This is the first couple of sections of a short story I'm writing that is a twist on Beauty and the Beast.
Prologue.
Once upon a time there was a story that did not end in a "happily ever after". It was a story of a beauty with a monster hidden inside of her, and a story of a monster with a hidden beauty inside of him. It was a story about struggle interrupted by precious moments of tranquility. It was a story about fighting; against others and with one's self. It was a story about hate. But most importantly, it was a story about love.
Chapter 1: Belle
Once upon a time in a land far far away, there was a young girl named Belle. The only child of a widower, Belle grew up nearly alone. She stayed pent up in her little cottage, books her only companion.
It had been this way ever since she was seven. That was when her mother died and her father locked himself away in his tool shed, burying himself so deep in his inventing that he could never dig his way back to the real world, even if he wanted to. Belle strove to pull him back to her by relentlessly trying to improve herself. She would spend her days teaching herself to sing, play the piano, dance, and of course read. Every once and a while she would manage to capture her father’s attention and show him her new talents. But his only reaction would be a vague hint of a smile swiftly followed by a cold shoulder. He could not bear to face his neglected child, no matter how amazing she may be.
…………………….
One early fall morning, Belle journeyed through the small village that she inhabited in order to find another book. The air was cold and a vague fog hovered around the city. Belle hurried across the cobblestone streets of the town looking down at her feet so that she could hide her face that she thought looked hideous. She hadn’t eaten anything before she left, and her stomach was growling. But she ignored it, as she always did.
Unfortunately for Belle, staring at the ground prohibited her from seeing anyone who may be approaching. So, Belle collided with a man who had his nose so far up in the air that he could not see anything except for the blinding beauty of the morning’s sunrise.
Belle’s eyes cautiously looked up towards his as his eyes lowered to hers. They stared at each other for a long moment. All that Belle saw in this stranger’s eyes was a shallow, foggy brown.
“You are the most beautiful girl I have ever laid my eyes upon, what is your name?” Gestaund asked in a gentle voice with a slightly growling undertone. Belle stood bewildered for a moment. She never thought of herself as pretty. Not once.
“Belle,” she responded in a trance.
“Hmm... I don’t recall ever noticing you in this small village. Are you new to the town?” Gestaund inquired.
“No,” was the only thing Belle managed to say.
“No, huh… Oh you must be the crazy inventor’s daughter.”
“Yes."
“Well, regardless of your family you are a wonderful creature,” he said. “May I do you the honor of escorting you?”
“Yes,” Belle responded.
“Then where are we headed?”
“Library,” Belle said, still mistified by how a man as attractive as Gestaund could want her company.
Gestaund talked about his wealthy upbringing and many accomplishments throughout nearly the entire walk. He only stopped once to tell Belle to hurry up because his time was precious. Belle obeyed promptly, even though she felt a bit woozy and quite tired. This brought a slight smile to Gestaund’s face. She was definitely a woman that would be seen and not heard.
They arrived at a tiny building that was not much larger than the carriage parked in front of it. Belle opened the door and walked inside heading directly for a bookshelf in the far corner. She knelt down to look at the bottom shelf as she carefully picked up several fairy-tales. She searched through the books gently opening them to the first page, reading the first line, and then the back page, reading the last line. After a couple of tries she found one that began with “Once upon a time” and ended with “Happily ever after”. She loved books that began and ended in such a way because in those lines was an understood promise that the story would be about a beautiful young girl and a handsome prince that would fall in love and live happily together forever. Belle lived for putting herself in those lovely girls' shoes. She wished adamantly that she could be like them; pretty, thin, and never alone. But, she knew that she was much too imperfect, much too ugly, and much too fat to ever be like those characters in fairy-tales.
As Belle stood up, book in hand, Gestaund towered over her. “Wait, you went to the library to get a book for yourself?” Gestaund asked forcefully.
“ummm… yes,” Belle meekly answered. Gestaund stared at her. He could not deny how beautifully her long brown hair glistened, how unblemished her pale skin looked, and how thin her frail body was. He knew that he must have her, but he also knew that he could not be seen with a woman that actually enjoyed such a terribly unladylike thing as thinking.
“Belle.” Gestaund finally broke the silence. “I would very much like to do you the honor of taking you to the upcoming ball, but you must stop reading. It will poison your mind.”
“I ca-can’t,” Belle stuttered, thinking of how she absolutely needed to hold on to her only porthole into a perfect life. Before Belle could further be swayed, she mustered up all of her strength and she ran away. She wished for some reason that she could not quite grasp, that she could keep on running forever.
Chapter 2: Betrayed by a Kiss
Belle continued to run, powered by sheer will. She was very tired. Her breath was heavy. She developed a nauseous feeling that started at the pit of her empty stomach and climbed up to her throat. Her body was calling out to her to stop, to stop everything. Yet she continued to run.
Belle finally reached the comfort of the inside of her cottage. Her weight pulled her to the ground, and she lay there sprawled out on the cold wood floor. Her head swam. Her breath gasped. Her chest heaved. Her stomach ached. Her heart raced. Her body was screaming, but she refused to listen.
Belle mustered all of her remaining energy and curled onto her side while unfolding the book from the library. She entered willingly into its world.
The hours flew by.
Thunder roared outside, forcing her back to reality. Her stomach responded with a growl of it’s own. It was so hungry. It wanted food horribly. A voice inside of her would certainly protest. Belle braced herself for the upcoming battle that inevitably would occur. It always did. It was an internal battle; perfection verses beastly instinct, (which side is which, however, is uncertain). In this fight reason and delusion were ammunition, her body was the scorched battle field, and her soul was collateral damage.
The battle begun with the words "You're fat" shooting through her mind.
"I'm hungry," was the slightly wounded response.
"You don't need food. You had some yesterday, too much yesterday," the first side retaliated.
"But I'm weak without food," was the other side's poorly aimed response.
"You're right," the voice teasingly declared, a fake white flag waving. "You are weak," the voice continued. "I can defeat you."
The other side knew that those words were true. "Please, I'm hungry," it begged. It would receive no mercy.
The words, "No one cares," jabbed through her heart. The battle was lost.
Belle mechanically sat up. Her eyes fully glazed over. She felt completely empty. The clock ticked the seconds away.
All of a sudden a heavy knock burst through the silence. Belle stood up and walked to the door. She opened it. Standing in the middle of the darkening night sky was none other than the gorgeous, "valiant", Gestaund. "How could you reject me you stupid girl?" Gestaund asked. Without waiting for a response, Gestaund intruded into Belle's house, her only private place, knocking into belle as he passed through the barriers. Belle was startled and even afraid of his sudden change in character, but nonetheless she followed him into the sitting room. She knew that she should remark upon his rudeness and impropriety however she couldn't muster up the courage.
Gestaund turned around to face Belle. "Can you imagine the embarrassment I felt when I had to admit to the townsmen that you, Crazy Maurice's daughter, rejected me?" he continued. "I am the most handsome, envied man in the entire town. You ruined my reputation." Belle looked at him blankly, she was afraid. "Don't you hear me?" Gestaund interjected. "You ruined me!" Belle could vividly smell the strong alcohol in his breath. She wanted to leave the tension filled room but just as the thought crossed her mind, Gestaund abruptly grabbed her shoulders and pushed her up against the wall. He smacked Belle across the face and then forced a kiss upon her. Belle was trapped.
Thanks for reading! Please give me harsh critiques, either nit picky or more general. Oh, and if you could, let me know whether you caught any metaphors because I'm developing some and want to know at this point how much the reader can pickup.
I'm Jai, one of the Four Musketeers, here upon your request at our WRFF thread.
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