The Ugly Beast And The Beautiful Girl

A FICTION SHORT STORY BY MS. MADHAVI DESHPANDE.

DISCLAIMER

This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents in this Story are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and unintentional.

The beast had finally found it!

A cave in a desolate area of the jungle, far far away from the place where he had dwelt from his birth, some thirty-odd years ago. The beast had been born and brought up in a family of beasts, but that was not the only reason that he was called a 'beast' by everyone, even his near and dear ones.

He was called a beast, well, because frankly, he looked like a beast and nothing else!

All the others beasts of his family and fraternity were called by their christened names, like Raghu or Bholu or Kalpana or Birju.

But not him!

He had always been called a 'beast', for he did look like a beast. And nothing else!

In reality, he was nowhere near the concept of a savagely fierce, untamed, monstrous, and savage wild beast. He was neither foul nor venomous nor menacing nor a brutal animal.

Instead, he was a kind-hearted, benevolent, shy creature, compassionate, and even considerate.

But his enormous, hulky physique betrayed his soft and tender inner-self and his sense of deep inferiority complex and self-doubt.

He was large and ugly and hairy, a loathsome, fearsome creature. A shaggy and bull-necked, pot-bellied beast. He was very short in stature, only 4 feet 1 inch. He sported a rather large pug-nose which made up a large portion of his face apart from his very chubby cheeks. His breasts were those shaggy types, full of unwanted loose fat, and swung like pendulums as he walked. He had those bulky, stubby arms and a huge swaying bottom, not to mention the thunder thighs and large paws. And when he walked, his body which could not bear his weight, used to swag left and right. Left and right.

The only blessing that he considered in terms of his features was his very small pair of eyes. Since they did not completely display his tears of hurt and shame, from a distance.

The most sulken was however the area around his jaw and though it did not have that much flesh, it was weighed down much by the weight of the public humiliation and insults that he had to bear. The beast was a sad, lonely man, who withered alone in his world and always felt unloved and unwanted. This was best expressed by his perpetual gloomy facial expression and the profound and unending dismay in his eyes.

It was as if he was the one who hated himself the most! 

And had given up on himself! 

To ever finding love or acceptance. In this bad world, which only admired and respected the most perfect and the most beautiful!

He was a natural misfit and even in the world of beasts, he stood out conspicuously and was shunned or ignored by almost the entire beast fraternity too.

He was his own enemy, was one of those rare creatures who was the most disappointed with his appearance and that was one of the main reasons that he accepted every insult and sneer and humiliation that was thrown at him, verbally or otherwise.

Directly or indirectly.           

Never in his 30 odd unhappy years had he ever answered back or even felt that his tormentor was in the wrong. The beast had arrived at the opinion that he had no right to be born so ugly and disgusting and that everyone in the world (i.e. those who were far prettier than him, which was, in fact, the entire world, as per his judgment) had the supreme right to insult, ridicule him and make him feel small, worthless and almost like dirt.

He considered even his perfect health his enemy and many times wished that sickness or death should take away his wretched life!

Naturally, he had no friends for he was too self-conscious to mix with anyone and firmly felt that no one would consider him worthy of his friendship. Or love. Or attention. He had become a loner especially since the time he realized with a new sense of pang, that even his mother, his birth-mother, preferred to call him 'beast' instead of the name that she had christened him with.

So the beast felt hurt, betrayed, and even amid the company of the beast, he felt lonely.

He had not made a single loyal friend in this world and his only friend was a shabby, dirty dog whom no one loved or feared and everyone chased away with stones and cuss words. The dog found solace and comfort only in the company of the beast, who had been similarly rejected and shunned by society. Only with him did he occasionally share a common equation.

After his parent's death and the scattering away of his siblings, the beast become lonelier and wanted to get away from it all. It was then that he started his journey to be away from society and without any farewells (for he knew that he would be neither missed nor held back), he drifted away from the only family that he knew.

And travelled away from the familiarity into the unknown. Knowing that 'the unknown' may be either very accepting or very cruel.

With just a sack of essentials and a walking stick to aid him in travelling the steep remote mountains in the jungles, he set out in search of a new cave, a new place to start afresh.

He walked and walked for many days…….in whatever direction his spirit guided him (since he did not carry a map or rather did not even know that such a thing existed) until he came to a remote, neglected cave. The cave was bare, save for the few bones of a beast who might have been hunted by a tiger years ago. The beast cleaned up the place and made a home for himself. Out in the forest……….away from the only society that he knew.

One day, he opened the humble sack of essentials, when he came across it------------the most dreaded thing in the world……….the thing that showed him his worth and nothing but the TRUTH…………… A MIRROR!

It had been months since the beast had looked into a mirror!

For the beast, the mirror was both his worst enemy and his worst nightmare!

For it always reflected the reality which was too difficult for the beast to accept. An ugly face, a dwarf stature, a horrible grotesque which was used by mothers to scare and silence their whining kids.

He vividly remembered that even babies, who he had held lovingly in his arms, had been repulsed and revolted by his sight and had started to cry endlessly. It was then that he had realized that even babies, once they start observing the world and its wonders, start making comparisons and maybe even judgments. 

'Whoever said that 'babies are innocent' is the greatest liar in the world' thought the beast bitterly that day.

So, alone in the cave, away from comparisons and judgments, he was happy. Yes! He was happier these days and could be even heard humming a lovely tune that synchronized with the happiness in his heart.

And he would have continued to bask in his glow of happiness, perhaps forever, had it not been for the mirror which was sticking out from the cotton bag, waiting for it to be picked up. By the beast, of course!

The beast had grimaced and even shredded at the mere sight of it! And did initially control his impending urge to pull out the mirror and look into it.

But curiosity, one of the most dangerous armour in the cad of emotions, got the better of him and he removed the mirror and with trembling stubby fingers, held it close to his face.

The result was pretty obvious!

The beast came face-to-face with reality, with himself and well…………….with his UGLINESS! And BEASTILNESS!

Time……………… he had depended on at least TIME to solve his problems (since he had heard that Time solves all problems). So he genuinely expected to get better and prettier with time………..like that happened to the ugly duckling who grew up to become a much pretty swan or like that of a cocoon which metamorphosed into a beautiful butterfly…………….he too expected nature and time to be kind to him and bless him with beautiful metamorphism, a transformation, a makeover.

But alas!

Time and Nature……….both can be so cruel and so unforgiving………….he understood the instant he glimpsed his reflection in the mirror.

He had certainly not become any prettier…………..only older and balder………..with his small crop of prematurely grey hair, there were dark patches on his chubby cheeks and his beard and moustache had grown and grown long with neglect. His eyes still carried that grave feeling of hate and neglect, and once more he felt that life was not worth living and that he was a useless piece of nature. Easily forgettable.

It is in this mad rage of disappointment coupled with bloody anger, he threw the mirror away with a great force (that can be produced only in moments of great hatred) and the mirror cracked and lay at one corner of the cave.

Where it was to remain for days and months on end…………….. Shunned, avoided, hated.

It had started as a normal day when the beast went out to hunt for rabbits and rats for his meal. When he heard it………….distinct sounds of a baby cry!

A baby's cry!

The cry of a human baby!

The beast could not believe his ears but then logically knew that he had to believe them because a baby cry was something which had never been in his wildest imagination and so it had to be the truth!

There had to be a baby, somewhere in the woods…………perhaps cold and lonely.

The beast rushed in the direction of the baby's cries and Lo!

He found it!

The baby, a hapless tiny thing, wrapped hastily in a white cloth, put in a plastic bag and thrown away………….discarded like rubbish………..

Though he was a beast, his heart was more human than the human who had thrown it away……….like rubbish………..

And the beast picked up the tiny life, shivering and crying out for food and warmth, who lunged at the beast's sagging breast………in an attempt to drink milk and save itself from great hunger and sure death!

Seeing the baby trying to nurse itself and greedily lap up at the beast's breast, melted the beast's heart like never before and he cried out, and this time, even louder than the baby!

It had been months since he had saved the baby girl………..yes! It was a pretty baby girl. The prettiest that he had ever seen!

She was a cute, very fair girl, with pink cheeks and round black big eyes. Her smile was sweeter than all the honey in the world and it could light up the surroundings like magic!

At least, it had lightened up the beast's life with happiness and hope.

The beast now no longer wanted to die, even though he was getter uglier by the day!

He now wanted to live and love the baby as his own……..

From the day he found the baby, the beast discovered a new purpose in life, a new meaning of life, and he discovered a new HIMSELF!

He never thought he was capable of loving someone so much that it hurt!

He wondered how such a delicate little thing, so flawless and so enchanting, could even exist in the world and how could he be blessed with so many hours and days and months with her……..to be so near something so extraordinarily beautiful though he was so monstrous and spiteful, meant that life was full of both sarcasm and kindness……….and this was perhaps the balance of nature! 

What a strange combination! What an irony of Life!

A Beauty and a Beast! And that too is so ….so….. very close. 

With only each other for comfort and company.

Two distinct things complement each other, completing each other. 

The most perfect and the most imperfect of creations, thrown together by the winds of fate.

'You are so pretty………….so …..so…beautiful" he used to coo to her in whispers, as he put her to sleep or as he played with her or as he cradled her or as he fed her.

And the pretty baby used to mumble back something like "mmmm….." and even her unintelligible wasps sounded like pure melody to him.

And when she, the prettiest baby in the world, used to look at him, the ugliest beast in the world, with such an overwhelming expression of love and tenderness and fondness, he used to feel blessed and once in a while, even felt that maybe he had become beautiful and fair and handsome after all, for that is the what he had seen in the baby's eyes! 

It was during some such times that he used to have the courage or the inclination to peer into the broken mirror and expect a miracle. Maybe he had blossomed into a handsome guy, after all!

Because his thought and behaviour had changed and had become more tender and softer after the baby girl had entered into his life, maybe his body too might have changed. Keeping in resonance with the shift in his thoughts and actions! And might have been become prettier and better!

And with these hopeful thoughts, he had once again peered into the mirror and into the world of truths.

And had to control his urge to once more smash the mirror!

For the mirror, the hateful mirror showed the picture of a beast, who was older and shaggier and uglier than before. Time had certainly not been kind to either his form or features; though his personality had surely become kinder and loving, these days for his eyes looked softer and kinder and had even lost that touch of hopelessness and gloom that they carried before!

He did not smash the mirror his time, but certainly kept it hidden in his sack………with a promise and pledge that he will not look into it ever…………………ever again!

The baby was now four years old and lovelier by the day.

The beast would love to comb and plait her hair, powder her face, and say to her endearingly "You are the most beautiful girl in the world" and kiss her fondly.

And the girl would reply "You are the most beautiful beast in the world" and kiss him fondly.

This would make the beast both happy and terrified.

Happy because he loved being loved and appreciated by such a lovely girl.

And terrified because he knew that she considered him to be the most beautiful beast in the world because she had not seen any other beast or man or any other living being on this earth. But once she comes face to face with the real world, full of handsome beasts and men, he knew that she was sure to hate him and despise him. 

And when she realizes that she is one of the most beautiful girls in the world, will she will never love him as before. 

The beast knew this and tried his best to keep her secluded from the world, and he never once took her to the market or town and kept her confined in the cave, and of course, he hid away the damn mirror.

The beast worried days on end when he thought about what will happen once she understands the difference between beauty and ugliness? Will she still love him? Or will he lose her?

The girl was now seven and already looking around and asking questions like "Why are you so fat?" or "Why are you so short?" "What is this thing hanging from your chest and arms?"

Though the beast gave straight answers to the girl, he worried for the day when she will be able to understand the difference between the pretty and the ugly or the day when she will be able to define prettiness and ugliness. What will happen to her love and their relationship then? Right now, she just saw things but could not compare them with anything but herself. Like she wanted to know why the beast had such stubby fingers while she had delicate, slender ones. Or why he had a huge loose stomach while she had a pretty flat one.

These were only comparisons now and she could not compare ugliness with beauty. For she had never seen her beautiful face in the mirror, so could not compare the beast with herself, though she saw the beast every waking moment of her life.

But when she understood that the characteristics of the beast were signs of ugliness, would she shun him as the others had?

The beast was also aware that it would become increasingly difficult to keep the girl away from the town and her people and the truth will reveal itself no matter how desperately he tried to hide the mirror or the girl from the town or from reality.

The girl was now a pretty young girl of sweet sixteen years and had bosomed into one of the most beautiful girls around!

During one hot afternoon, when the beast was sound asleep, wandered a lone hunter and came to the cave. Imagine his shock when he saw the prettiest and delicate of girls in the company of a wild and ugly beast!

The hunter pitted the girl and quickly made friends with the girl (who was naturally attracted to the hunter since they were both of the same species) and asked the girl to come with her to the town, where she would meet boys and girls of her type and will not be lonely anymore.

"You can come back by nightfall," said the hunter to the girl, pretty sure that once the girl visits the town and meets young boys and girls, especially young men, she is sure not to return to this beast and his shabby cave and this savage life.

The girl, at first hesitant, to trust an unknown person and betray the beast (the only living being she had known in life), but felt attracted to the hunter like nails to a magnet, so strong was the pull that she promised herself that she will visit the town with the hunter and come back before nightfall.

"Ok" was all she said to the hunter, hastily writing a note to the beast, and left with the hunter.

It was around early evening when the beast woke, found that the girl was missing and after a futile search in and around the cave, found not the girl, but her hand-written note.

'Going to visit the town with a hunter…………will return tonight by nightfall'.

The beast, read and re-read it, again and again, and was quick to understand the meaning of the note, especially the words 'will return tonight by nightfall'.

He knew that once the girl comes face to face with the beauty and vibrant life of the town, its colours, and flavours and meets the many people thriving there, she is sure to develop a fondness for it all. She was a human being after all, and how long could she remain without feeling a bond of closeness with her fellow humans? And when she would be vowed by young and handsome men, she was bound to get pulled towards them by the strong attraction of love.

Worse, when she subconsciously compares the ugly beast to her handsome suitor, his comfortable home and life to that of the beast's rough life in the rugged cave, she is bound to choose the city life with a handsome man.

'Why, on earth, will she then return?' asked the beast to himself. 

He felt that the only glimmer of hope of her coming back to him and this cave life could be possible if he had grown a bit more pleasant or pretty over the years.

So with all the courage that he could muster, the beast took out the mirror from its hidden place after YEARS and YEARS and proceeded to catch a glimpse of his reflection in it.

And he saw!

The same ugly face, more old and bald, with shaggy sad eyes and a gloomy expression. 

'No! She will reject me outright', was his first and the last firm thought, for he had rejected himself right away.

So he smashed the mirror on the ground and beat it with stones till there were only small pieces left and a splinters were sprayed all over his cave. After that, the ugly beast cried and cried for hours, his heavy body shaking with sobs, the small cave echoing his grief and loneliness. For he was crying not for his appearance but for the loss of the love of the pretty girl, whom he knew, he had lost forever to beauty and praise and luxury of the town and its people.

'Life is not worth living and the lives of only the lucky ones have happy endings' were the only thoughts that occupied his mind as night approached, enveloping him in bleak and black darkness that he had never experienced before.

Minutes and hours passed…………….

And then dawned the next day……………..

Bright with sunshine…………..

Bright like the smile and joy of the pretty girl, who ran all the way to visit him…………..her saviour, her friend, her father, her world…………..excited to tell him all about her first-ever experiences in the Town, bustling with people, full of fun and colours and liveliness and beauty…………….and the many young handsome men who had been infatuated to her and showered her with lavish praises and expensive gifts!

It is with this surge of heightened emotions that she entered the cave, her only home from years, and gasped.

For the huge body of the ugly beast, was lying on the floor, his back on the floor, his heavy limbs sprawled open like an eagle………………….dried froth on his mouth…………..his right-hand finger clutching a note where a simple, single line, which summed up his entire life was written 'I fear rejection and ridicule more than death…………so I am taking my own life.'

------------------A FICTION SHORT STORY BY MS. MADHAVI DESHPANDE.