The Fair and The Feral

Once upon a time there was a girl

Whose beauty was unrivaled in all the land.

But she was poor

and Couldn’t afford a napkin,

much less a pearl.

Her mother -

a desperate shrew

couldn’t believe her luck.

Her daughter was pretty enough

to bring a hefty dowry.

The girl’s name was Grace,

yet the townspeople called her Beauty

and she feared beautiful was all she would ever be.

Her mother was delighted

and boasted of Beauty’s looks.

Despite all the praise

and fawning of the townspeople,

Beauty hated her name.

People were enamored with her fair hair

and skin

and eyes as blue as the sky.

No one noticed the fire in her eyes

or passion in her heart.

She began to ache

and itch feeling trapped in her own hide.

One day, tired of fake smiles,

sleazy suitors,

and demure nods,

Beauty slipped into the woods behind her cottage home.

She ran.

Branches tore her skin

and she welcomed the pain that would mar her face

and tangle her hair beyond the help of makeup or comb.

Something stirred

deep in her veins

as her heart pounded in time with her fleeing feet.

Throwing off the pointy shoes

and tearing apart the restrictive dress,

she began to change.

With one slash,

her blonde locks fell to the ground

Mud caked her body and a feral grin captured her lips

Her muscles became lean,

her mind sharp,

as she learned to survive on her own.

The townspeople claimed

she was taken by a hideous beast.

Rumors flowed freely as

Others claimed the movements in the wood

must be the monster looking for

Another maiden and

Beauty must have been eaten in a feast.

The howls of happiness that pierced the night

only added to the villagers fears.

Beauty was Free

Not an object to be owned and displayed,

She was allowed to be every aspect of herself -

Intelligent,

Kind,

Ferocious.

In the end,

Beauty never returned to the village.

She went on many adventures and

After falling in love with herself,

she fell in love with another.

Yet, she told her children

and her grandchildren,

The most important thing she learned

from her time in the woods was that

She was both

the Beauty

and the Beast.