Not quite fanfic...
So this isn't fanfiction necessarily...though I guess in a way it is. I'm in a class on fairy tales and we just finished an assignment, which was to pick a fairy tale of our choice, and to re-write it, implementing the techniques we've studied in class and the motifs that appear in the original, blah blah blah
I chose Beauty and the Beast. And I've altered the hell out of it. If you only know the story as the Disney version this will barely even *resemble* the story you know. But it is still a Beauty and the Beast tale type...just...with my spin on it.
I am so ridiculously proud of this thing as well. Feel free to tell me if you hate it...but at least tell me why :)
Word Count: 2206
Once upon a time, there lived a young Prince in a far-off kingdom. The Prince’s mother had died when he was just a small child, and his father had never re-married, and so the Prince had no brothers or sisters. Instead, the Prince grew up with the children of the castle servants, and even after those children became servants themselves, the prince remained close with them, considering them as dear as family.
The Prince was not very handsome, but he was very kind, and as he grew older, he became known throughout his kingdom for the kindness and charity he offered anybody who came to his door.
Sadly, when the Prince was little more than a boy, his father the King passed away, leaving the kingdom and all its inhabitants to the boy. On the day of his father’s funeral, people traveled from all across the country to bid farewell to their King, but more-so to offer condolences to the Prince for he was already more loved than his father had been.
Among these mourners came an enchantress who had heard of the young Prince’s graciousness, and she wished to reward him for his years of selflessness.
When the enchantress approached the Prince she told him that she would grant him anything he desired as long as it was not against the laws of the kingdom
.
The Prince told her that what he wanted more than anything was for his friends, the servants, to have their freedom. The Prince would have granted them this himself, but he was still too young to assume the crown and would have to wait another three years before he would become King. The enchantress was delighted at his request, but also very saddened, for she knew that only the King could set the royal servants free, and she could not perform magic against the laws of the King, and so she told the Prince that she would be breaking the code of Sorcery if she were to grant his wish.
“Very well,” the Prince told her. “If they cannot yet have their freedom, then I wish for us always be together.”
“Your wish shall be granted,” the Enchantress told him. “And since your wish is born out of kindness for others, I will grant you one more request.”
The Prince did not know what to wish for, as treasures and fine garments had always been of little worth to him, and so, looking out over the castle grounds, he told the Enchantress that he wished for the gardens to always remain in full bloom.
The Enchantress waved her hand across the horizon and then told the Prince “It is done. And now my final gift to you is this. You are most kind, my young Prince, but do not fail to remember that Pride is a powerful curse. You have been bestowed with many fine things due to your gentle heart and giving nature, but Humility will always be more admired than Charity. I give you these beautiful gifts, but should you grow to take advantage of your reputation you will find they are not so beautiful as they appear.”
The Prince was confused by her words, but thanked her nonetheless, and the Enchantress left, wondering what would become of the innocent Prince.
The gardens she gave him were the most beautiful gardens to ever exist. There were flowers from all parts of the world, and, true to her word, the flowers always stayed in bloom no matter what the weather was. The Prince grew to love walking in his gardens, and came to open them up to all of his Kingdom for there seemed to be a calming energy that affected all who trod on the enchanted grounds.
One day, nearly a year later, the Prince and his butler discovered, hidden in the outer woods of the castle grounds, a rose garden surrounding a pool of water as still as glass, which they had never seen before. Entranced by the beauty of the roses, the Prince and his butler ran towards their new discovery, and saw that the rose bushes themselves created a fence around the rest of the garden, with one small opening on the west end. The prince and his butler stepped through the opening, and each felt a strange sensation pass over them as they crossed the threshold. They walked slowly, admiring the roses, a stunning red and the fullest blooms you’ve ever seen-until they saw their reflections in the pool of water in the middle of the garden, and let out a cry, for they had become the most handsome of men. They crossed back and forth several times, and determined that it must be an enchanted rose garden that made all who entered as beautiful as the roses within.
Thrilled, both the Prince and the butler wished to tell the rest of their friends of their discovery. But slowly, as they walked back to the castle, the Prince began to wonder if he wanted his discovery to be known. Though he trusted his friends, he feared for rumors of the magical rose garden spreading throughout his kingdom, and worried that people would no longer come to his gardens to be healed, but to be beautiful, and they may eventually destroy the garden. By the time the Prince reached his castle, he announced to his butler that the rose garden must always remain a secret, even to the rest of their friends.
The Prince then began making trips to the rose garden every day, at first to make sure it was still there and then to make sure no damage had been done to it in his sleep, but with each time he journeyed, he grew more and more entranced by his reflection in the pool of water, and noticed that it would sometimes change. On a night he allowed a peasant family whose house had burned down to sleep in his halls, he noticed his reflection the next morning was particularly radiant, but then another day after he had lied to one of his servants about to where he often disappeared, he saw his reflection much more closely resembled his former appearance, and the Prince came to realize that the pool was actually reflecting who he was on the inside.
Now the Prince did not care if he was beautiful or not, but by now having a way of measuring his kindness, he was determined to be more generous than ever, and began to open up not just his gardens, but his castle as well, to his Kingdom. He willingly gave up his riches, and even his food, to all who came to his door, and he did not visit his garden for quite some time, determined that the next time he did the reflection he saw would be more beautiful than a child’s first laugh.
After a month, the Prince had nothing left in his castle but his servants, his advisors, and only the food and items he needed to survive. Exhausted from his task, the Prince went once more to his garden, fueled only by the hope of what his reflection would show him. He arrived at the hedge, no longer able to walk, and crawled forward to the magical pool, but when he looked in, he was not met with the face of Apollo as he expected, but with the vision of a hideous monster. The Prince cried out and struck the water with his fist, and then the worlds of the Enchantress came back to him, and he fell into despair.
The Prince did not return to the castle after that, but remained in the dell, his outward appearance growing more like the hideous monster in his reflection every day, and he came to hate the company of others. Near the beginning his butler made a trip to the glade, concerned that his master did not return, but the Prince grew violent at the presence of an intruder, and after that, the butler did not return. Though the other servants did not know what had happened to their master, all of them began to notice a change in themselves upon his departure. At first, they thought it was sadness over losing their friend. Then, they believed it to be the pain of abandonment. However, unbeknownst to the servants, when the Prince made his first wish to the Enchantress, the fates of the servants became directly tied to himself. Now, the servants were not turning into monsters, but they simply began to fade away as the Prince fell further and further out of reality. Their skin and hair lost the glow of life and day by day became more transparent, and their eyes became hollow, like windows that had been painted over and could no longer let through the sun. Finally, the beautiful gardens started to close up, and winter fell on the entire Kingdom. The entire Kingdom, except for one small glade in the woods, where still bloomed the most brilliant of roses.
Until one day, an old man stumbled into this glade. He was old and hunchbacked, and had nearly lost all of his hope, for he had now been wandering in the forest for months. He was from a village far away from the wintry kingdom, where rumors were the only visitors and even they arrived only every few years. He had set out long ago in search of the generous Prince with the healing gardens, for his only daughter had fallen ill and he hoped he might find what he needed to save her.
The old man fell into the glade by accident. His journey had left him nearly blind and so he could not see the radiant blooms or the pristine pool of water, but merely felt a slight glow of warmth from the last place the sun still shone, and when he approached, he tripped into the garden and landed on the Beast that lay in the corner, who had once been the Prince the old man sought.
The Beast growled at the intruder. He might have retained his power of speech if he had tried, but in his despair the Beast gave up all luxuries he had known as a human. Now he knew only his garden, and grew angry at the breach of his two year solitude. The Beast approached the old man, thinking only that he must get rid of the stranger. He did not notice the cowering form, did not hear the pleas for mercy, nor the whispered good-byes to a girl somewhere in the distance; he saw only shadows, and this one was not familiar.
It was a cry from behind him that broke his advance. The Beast turned to the opening of his garden, and for the first time in two years, he saw light, though he did not know where it came from. The light moved closer until it was right before him, casting back the shadow of his nearly forgotten prey. He growled and began thrashing about, blinded by glow of whatever had entered his garden. He wanted to destroy it, to live in darkness until his soul finally withered away, but it felt like the shapes around him were only getting stronger and beginning to take shape once more. He could now see that the light which had entered his sanctuary was actually a girl his own age, and that she carried a small torch which now lay between himself and the two strangers. The Beast began to blink in the sudden brightness, and though only dimly, was aware of where he was. He saw the roses, saw the woods in the background, and a glint of sunlight off of the enchanted pool, and for a moment his anger swelled to where he feared he might tear the entire garden apart, but then it subsided, and he grew very calm, focusing on the one thing he knew he needed to do.
“Get out,” he managed to say, though it came out gruff and nearly incomprehensible. He heard the girl speaking, and she sounded angry, heard the old man who sounded sad, and he repeated his words. “Get out.”
He saw them take a step backwards, towards the exit, then take another step, and then all he saw was a shadow flying towards them. He tore forwards and threw the girl back, into the enchanted pool, before feeling a blinding pain as something knocked him to the ground.
But even as the Prince hit the ground, there was an explosion of warmth from where he landed. He dared not open his eyes, fearing that his garden had finally fallen to the spell of winter he had cast on the rest of his kingdom. He tried to tear at the ground, and to roar at the plague of darkness in his den, but found his voice sounded human, and that instead of claws, he had fingers, which did little damage to the soil beneath him. He curled up, frightened, wondering if he might finally be facing death, and opened his eyes to say goodbye to his flowers-
But he saw that he was looking at his flowers through the body of a man who was becoming more solid which each passing second, still out of breath from his sudden sprint towards the garden, and the Beast recognized this man to be his butler, his old best friend. He saw all of his old servants standing outside the garden, each regaining their form right before his eyes. He saw snow begin to melt from the trees in the forest, and then, off in the distance, the castle grounds start to glow with life as the enchanted flowers once more took bloom.
And then he remembered the two strangers, and turned. The old man faced away from him, withered and nearly dead, cradling something in his arms, which the Beast saw to be the girl with the light. He moved towards them, afraid, wondering what damage he had done, and for the first time since he discovered the garden, he felt love, and he knew that it was his duty to help them. He knew his time was over and that he could never repent for his sins, but their misfortune was his fault, and he wanted to save them.
The Prince approached the old man, felt him cringe at his presence, but said to him “Go to the gardens. She’ll be safe in the gardens.”
The servants entered, and lifted the girl and her father from the pool, and as they did, the water seemed to follow her in her ascent, rising from the ground in one elegant motion, and never returning. For a while, he stared at the ground where the pool had been, for already a new rose bush had begun to grow in its place, and as he stared, he felt life return to him. He bowed his head to the pool, and turned to look back towards his castle, and saw instead his servants kneeling before him.
“Your majesty,” the butler said. “Welcome back.”
And so the spell was broken, and the Prince returned to his castle, where he received his coronation, and then wed the girl who finally shone light into the darkness in which he had imprisoned himself, and once more the healing gardens of the castle were open. The servants were released from their indenture, but chose to remain with the Prince, just as the Enchantress had promised, and everyone lived happily ever after.
(Okay so there are still several obvious SE influences...but that's beyond the point, right?)