Knock. Knock. Knock.
Creaaaak; the young prince slowly opened the entrance to the castle.
Thunder rolled in the sky above.
Lightning flashed; brightening the dark sky for only a moment.
There, behind the door, stood a short beggar with her hood draped over her face.
She raised her hand, presenting a single red rose to the prince.
As he reached for the flower, the woman lifted her head revealing her wrinkled face and silver hair.
The prince retracted his reach; disapproving of her unattractive appearance and old age.
He gestured away from the castle, turning away the old beggar.
The woman looked into the eyes of the prince and spoke, "Do not be deceived by appearances, for beauty is found within."
The prince dismissed her again, beginning to close the door in her face.
A bright light shown through the crack of the door.
The prince reopened it to find that the woman's ugly looks had melted away to divulge a beautiful enchantress.
Upon her gorgeous golden hair sat a polished silver crown.
She was covered in the most beautiful silky materials.
The young prince begged the marvelous woman for forgiveness but she knew he had not learned his lesson.
She saw he had no love in his heart for any living creature.
The prince invited the enchantress inside seeing that she now was full of beauty and grace.
She followed the young royal inside.
The enchantress looked around at the servants and knew they too did not have love in their hearts for the prince.
She knew that when the prince's mother died, they did not stop the horrid things the prince's father taught him nor did they comfort him when his father died only months after his mother.
The prince asked the enchantress for the rose she had presented to him in the beginning.
She grinned and took a glass case off from a small wooden sail boat on the shelf.
"This is no regular rose; this is an enchanted rose. It, alone, will change you into something unrecognizable."
The enchantress covered the rose with the glass case.
"I do not want to be unrecognizable, for I am beautiful as I am."
The enchantress became angry with the prince.
"You may be beautiful on the outside but you are not beautiful where it counts."
Then, with the wave of her hand, the enchantress cursed every living thing under the castle roof.
She turned the prince into a hideous beast; complete with large claws, long horns, a bushy tale, and sharp teeth.
His body was covered in fur from head to toe.
As for the servants, she turned them into animals.
Mrs. Potts, the head of the castle's kitchen, transformed into a gray-haired rabbit for she would bare many children.
Because her eyes were aged, the enchantress granted her a small pair of round spectacles.
Her already-born son, Chip, became a kit.
Lumiere, the prince's maître d', changed into a black french poodle for he was showy and the only one of french origin.
Cogsworth, the Majordomo for the prince, became a brown and spotted cat because he only looked out for himself and thought of himself as the boss of everyone else.
The enchantress transformed multiple servants into wolves because she knew they would betray the prince and be banished to the woods.
The beast snatched the covered rose from the woman's hands, raising it high in the air preparing to smash her gift on the floor.
"If the rose is harmed, the spell will never be broken and you will remain a beast for as long as you live. And if anyone leaves this castle before the spell is broken, you will lose your ability to communicate with humans."
"How do I break it? How do I break the spell?" asked the beast.
"You must learn to love and be loved before the last petal falls of the bud of the rose."
"Cogsworth, go out into the town and find me the ten most beautiful women. I shall fall in love with one of them and the spell will be broken in no time."
"Master, you heard the mistress, if we leave the castle, we will not be able to speak," the cat enunciated.
"Remember, the love must be returned to you," the enchantress reminded the hairy prince.
"Why did you do this to me?! Why did you come to my door as a beggar and deceive me?!" The beast began to get very angry with the woman.
"I'd watch that temper, your highness, woman don't like that."
Then, before everyone's eyes, the enchantress vanished into thin air.
"What are you going to do your majesty?" asked the cat.
"It's a trick! The spell can never be broken!" the beast stormed up the staircase, holding the encased rose close to his chest.
"But Sire, what about falling in love?" inquired the poodle.
"Were you not listening Lumiere?! We cannot leave the castle! And who would fall in love with a beast?!" He continued stomping up the stairs.
"The West Wing is now off limits!" the prince slammed the door behind him.
"I suppose we better get comfortable until someone comes looking for us," Lumiere suggested.
"Who is going to come looking for us?" asked Cogsworth. "We are all without wives or husbands. And the only one of us who has a child is Mrs. Potts and he was cursed with the rest of us."
The kit began to cry.
"Where are you going?" the poodle asked the wolves who were trying to open the castle entrance.
"Don't you see? The Master is the reason we are all cursed. Maybe if we leave, the curse will only remain with those in the castle. I'm not about to live under a spell because he turned the beggar away."
The head wolf told the servants.
"But he is still our Master, and we cannot find any other occupations as we are," Lumiere told the pack.
"Do you really think that the prince will continue to pay you all? We cannot do anything, we don't even have hands anymore! You'd be more useful as a candelabra."
The wolves, unable to open the door, climbed out the window and headed out the front gate.
"Is that true mama? Are we useless now?" Chip asked his mother.
"Why of course not baby. We'll find a way to break this spell and you'll be a boy again before you know it, okay?"
"Okay," chip hopped down the hall.
Years passed and the servants began to lose all hope.
Little did they know, a man was standing at the front gate.
Creaaaak.
A white-haired man entered through the front door.
He took a few steps inside.
"Hello? Hello!"
The poodle and cat watched the man from behind the wall.
"Is someone there?"
The older gentleman crept further inside.
"I don't mean to intrude but I've lost my horse and I need a place to stay for the night," the man looked down the dark hallway.
Lumiere inched forward, examining the shivering man.
"Don't you dare..." Cogsworth warned the poodle.
"Of course, monsieur, you are welcome here!" Lumiere's voice echoed through the darkness.
"Who said that?" the man squinted his eyes.
"Over here," Lumiere strutted over to the gentleman.
"Where?" asked the man.
"Down here," the poodle pawed at the man's leg.
The man looked down at the dog; for a moment scared but then amazed.
"Incredible..."
Cogsworth came out from hiding, "Well, now you've done it Lumiere! Splendid! Just peachy!"
The man picked up the cat looking closely at him.
"How is this accomplished?"
"Put me down at once!" demanded the cat.
"I'm sorry but I've never seen a cat that...that...ACHOO!" the man released a loud sneeze.
It echoed down the hall.
Cogsworth shook in fear, peering over his shoulder, waiting for the prince to come stomping down the stairs.
Seconds passed and the Master did not come out of his room.
"Phew!," Cogsworth rubbed the back of his paw against his forehead as if there were sweat to wipe away.
"You are soaked to the bone, monsieur. Come, warm yourself by the fire."
"Thank you," replied the man as the poodle led him to a comfy chair in front of the fire place.
Lumiere did not heed to Cogsworth's warnings of what the Master would think.
Nor what he might do.
The prince swung open the door harshly, putting out the fire.
He stormed in.
He questioned the man's reasoning on coming to the castle.
"I meant no harm; I just needed a place to stay," the man's voice shook.
"I'll give you a place to stay," the beast lifted the man out of his chair and carried him to a cell on the top floor.
He stuck the man in a dark, cold, leaking cell.
There were no other prisoners.
In fact, the man didn't see anyone else in the castle besides the large beast and talking animals.
"Please..." the man began to cough. "I have a daughter. She will come looking for me."
The beast closed the cell door and sealed it with a key.
"Please! There are wolves out there! I don't want anything to happen to her," the man began to cry.
"We are all each other has..."
The beast continued down the hall because he still had no love in his heart.
He no longer loved even himself for he was not beautiful.
The man spent twenty hours in the castle cell; cold, wet, and hungry.
He was beginning to grow very ill.
"Please," the man called out to the passing cat.
"I couldn't release you if I wanted to; I have no hands," Cogsworth kept walking.
"I just want something to eat. I haven't eaten for over a day. Please, can't you see that I am ill?"
"I...I..." Cogsworth stuttered.
"Why, of course you can have something to eat monsieur," budded in Lumiere.
"We will be right back with your food."
"Good diversion, Lumiere, he thinks we will return with his food while we are..."
"We will return with his food, Cogsworth," the poodle told the cat.
"Who's food?!"
The two animals turned the corner and ran into the beast.
"This was all Lumiere's idea. I told him no but he wouldn't listen and..."
"Enough! This man does not deserve food; he is my prisoner!" the beast spoke angrily, his brows furrowed.
"Master, that man is going to die. He has become very ill over the past day. Even prisoners get food," Lumiere spoke softly to the beast.
"Besides," Mrs. Potts came down the hall behind the beast. "I think now would be a good time to practice not having that temper the enchantress was speaking about. Why don't you bring the man a plate?"
"Me?" the beast turned to the pot.
"Yes. You can show him there is more to you than an easily-angered beast." The rabbit nudged the beast toward the kitchen.
The beast approached the man in the cell.
"Please! Don't hurt me; I only asked for some food. I wasn't trying to escape, I promise!" the man called out.
"I know. I brought you something to eat," the beast stepped out from the darkness and laid a silver tray down by the man's feet.
"Oh. Thank you kindly."
The prince felt something inside of him when the man said "thank you."
He could not recall a time in his life where someone thanked him...for anything.
The beast liked it.
"You're welcome."
The man took a bite of the bread.
"But if you don't like it, don't expect something different!" the beast growled at the locked-up man.
"No, this'll do just fine," the man took a large bite.
The beast started back down the hallway.
He stopped at the end; hearing footsteps not too far behind.
"Is anyone here?" the voice rang.
"Belle?" the man spoke out from his cell.
"Papa!" a young lady emerged from the top stair, running to the man behind bars.
"You found me," the man reached for his daughter.
"Your hands are like ice!"
The man coughed.
"We need to get you out of here!" the young woman looked around.
"Belle, I want you to leave this place..."
"Who has done this to you?" the woman asked, rightfully upset.
"No time to explain," the woman's father's eyes searched the room. "You must go! Now!"
"I won't leave you!"
"What are you doing here?!" a deep voice drifted out from behind the shadows.
"Who's there?" Belle cried out, releasing the grip on her father's arm. "Who are you?"
"The Master of this castle," he moved through the shadows.
"I've come for my father," Belle looked from left to right trying to locate the Master. "Please let him out. Can't you see he's sick?"
"Then he shouldn't have trespassed here!" the beast took a step to get a closer look at the woman without stepping into the light.
"But he could die; please, I'll do anything."
"There's nothing you can do," the beast turned his head away from the girl. "He's my prisoner."
"There must be some way I can..." Belle lowered her head. "Take me instead."
"Ha, you," the beast released a quick chuckle. "You...you would take his place?" the beast asked softly.
"Belle, no! You don't know what you're doing!" the man reached for his daughter.
"If I did, would you let him go?" Belle's eyes searched for the Master.
"Yes," the prince tossed his cape over his shoulder.
He knew this may be the only chance he would have to find love. "But you must promise to stay here forever." The beast took another step closer to the girl.
Belle was intrigued by the deepness that the Master's voice held.
"Come into the light," she told the prince.
The beast took a deep breathe and slowly moved himself under the hole in the roof where the sun peaked through.
Belle gasped and turned to her father.
"Belle, no! I won't let you do this!"
Belle released herself from her father's grip and sauntered over to the beast.
She raised her head and looked the beast in the eyes, "You have my word."
"Done!" the beast ran passed the young lady and opened the old man's cell.
Belle fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands.
Her father ran to her, "No, Belle, listen to me; I'm old, I've lived my life," the father cried out to his only child.
The beast dragged the man down the stairs, tossed him into a carriage, and slapped the horse.
Belle watched from the window as her father was dragged away, never to be seen again.
The beast stormed back up the stairs to the cell where the young woman sat crying.
Lumiere followed quickly behind the beast, working twice as hard because of his short legs.
"Sire, would you maybe consider giving the girl a more comfortable room? After all, she could be...the one..." the poodle suggested.
"She has to be the one! If she isn't...then..."
"So you'll give her a room?" inquired the french poodle.
"Yes, now don't you have a bone to chew or something?" teased the beast.
The beast finished climbing the stairs and entered the cell where the girl sat crying.
"You didn't let me say goodbye. I'll never see him again," Belle buried her face in her hands.
"I'll uh...show you to your room," the prince turned toward the door.
"My room?" the woman raised her head. "But I thought..."
The beast turned and looked around the cell, "What? You want to stay in the cell?"
"No," Belle wiped away a tear.
"Then follow me."