La Bella and El Bestia

Chapter 1

Once upon a time in a far away land, a young prince named Manny lived in a shining castle. As a child he was good and sweet because he was cared for by his loving parents, King Rodolfo the most honorable and good man ever known and Queen Maria the most beautiful woman in the land and the most kind. They were a very happy family until one day the king and queen were called away to visit another kingdom over seas to discuss business. Manny was too young to come so he stayed behind and waited for their safe return. Sadly however on their way back, a terrible storm sunk the ship killing them both. The entire kingdom was heartbroken but the heart that never healed was the prince's.

After their deaths, Manny was to be raised by his grandfather and although he loved his grandson dearly he was a rather greedy man. While King Rodolfo was generous and held charities for his people, his father taxed the people when he ruled. He raised Manny to care only for wealth and beauty causing him to grow into a spoiled, selfish, and unkind young man. When it was time for the prince to choose a bride Manny had become very handsome and he considered himself so superior that he didn't want to marry just any rich, pretty girl. He wanted his wife to be the most lovely just like his mother in fact he vowed to only marry a woman as beautiful as the late queen. Hundreds of princesses and noble women came in hopes of becoming queen but he rejected all of them because none of them had beauty that even came close to surpassing Queen Maria's.

Many people began to fear that the prince's cold heart would never change. But then one winter's night an old beggar woman came to castle and offered him a single rose in exchange for shelter from the bitter cold and a little bread to eat. Repulsed by her haggered appeared the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away but she warned him not to be deceived by appearances for beauty was found within. And when he dismissed her again the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal, La Muerte the beautiful enchantress who protects the good and punishes the evil. The prince tried to apologize but it was too late for she had seen there was no love in his heart and as punishment she transformed him into a tiger like beast and placed a power spell that cursed those who lived within the castle and earased all memories of the royal family from the kingdom.

Ashamed of his monstrous form, Manny concealed himself inside his castle with a magic mirror as his only window to the outside world. The rose she had offered him was truly an enchanted rose which would bloom until his twenty-first year. If he could learn to love another and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell then the spell would be broken if not then he would be doomed to remain a beast for all time. As the years passed he fell into despair and lost all hope for who could ever learn to love a beast?