Once upon a time, there was an ugly Beast. He wasn’t the richest and he was pathetic and lonely. He was scary and hairy, but when he smiled, he could light up the world with his smile. There was a beautiful lady who was the fairest of them all and loved to dance and sing. But unlike the Beast, she loved herself and no one else. The Beast saw the Beauty and fell in love with her. He planned to tell her how he felt. For a year, he would watch her dance and sing and tell himself, “One day surely I will tell her I love her.”

But every day, he wasn’t able to tell her. Until the fateful day he had the courage. He saw her admiring her reflection in the lake. He went and picked the most beautiful flower he could find. He told her, “My lady, the fairest in all the land. I may not be a prince, but my heart beats for you.” He got on one knee and handed her the flower.

After a minute, she laughed and knocked the flower from his hand. “You smelly old fat hairy pig,” she said, “You thought I could love you? I’d rather be dead.” Then she danced and she sang until she was home. She left the Beast heart-broken and all alone.

The Beast learned his lesson and changed his ways. He found out that beauty is not what is important. But true beauty is something that cannot be seen. He found things are most likely not what they seem. Years later, he heard of a poor lady in a tower who was just as lonely as he was. So he set out for the town near her tower.

He passed through a forest and ran into a sprite. She was stuck in a bush, unable to free herself. He parted the branches and she cowered, believing he was evil. He gave her the saddest but truest of smiles and it warmed her heart. “Give this to the woman you love and you will find happiness for the rest of your life.” She told him as she gave him the reddest of roses. He thanked her and told her he would remember her kind gift for the rest of his life.

He passed through a valley where there was a lost child. He walked up to the crying child and he ran away, screaming how scary the Beast looked. But the Beast gave him a smile and held out his hand. “Come here dear young child. I mean no harm.” The child walked up to him. “Why are you crying dear child?” He asked.

“I am lost from my family, they left me and went back home. The problem is I don’t know my way back home.” The boy replied. The Beast gave him one sweet smile and took his hand in his two. He walked with the young boy for a while. They stumbled upon a cottage and the boys parents came running out and gave the boy a big hug. “This kind Beast found me and walked with me until we found home.” The parents thanked him and ran inside the house. They came back out and handed him a gemstone that glowed a bright blue.

“This old thing has been sitting gathering dust. We have no use for it. It is said to be able to bring someone back to life.” They said. But he tried giving it back saying, “Please, no. A plague has recently fallen upon this land. Keep it for when you need it.” But they refused and shoved it into his hand and sent him off.

He came across the town by the tower. The people were terrified of him, and he gave them all a smile. But, his smile didn’t comfort them. They all hid from him. So he left the town in search of the tower. He found a book on the road up to the tower. It told a story of a princess locked in a tower with long hair. At the end of it, the prince charming had come to rescue her and they lived happily ever after.

The Beast felt sad, thinking the lady in the tower would be expecting a charming prince to save her. It rained and the Beast saw himself in a puddle and imagined he was a great, handsome prince. He continued on. He came across the tower and heard her cry "Moi je m'appelle mademoiselle Noir. Et comme vous pouvez le voir. Je ne souris, ni ris, ni vis. Et c'est tout ce qu'elle a dit." He didn’t understand.

“Fair lady, I am sorry, I do not understand. If you wait, I will come back soon.” He left and memorized what she said as he went on back to town. But no one was willing to listen to him, so he left town. He went back to the family, but found they had all died from the plague. He went back to find the sprite, but the forest was cut down and the sprite was nowhere to be found. He went back to where he found the beauty. There she was, admiring herself in the lake.

“Fairest one in the land. If you remember me, can you help me?” But she up turned her head and told him, “Why would I help a stinky pig?” She sang and danced off, leaving him heart-broken yet again. So he walked back to where the forest was. There was a new town starting. He asked around and found someone to translate. “‘Me, my name is miss Black and like you can see I don't smile or laugh or live.’ And that's all she said” Was what he was told.

He made the journey back to the town by the tower. Everyone was celebrating and drinking. They didn’t notice the beast walking through. He was happy and excited to know what she said, he was going to tell her that he was going to be her prince.

But, when he got to the tower, he didn’t see her. “My fair young lady!” He would call. He called and called, but there was no answer. He decided he would come the next day and try again. For a week, he kept calling out, “My fair young lady!” But there was no answer. He climbed the tower one day, after calling seven times. But, she was nowhere to be found. All that was found was a skeleton in the corner of the room. He climbed back down and went back to town. There he found a man who had claimed to have killed an undead.

The Beast went to the mayor of the town and asked what happened to the fair lady in the tower. “That was no lady.” Said the Mayor. “That was an undead demon.” The Mayor invited the Beast to sit down and told him the story of the ‘demon’ in the tower. “A man found the tower and she tried cursing him by saying, ‘Moi je m'appelle mademoiselle Noir, et comme vous pouvez le voir je ne souris, ni ris, ni vis. Et c'est tout ce qu'elle a dit.’ But he ran away in time before the curse was finished. He came to town and told the people of the undead. So we took up our swords and guns. We then burned her by her black hair as it hang from the side of the tower. We all watched as her pale skin burned to a crisp, and we celebrated this victory.”

The Beast, unable to believe this, ran out and to the tower. He climbed back up. Kneeling at the skeletons side, he cried for the first time in his life and said, “Oh, fair lady, I am sorry. I came too late, and you suffered greatly. You burned while waiting for your prince. But, your prince was busy trying to understand you.” He ran into town and grabbed some rope. Climbing back up the tower, he tied it and put it around his neck. “If I am destined to be lonely forever, I cannot live. My first love thinks I am a pig. My second love burned to death.” The Beast jumped.

The sprite found him hanging, dead and wept. She went back into town and there they all sang, “Oh dear kind Beast. If only you had used the stone, she would have come back. Now there lies two bodies of lonely ones who almost found love. The rose for his love would now wilt as it no longer serves a purpose.”