1 MUSIC BOX - A PRELUDE

Once upon a time, there was an old woman who had no children of her own. In a desperate and hopeful venture, she ventured into the forest where she came upon a witch and begged her for a way to have a child. A simple request, the witch only cackled and smiled at her.

"My dear, that is quite easy for one such as I," he explained gleefully. From her pocket, the witch pulled only a single barleycorn seed. She pinched it between her fingers, holding out for the woman to take. "Here is the answer to your troubles. Simply plant this in a flower pot and you shall have a child of your own."

"And what do you wish in return?" Asked the old woman. "Surely you expect some form of payment, do you not?"

Again, the witch only laughed and cupped the old woman's hands. "Think nothing of it, deary. Pay the kindness forward to someone else when the time is right. You'll know it when it happens." The witch dropped the seed in the old woman's hands and closed it into a fist. "Now, begone from these woods." With a puff of smoke, she vanished.

That evening, the old woman did as the witch had instructed her, and planted the seed in a flowerpot with fresh soil and water and when morning came there was a beautiful flower, tall and budding, bright red and yellow like a tulip. "How beautiful," the woman said, although confused. She smiled and kissed the flower gently.

The petals opened and there, laying in the center of the flower was a little girl of exceptional beauty and grace, no bigger than the size of the old woman's thumb. Although different from a normal girl, the old woman cried with joy in her eyes, happy to have a child of her own. The old woman loved the girl with all her heart, treating her like she would any daughter she could have had. And so this girl was given the name, Thumbelina.

Thumbelina was a stubborn girl, curious and regretful of her size. Still, she listened to many of her mother's stories, and in time came to accept her shortcomings. From far below, she saw the world different from others as she ventured into her mother's garden as though it were a jungle. Insects became her friends, and the small stream was a vast river for her to sail across on her boat made of petals. She carried her mother's words close in her heart, never wishing to be anything more than who she already was. And so Thumbelina was happy.

In the garden, Thumbelina met the Frog Prince, who fell madly in love with her. She cared greatly for him, as she did all the animals in her mother's garden. In time, she came to love him, and so they were wed. Thumbelina became the queen of the garden and ruled with kindness and love. She played with every critter and welcomed every visitor to their humble domain with an open heart. Everything seemed perfect and at peace, everlasting.

Then came the fateful and tragic day when Thumbelina would watch her prince be whisked away. With but a single kiss on the frog's head, his ugliness melted away and transformed into a handsome human. From atop a flower stem, far away, she watched and cried as the Frog Prince was wed to a human princess and disappeared inside the king's castle, never to return to the garden.

And so ended Thumbelina's first love.

Devastated, she sailed away, down the stream from her mother's home on a lilypad. Thou, was it truly her first love? Even she knew that it always took true love's kiss to break any spell…