing at Mary Margaret, who was beside her husband.

"We should get to Gold." Mary Margaret said when Dream just stood there, confused.

"What does Mr. Gold have to do with this?" Dream asked when David and Mary Margaret sighed, looking at the confused girl. 

"He's known as Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark--" David went to say, but Dream had already read Henry's book, cover to cover. 

"The Dark One... I've read Henry's book." Dream sighed when she looked at her mother.

David nodded before moving Henry when they were going to head over to the pawnshop. "Dream?" Mary Margaret asked, hoping that Dream would stay with them to keep her safe. 

"I need to clear my head..." Dream sighed, glancing at her mother, before heading out of the Sheriff's station.

Dream headed to the docks, where she always went to clear her head. The smell of the ocean seemed like a comfortable feeling. She would watch the sailors bring in their boats or go out to fish. Sitting on the wooden bench, she sighed when she looked out to the water. Just as she sat down, she heard a noise. She looked down, jumping a bit, when she saw no one but a frog. 

"Great... Now, I'm getting scared by frogs." Dream sighed when she looked at the little green guy. "What has happened to my life?" She asked before scoffing to herself. "And now, I am talking to frogs." She sighed when she saw something weird. 

She looked closer before seeing that the frog was sitting on something—her necklace. How could he get that? She asked before moving her hand to her neck, feeling that her necklace wasn't there. 

"Hey, little guy..." She said, getting up to kneel down to hold her hand out. She moved to pick up the frog, hoping that she could get her necklace. Dream looked shocked when the frog grabbed onto her necklace; while it was in its mouth, it started to hop away. "Where are you going?" Dream asked as she watched it hop away. She followed it, not wanting to lose her necklace. 

She followed the necklace to the graveyard when this whole thing seemed weird to her. The frog stopped when it came up to Regina's vault. Dream had been there before, but never inside. The frog dropped her necklace at the door before just sitting there. Dream bent down, picking up her necklace, before looking at the door to the vault.

"If you don't tell me everything, I just find out for myself." Dream scoffed, holding onto her necklace, before opening the stone door.

She saw a coffin with an engraved title, "Henry Mills," her grandfather. She sighed when she did not know what to do from there. Suddenly, she looked around, hearing the frog, when it appeared on top of the coffin. "How do I get in?" Dream asked when she glanced at the little frog that led her there. "You can understand me, but you can't talk... Right..." Dream sighed when she continued to look at the frog. 

Since Dream felt hopeless, she put her hands on the coffin, sighing as she looked around. Suddenly, the coffin started to move to the side, letting Dream see stone stairs. Dream pushed the coffin all the way so that she could go down. It was insane; there were so many rooms, but she was fascinated by one room in particular. There were boxes in holes in the walls and weird bottles and books. 

Dream stopped when she saw a floating rose with a dome over it. She walked over, seeing a few petals on the bottom of the gold tray, but she was shocked to notice that the rose was still bloomed, full of feathers. The frog was sitting to the side of it when she walked over to it. 

"Thumbelina... I was born from a flower." She said, looking at the magical flower in awe. Dream went to lift the vase up.

"Stop!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Dream jumped back when she heard the frog talk. "Oh, now you can talk?" Dream asked, furrowing her brows.

"I could always talk; you just weren't listening." The frog said, making Dream chuckle. 

This was insane. She was talking to a frog next to a floating rose. 

"If you touch the rose, there is no telling what the magic will do to you." The frog said when Dream looked between him and the rose.

"What do you mean?" Dream asked him, picking him up in her hands.

"All magic comes with a price... Your mother knows the consequences of her actions. One that you will one day pay for. But right now, you know the truth." The frog said when Dream raised her brow. 

"No... No, I don't understand. All I know is that I have more questions." Dream said when the frog sighed.

"Because you're not believing." The frog said when Dream furrowed her brows.

"Really? 'Cause I just found out that I live in a town of fairytale characters. My mother is the Evil Queen, and I was born from a flower... I think I believe more than ever." Dream scoffed, looking around the room.

"In yourself... You do not believe in yourself. You will find your answers soon once you believe in yourself." The frog said, causing Dream to scoff at him. 

"Poetic... But I need answers, not riddles." Dream scoffed when the frog sighed.

"Perhaps you shall read more books to believe." The frog said before pointing to a children's book by the table that had the rose. Regina kept the baby books that she would read to Dream and Henry when they were babies. 

"The Frog Prince..." Dream said, seeing the title of the book. 

"Exactly... Now, if you excuse me. I have others to see." 

Dream watched the frog jump out of her arms before hopping out of the vault and heading back to the docks. "I just talked to a talking, poetic frog..." Dream sighed when she looked around. "And now, I'm talking to myself... again." She scoffed before picking up the children's book. "Guess it's time to read." Dream sighed when she held the book close to her before turning to look at the rose.

~season 2, episode 1: "Broken"~

~1077 words~