You are a little
boy. Ten, maybe eleven years old. Your parents aren’t here; you don’t know
where they are. Maybe there’s a war. Maybe they just left you here because
they didn’t want a child under foot.
It’s been a long
time since you’ve seen your parents. You used to miss them. You used to cry
for your mama in the night.
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Version 1 Version 2
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You have a new mama now.
She’s much nicer than your old mama. She always pays attention to you, and
she hugs you and kisses you and holds you when you’re sad or scared.
But you don’t stay eleven.
And it begins to seem…strange, how affectionate she is. It makes you
uncomfortable, but you don’t know why. You don’t say anything, because she is
your mama, the only one who’s been here for you, and surely she knows what
she’s doing.
And then she asks you to
marry her.
You say no.
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But you hardly think of
them anymore. You have new people to take care of you now.
These people aren’t your
family. They’re your employees. You think they care for you, at least a little; after all, you are their prince.
But it isn't the same.
They don’t hug you. Their children don’t want to play with you. They call you
master and prince and sir, until you think you might forget your own name, it’s
been so long since you’ve heard it.
One night, a strange old
woman comes to the door, and all the grownups turn to you. You are young, a
little spoiled, a little afraid. You tell them to send her away.
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She doesn’t take it
well.
You are not the bad
guy. It wasn’t your fault. It was never your fault.
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As you have probably noticed, I like Beauty and the Beast. A
lot. Yesterday I saw the Disney musical at my local community theater—and oh my
goodness, I know I’ve said this before, but I am head over heels in love with
how awkward and adorable the Beast is in the second half.
And I know there isn't anyone actively arguing with me or
anything, but I felt the need to defend him. Again.
I know it’s been a really long time since I’ve been around—sorry.
I bought a house, and now I’m in the process of moving into a house—more about
that later—and I’ve been so busy I’ve hardly had a chance to write at all. It’ll
probably continue being slow going for the next month or so, but I’m working on
it. Stay tuned.
