Mar
4
the beauty and a beast
How her peers didn’t see the caterpillar inevitably becoming the butterfly is beyond any reasonable explanation. It was as simple as Clark Kent removing his glasses. Sometimes high school and college are a lot like the newsroom of the Daily Planet.
On the other hand, it was easy to see how he became the beast from an early age. He came from wealth, was strikingly handsome and he seemed to move through medical school and into a career as a surgeon effortlessly.
When she finally removed the glasses she became an entirely new creature.
His secret was that he also became a new creature every now and then. During full moons to be specific.
The attraction between them was primal and had a sense of urgency that surprised them both.
Eventually the walls came down and he was able to share his secret and she did her best to help him navigate the curse.
There, 200 pages of story compressed into 136 words. Like a literary trash compactor.
You’re welcome.
The reason you didn’t need the 200 pages is because the archetypes have been explored so many times and in so many settings that any reasonable man or woman can fill in the gaps without any additional information. If you were at any time to vary any of the traditional clichés offered up you immediately know it doesn’t ring true and the arch of the story collapses.
Good girls and bad boys are at the beating heart of not only every decent narrative throughout history but also take center stage in every society. Beating, racing, fluttering, we’ve all been there.
We’re all there now.
So the story builds to the exciting conclusion that you should have seen coming a mile away. A conclusion built countless times before by more adept architects.
For all the good the man tries to do, the monster still lurks within and occasionally comes out and wreaks chaos, and then when he is found out the mob descends with the intention of stringing him up.
He attempts to use his charm and influence to reason with them to no avail.
Ever the devoted partner, she attempts to intervene and use her feminine wiles to sway them. All the while the clock is ticking and the full moon is about to be revealed in the nighttime sky.
You know exactly how this is going to play out but you can be excused if your heart is racing or fluttering a bit at this juncture.
As usual, reason is useless and the beast is forced to flee with the mob in hot pursuit.
He safely makes it to his sprawling estate and confines himself in a safe room until the dawn.
… at least until he sees his lover being set upon by the frothing crowd courtesy of a bank of security cameras. Torn by the implications of his actions, he hurries to save her before the transformation begins. Tick tock. Tick tock.
By the time he reaches her she is badly wounded. He heroically scoops her up and attempts to return to his safe room, but realizes at last that she will die if he does not immediately attend to her wounds. A decision that in reality is both in keeping with and in violation of his Hippocratic Oath.
Unable to watch her die in his arms he stops and begins to treat her.
It’s then the light of the full moon bursts forth into the room and he feels himself becoming the monster.
The beast.
He fights it with all his fading strength… and inevitably fails.
The next morning the authorities find her eviscerated corpse, validating every fear and bias the townsfolk held.
Tale as old as timeSong as old as rhymeBeauty and the beast
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