Beauty and the Beast (Retold)

My version of Beauty and the Beast

Once, in a land far away, there was a shining castle hidden behind the ever-growing royal forest. In the castle there lived a handsome prince with light brown hair and ocean eyes. Despite having loving subjects and all the riches at his reach, the prince was self-centered, spoiled, and ungrateful.

One stormy night, an old lady came knocking on his door begging for shelter and something warm to drink. In return, she offered him a beautiful lavender rose. The prince, repulsed by her ugliness, turned her away immediately. Again, she came knocking and again she was refused. This happened four times until at last the prince unsheathed his sword and stabbed the old woman in her heart.

At this moment her ugliness disappeared, replaced by a blindingly beautiful enchantress. The prince, completely taken by her beauty, began to apologize and asked her to stay, but it was too late. The enchantress could see that the prince had no love in his heart and that his eyes were clouded. She then turned the prince into a hideous beast and cast a spell on all the servants who lived in the castle, turning them invisible. The beast then began to howl in despair and the enchantress spoke, “Fear not, I also show mercy. The lavender flower is another cursed, a girl, who has gone against me. If you, Beast, or you, Flower, can find someone to love you, your spells shall be broken and you will once again be beautiful beings. But the beast has refused me four times, so in four years all the flower’s petals shall fall and you both shall remain in that form forever.” With that, she faded away.

                      ……………………………………………………………

Three years later, on a road not too far from the castle of the Beast, there was a merchant on his last stop before returning home. His bags were full of gifts for two of his daughters and he was searching for a gift for his third and youngest daughter, Belle. Though she only asked for a single rose, he could not find one worthy for his humble daughter. He found himself traveling to the garden of the shining castle. The palace grounds were so quiet that every step the merchant took could be heard with an echo. Despite the abandoned appearance, the roses in the garden bloomed and flourished.

At last, near the middle of the garden, the merchant found the perfect rose for his daughter. He carefully picked it and as he turned to leave, he felt a large hand on his shoulder. It was the Beast gripping the merchant’s shoulder painfully. “How dare you, Merchant, steal from my garden?” the Beast growled. The merchant shook with fear as he managed to stutter, “F-forgive me. I only wished to bring a rose to my daughter.” The Beast thought this over and said, “Very well, you may leave, but in return you must come back or bring your daughter to take your place.” The merchant, seeing no way out of it, agreed.

The merchant returned to his home and gave his daughters his gifts. The other two took off, overjoyed with their gifts. Only Belle seemed to notice the sad look on her father’s face. “Father, what is the matter?” she asked, concerned. The merchant sighed and turned to his daughter, “Belle, I can hide nothing from you.” He proceeded to Belle about the Beast and his promise. “But I cannot leave you, your sisters, and the business!” he cried, concluding his story. “You must keep your word. I will go in your place. The business cannot thrive without you,” Belle reasoned. The merchant, seeing no other way, eventually agreed. Within three days, Belle had her things packed and her goodbyes said. And she was off.

She arrived at the castle and took a deep breath before knocking on the door. She squared her shoulders, planted her feet firmly on the ground, raised her chin, and waited. Despite knowing that it would be the Beast at the door, she still took a step back when he answered the door. She averted her eyes and noticed he was holding a rose in a glass case. “Come in,” the Beast growled. As Belle stepped inside, she heard a light voice say, “Fool, your way of words will make any maiden run, beast or not.” Belle realized that the voice was coming from the rose. “Call me Rose,” the beautiful voice continued, “You may call him Beast. Our true names will be restored in time.” The Beast picked up the conversation, “No harm shall befall you. Whenever you need something, you only need to clap your hands and ask out loud. All the servants have lost their voices and become invisible, but what you ask shall be done.” With that, he bowed and walked away and her life with the Beast and the Rose began.

Belle had whatever she liked to eat and drink, but soon she grew tired of the solitude. So the Rose was brought into Belle’s room to keep her company. A few days had passed since Belle’s arrival and the Rose suggested she have dinner with the Beast. By now Belle had become good friends with the Rose and she had been treated so well that she had lost fear of the Beast, so she agreed. At dinner the Beast asked suddenly, “Do you find my ugly?” Belle, being a sensible and truthful girl, said “Beast, you know too well what you are and that you are ugly. But you have a kind and good heart. I prefer you a beast with a heart like that than a handsome man with a treacherous one.” After dinner was done, the Beast asked Belle “would you be my wife?” Belle looked stunned. His blue eyed gaze was so intense that she was afraid to refuse him. Finally, she took a breath and said, “No, Beast.” He sighed and left the room. Back in her bedroom, Belle spoke to the Rose about what happened. The Rose pondered this. “I have known the Beast for several years now. He is a good man. He would make a good husband.” Changing the subject, Belle asked, “Why are you a rose?” With a grin in her voice, the Rose said, “I refused the son of the Enchantress.” Both laughed and spent the night speaking about their home without a hint of sadness in their voices.

With the encouragement of the Rose, Belle began having dinner with the Beast every night. Three months passed by quickly. Belle slowly began looking forward to having dinner with the Beast and realized what a kind- hearted person he was. In the days she spent speaking with the Rose about this or that and Belle’s happiness only grew. Yet lurking on her mind was the question the Beast asked at the end of dinner every night: “Belle, would you be my wife.” And every time Belle replied, “No, Beast.” That night the Beast asked the same question, this time, Belle gave a different answer, “I don’t think that I will ever marry you, Beast. I only see you as a friend.  But I do hope you know that I shall always see you as a friend.”  The Beast thought this over and sighed. “I suppose I must accept it, but promise you will never leave us.” Belle thought this over. “I think I could be happy here, you and Rose are my dearest friends. Yet I don’t think I can live without my family. If you allow me to visit my family, at least one last time, I will be content.” “Very well,” said the Beast. And Belle returned to her room.

She spoke to Rose that night about visiting her family. The Rose was quiet at first. Then, with a sad whisper, she said, “You’ll come back to me, won’t you, Belle?” Belle was startled. “Of course I’ll come back,” she replied, gently. She then removed the glass case that covered the Rose and lightly kissed her petals to seal the promise. How soft her petals are! Belle thought. Who knew kissing a flower would be so lovely?  “Tell me about your family,” interrupted the Rose. And so Belle told her about her two sisters and her loving father. She told her about the festivals of her town and the parties held at midsummer nights. She described the baker who took care of her when her father was away and even the music of the nights by the lake. All while the Rose listening without a sound. When Belle finished, there was a pause. “Why did you refuse the son of the Enchantress?” Belle asked suddenly, “Was he ugly?” The Rose laughed. “No, no. He was not ugly. He is very handsome in fact. But I simply could not love him.” They continued to speak throughout the night. When it was dark in the room, their voices continued on. Belle could almost imagine that the Rose was a girl, just like her, lying down next to her. This made her smile and reach out to grab the hand she wished were there. The Rose and Belle continued to speak until the light of dawn broke through the window and it was time for Belle to leave.

The Beast and Rose were there to send her off. She gave the Beast a quick hug, and then turned to the Rose. Again, Belle removed the glass cover, and gave the Rose a quick kiss and she turned to leave. “Wait,” the Beast called out. He reached into his pocket and took out a mirror. “A week, I give you, to visit your family. To come back, you must place your palm flat against the surface of this mirror.” With a wave, Belle rode away.

When she arrived home, Belle was greeted by her overjoyed father. He had missed her dearly and told her of her sisters. The sisters had married and had wealthy husbands. The eldest sister’s husband was fond of his own person and ignored his wife. The second sister had married a man with wit, but used it against everyone and his own wife. Both sisters begged for the comfort of Belle that they had took for granted all those years and Belle gave it to them. The week was slowly passing by as Belle longed to return to go back to the castle. It was not until the sixth day that Belle realized she truly was in love.  Nine days soon passed, but Belle could not bear to leave her family when they needed her most. On the tenth day, Belle was out in the garden with her sisters. She saw a rose and said to her sisters, “Look sisters! The petals of a rose are so soft!” But when she kissed the rose, there was a frown on her face. The petals were not so wonderful as she remembered. It was then when she realized who she was in love with, and quickly ran inside with her sisters following close behind. Her father, hearing all the commotion, came into her room. “Father, dear sisters, “Belle began, “I have fallen in love and I must go back. Please forgive me.” Her father and sisters weeped, but wished her well and gave her their blessings. She took the mirror and disappeared.

Belle ran into her room, but could not find the Rose or the Beast. She ran everywhere, calling for them. The invisible servants, hearing her calling, hurried to her and pulled her to the garden. There laid the Beast and the Rose, dying. “Rose!” she shouted. “Forgive me Rose, for not being here. I am here now. Please live.” Tears fell onto the Rose’s falling petals. “I love you,” Belle whispered. There came a sudden flash and the Enchantress appeared. Belle, stunned, momentarily forgot the Rose. When she turned back, the Rose was gone. “Rose!” she screamed. “Fear not,” said the Enchantress, “Look again.” There laid a girl with incomparable beauty, asleep by the Beast’s side. “What about the Beast?” Belle asked, for the Beast remained unchanged. “He was unable to find love, but because he has shown a change of heart, I give him one more year. This is mercy that I show.” The Enchantress turned to the sleeping girl who was once a rose and mumbled to herself, “It makes sense now. If I had known…” And she then disappeared. The girl woke up to see Belle’s face hovering above hers. “Oh Belle,” she said, “My name is Lillian. I am Lillian!” Belle took Lillian’s face in her hands and kissed her. “What about Beast?” Lillian asked. Belle assured her that everything would be fine.

The servant’s came to carry their master away to bed. Lillian and Belle took each other’s hands and decided to walk to the nearest town before the Beast awoke. On their way there, they came upon a father and daughter walking the opposite way. Belle heard the father say “Beauty, look out” and Belle turned around. “Is your name Beauty?” asked Belle. “Yes! I am Beauty.” “What a unique and lovely name! I am Belle and this is Lillian”, said Belle. “This is my father who is a merchant,” Beauty said, “We came to the town to trade but we have seem to have gotten lost.” Lillian and Belle looked at each other and smiled. “We are headed there right now. Would you like to come with us?” Lillian asked. The father thought this over and said, “We would love too. I do hope we are not interrupting  your private moment.” “No matter! We would love to talk with you and your daughter. She is about our age, yes? Do you like roses, Beauty? We know where you can find the loveliest roses…”

Author's Note

I wrote this maybe last year or a bit longer? Anyways, was never going to post it...but here it is! This is actually the first story I ever finished that was not school related. Why? Because I suck at writing stories.

Reviews

[A. Amos]

I enjoy your story telling looking forward to read more