One morning as Thumbelina came out to feed the baby eagle, she saw it perched on the nearby tree, waiting for her. It had fully grown into a majestic Eagle with large, sturdy wings and powerful talons. Thumbelina felt a little intimidated by the beautiful thing she had raised. Then, the Eagle cried out at her, unfurled its long wings and took flight into the clear blue sky. The Eagle was gone. Thumbelina felt her heartbreak a little.

Thumbelina continued to flower like the most beautiful rose and attracted the attention of many in the land. However, in the most tragic twist of fate, Thumbelina's beauty and kindness attracted unwanted attention as well and got kidnapped by the local Toad she recently made friends with. The Toad Mother wanted Thumbelina as her own son's bride. Her son was the Prince of Frogs and the Toad Mother thought her son deserved a princess just like Thumbelina. However, knowing that the old woman would never give up Thumbelina, one night, the Toad Mother snuck into Thumbelina's room and sank a small poison fang into Thumbelina's neck, tranquillizing her. She took off with Thumbelina in her walnut bed, out through the window and into the swamp.

When Thumbelina awoke, she felt groggy and in pain.

What happened to me? - she thought.

Thumbelina looked around and saw that she lay in her walnut bed atop a lily pad. She stepped out of her walnut bed and was immediately overcome with painful dizziness as she tried to stand straight.

"Be careful, darling! That poison is no joke!"

Thumbelina looked up to see the Toad Mother she had made friends with earlier.

"What have you done to me?!" cried Thumbelina.

"Don't worry. I won't harm you, I've just poisoned you slightly so that you wouldn't feel the rough ride down to the meadow. I do apologize for the unglamorous way we had to bring you to our kingdom."

"You won't harm me? You've kidnapped me!"

"We've only borrowed you for a while. I just wanted to introduce you to my son. He is the Prince of the Swamp! Meet Thaddius!"

A giant bullfrog leapt onto the lily pad on which Thumbelina's bed lay, rocking it unsteadily on the little lily pad.

"My Princess. I promise that you and I will find happiness. I may not be a handsome human prince, but my love for you will be far greater than that of any human. If you will allow my heart to reach yours, you will see that we are just like each other."

Thumbelina paused. After all, another Barleycorn child might not happen for another millennium and the thought alone made Thumbelina despair. Thaddius was most certainly no handsome prince that her Mother told her about, but maybe they were closer in spirit. Maybe she would be the Princess with her Frog Prince.

And so, in order to introduce her to his domain, Thaddius took Thumbelina around the swamp, looking at all the wonderful things the swamp had to offer. The first visit they paid was Thaddius' best friend, Joe, the Crayfish. Joe turned out to be loud and snappy and ended up pinching Thumbelina's arm as he tried to greet her.

"You fool!" Thaddius chastised Joe. "Look what you've done to my bride to be! What if you hurt her?!"

"It's quite alright, Thaddius" consoled Thumbelina.

"I wasn't really hurt" she lied to make peace between the arguing friends.

Thaddius harrumphed at Joe.

"Alright then, let's go before Joe does more damage," Thaddius said tartly.

He took Thumbelina to a lovely grove with weeping willow trees canopying the sky and beautiful purple flowers lushly carpeting the ground.

"This is where I come to regain strength when my soul is weary" Thaddius confessed.

"Do you enjoy living here Thaddius?" inquired Thumbelina. " Don't you get bored?"

"Mother wants me to become the next Frog King and I have been under immense pressure to live up to my late father's legacy. However, a part of me longs to see the world beyond."

As they spoke, Thumbelina spied another frog in the grove.

"Ah. Thaddius. I'm sorry, I didn't think you'd be here."

The she-frog was eloquent and beautiful (but a frog nonetheless).

She hopped up to Thaddius and gave Thumbelina a curt nod.

"Tiana." Thaddius said softly.

"It's been a while since you've been here so I thought it might be alright to visit."

"You still come here?"

It was a statement more than a question and Thumbelina had a feeling that the feelings between the two frogs were still a little fresher than Thaddius led on.

Later that night, Thumbelina visited Joe and asked him about Tiana.

"She wanted to marry him and Thaddius thought he would go on an adventure only he came back penniless and confused." Joe offered apathetically as he sharped his pincers.

"But... I thought he loved me..."

Thumbelina couldn't believe that Thaddius' words had been so hollow.

Joe laughed a cruel laugh.

"He just needs to get married because that's what his Mother said he needed to do before she gave him the crown."

Thumbelina felt devastation wash over her.

She lay in her walnut bed, crying silently and wishing to go back to Mother. She lamented at her eagerness to accept Thaddius' words. She mourned the faith that she put into his meanings only to be used as a means to an end.

"Mother!" She cried

"I cannot live like this, Mother!"

At that moment, a great wing darkened Thumbelina's view. The beating of wings came closer and Thumbelina saw it was the Eagle she had nursed.

The Eagle took Thumbelina's bed gently in its beak and in a great big flap, soared high into the sky once again.

"Oh, Eagle! I thought I'd never see you again!" Thumbelina said tearfully.

The Eagle easily glided across the immense skies and took Thumbelina back to the garden that she knew and loved.

Upon arriving home, Thumbelina ran to her Mother's room and called for her. "Mother! I'm home! It's Thumbelina!"

Mother emerged quickly from her room and gathered Thumbelina in her palm.

"My love! Where have you been?! I have been looking for you everywhere!"

Thumbelina told Mother of Thaddius and the Toad Mother.

"What?!... you... you're betrothed to the Frog Prince?" Her Mother said, appalled.

"Well... not anymore... the Eagle..."

Her Mother stood suddenly, anger emanating from her body.

"How dare you! How dare you decide to marry that ugly, slimy creature! How dare you sully my name! Now I shall forever be known as the lady who has a wayward and unscrupulous thumb-sized daughter that almost eloped with a disgusting frog!"

Thumbelina reeled back in shock, never having seen her Mother be so livid. Once the shock wore off, slow and insidious loneliness started to creep inside Thumbelina's heart.

Mother locked up Thumbelina inside her box with nothing but a small window looking out to the window in the room. The garden never felt further away.

With the creeping loneliness came strange darkness that clouded the clarity of Thumbelina's heart. 

She cried out to the Eagle. And before Mother could come to check on Thumbelina, the Eagle was once again at the window. It swooped in and grasped the box with its strong talons. It pecked the box with its strong beak and broke it open.

Thumbelina climbed onto the Eagle's leg and off they flew.