Hex Education

(Nanny Muk holds Singing Cricket, still a frog, in her hands. Kayra narrows her eyes. All are sitting at a table set with tea. A small swarm of beetles approches the pot and cups.)

Nanny: "True Love's Kiss"? No, dearie, that's just what we TELL people.

(Nanny tickles Singing Cricket's chin. The beetles, working together, pour tea into Kayra's cup.)

Kayra: But a kiss DOES turn the frog back into a prince. Everyone knows the story. Why tell the victim how to break the curse anywya?

Nanny: It's the whole POINT!

(A princess kisses a frog with a crown on its head. Next to it, a wedding scene, same characters, but the frog is now a prince.)

Nanny, in caption: When a kiss from some dippy girl DOES break the spell, both of them BELIEVE it was "The Power of True Love." So of course the natural thing for two true loves to do is to spend the rest of their lives together.

(The same characters, now older, sit in thrones decorated with hearts. The thrones are turned away from each other. The man cradles his head, holding a glass of liquor. The woman glares sideways at him, resting her chin on her fist.)

Nanny, in caption: Years later, the lovers, bound by choice to the first attractive pair of lips that came along, inevitably drift apart. This is the real curse - to spend their lives wondering... "If this is True Love... What's wrong with ME?"

(Back to the table, Nanny holds up her teacup. Kayra smiles down at Singing Cricket, who is pouring liquid from a flask into his cup. A beetle spoons cyanide into Kayra's cup.)

Nanny: "A Kiss From a Fair Maid," that's all it takes.

Kayra: Oh, husband, I'm so happy! The kiss didn't fail because you don't LOVE me... It was just because I'm not --

(Kayra stands up, looking upset. She has knocked over the teapot and squished a beetle. Singing Cricket hides behind his flask. Nanny has a mischievous grin.)

Kayra: Just what are you implying?!