Ancora Io, Jane's story

(this is part of a novel being written here) Ancora Io

The Black Cat sauntered across the bridge across the town common, and was briefly considering a rat around the boat shed when Jane came walking by. She was deep in thought: hands deep in pockets, hair and face wrapped in a scarf topped by a hand knitted beanie. A drift of snow flakes fell over the pond, and the Black Cat turned to follow a different destiny.

Jane stepped over the fallen wall before opening the Café door to a rush of warmth. The Black Cat scuttled in and waited for her to walk to her usual seat. She waved at the waiter and took out her pad and licked a pencil. 

She started to write:

"Once upon a time

There was a little vampire girl who wished more than anything in the world, more than kittens and puppies, that a knight in shiny armor would come and... Well, to be honest, at that point, it gets a bit unclear what she wanted. And it changed from day to day depending on what she had eaten the night before.

Sadly, knights in shiny armor are not as familiar as they used to be. These days you need to be involved in currency swaps to get that sort of gig. They tend to congregate in financial hubs, well away from the countryside, or at least, the bit of park where the little vampire girl hunted. All in all, out her way, knights were a bit thin on the ground. If we could persuade one of those bright young researchers to come and look around, which might not be such a good career move, they would probably find many more frogs than knights.

On the day the little Vampire Girl met her knight, it was a wet, dark New England day. The sort of day her cookbook called an Indian Summer. A brief warm flush under the imminent threat of an icy blast catching the vermin afoot in the bright green, sickly woods. A day full of croaking frogs. A bit beside the point, but it might explain what happened next. 

Perhaps unexpectedly but entirely within the realm of probabilities, the little vampire girl met a frog rather than a knight. 

She raised him by one leg, hesitating briefly, wondering which bit she should eat first. In confusion, he reached out and gave her a quick kiss. 

Against the odds, and before anything else could happen (which might be a reason for subsequent regret), she turned into a frog as well.

A couple of days later, they were still together and working on the whole frog thing. But just as it looked like everything might work out, the park started to freeze." 

Nick quietly pulled up a seat opposite, silently ordering the usual with a wave and a smile, and giving the cat a quick head scratch. He waited until Jane stopped scribbling and she looked up at him, "Oh hi Nick. It happened again!" 

...

Ancora Io, Janes Story