My English assignment for the ending of the "Lady or the Tiger" I really liked how it turned out, so here it is! Enjoy and review! (I have no mercy to the princess, terrible I know, but that's how I felt when I wrote it!)
For a second, nothing happened. The doorway was completely dark. Nothing could be seen inside, even though the light poured into the room. The audience was hushed. They knew that it would happen, any second. The princess leaned forward, waiting in interest. She knew that it would happen any second. Finally what seemed like forever, but was only seconds, the man heard a noise. It was a low growl. Two yellow eyes glowed in the darkness; the man knew what was coming. He quickly backed up and started to run the other way. He was followed quickly by the hungry beast.
The man ran quickly around the amphitheater, adrenaline pushing him faster, and longer. The crowd stood on their feet, waiting with anticipation for the beast to catch the man. Our princess was worried, had she really made the right decision? Would it have been better for all to have let him live, even if he was to be married. Her eyes were averted to the other door, the one to the left. She felt anger, and jealously build up. Reminding herself that she had made the right decision.
The man continued to run, desperately trying to find an exit, of course there wasn't, but still he looked. The menacing tiger chased him on, but it almost seemed to be playing with him. A claw would swipe towards him, but only missed by inches. The man felt one of the claws dig into the back. The audience was completely hushed, holding their breathes waiting for when the tiger would finish him off. The king sat up straighter, waiting for justice to be dealt. His daughter waited, for the one she loved so dearly to be killed. He backed up against the left door; the one he knew that he knew he should have picked. He pressed his back against the door, trying to ignore the pain where the tiger had clawed him in his back. His heart beated faster as the tiger came closer and closer; its tail swished almost playfully as his hungry eyes beared down on him. The man gulped. He looked up at the princess, betrayal heavy in his heart.
She saw him staring, the rest of the crowd to transfixed on the man and the tiger, to see that he was looking at her. His eyes looked longingly at her. "Why?" he seemed to ask. His eyes begging for an answer. But wwhether he was asking "Why did you doom me?" "Why did you betray me?" "Why didn't you let me live!" or even. "Why didn't you chose left?" The princess, feeling that justice was coming, looked at him, and almost seemed to say, as clearly as he had earlier, when he had trusted her with his life, and now when he questioned her decision to doom him. "Because of her." She stared down coldly, showing no emotion as the man flattened himself against the wall, waiting for the tiger.
The tiger, was crouching down now, barely moving, watched his prey. Perhaps he saw the hurt in the man's eyes, the hurt and fright growing as he got nearer to pouncing; perhaps not. Perhaps he only waited a moment, trying to decide on the best what to end the man's life. Or maybe he wanted the man to have his last say to the princess. No matter what the reason, or how long it seemed, the exchange between the man and the princess had lasted less than a second.
He was now completely against the wall. His hands pressed against the wood of the door. He knew that the princess would be the last thing he would see. His last thoughts of her. Her betrayal; her beauty, and the way he had once called her his. His love for her overshadowed the betrayal for only a moment, when he saw the intense harshness in her beautiful eyes, the hurt returned. He breathed his last breath. And he knew that this was it. The last thing he would feel, was the wood of the left door; the door he should have opened. His hand traveled up the wood slightly, appreciating its fine handiwork. His arm brushed against something cold. The tiger watched this movement, waiting for just the right second to kill. The man thinking quickly wrapped his hand around the door, and quickly opened it, throwing himself in the doorway.
The tiger frightened, lept after the man, finally pouncing on him. The princess heard him scream in agony, and the tiger ripping him apart. She heard another scream. The woman must be witnessing these events, horrified obviously. The crowd was on their feet. "How brave he was to try to escape!" they all clapped at the magnificent show. They're hearts all secretly heavy that the man had died though. His only crime was loving a semi-barbaric woman. The princess sat up a little straighter to try to see inside the doorway. She made sure to do this as subtly as possible, and was unseen by all. Her father, busy clapping, was talking to some man.
She couldn't see much, the tiger's body blocking most of the doorway. She only saw the tiger's lower half of the body outside of the door. He was in a laying position. His tail swishing as he was probably gnawing on the man's bones; she tried not to feel sick at the idea of this. She stood up a little, just slightly so she could get a better view. She saw scraps of a dress flying above the tiger's head. She thought what this could have been. The material was much different than the man's clothes. She then thought of the bride. She felt smug.
"So her door had been open after all." she thought smugly, he had come after her, his "true" love. As if she had never loved him, as if she never cared for him. She said nothing, as she left with her father. It then dawned on her that, her love was dead. He had died with her. They would still be together! Her face felt hot, when she thought of something. If she could have have found away to have the bride killed; and instead open her door. She could still be with him.
It mattered not to the King, the man was punished; sure the bride was lost, but she must have been guilty for something. Everything would return to normal, once things had settled again. The semi-barbaric King and princess would eventually forget these events, only remembering them as an exciting event, as did the rest of the semi-barbaric country.