It was a beautiful Saturday morning in Jupiter, Florida, when Quasimodo looked out at the park below him from his view of the church's bell tower. It was always bittersweet for him when he did this, as he loved watching all the people going about their lives, but at the same time wishing he could leave his tower to join them. He was hideously deformed, with a big bulge over his left eye, a broad, flattened nose, big teeth, massive arms and hands, hobbled knees, and a huge hump on his back, making him shorter than most twenty-year-old men. Due to his appearance, his caretaker, Judge Claude Frollo, refused to let him go outside.

As he watched, he noticed something going on that he had never seen before. Dancing in the middle of the park were two Romani, a male and a female, passing out flyers. He wished he could watch them dance from up close and see what they were advertising. Maybe this could be the perfect excuse to finally step outside, he thought. He figured that since Frollo wasn't around, it wouldn't hurt to go outside, grab a flyer, and run back in, as long as he wouldn't find out. He went inside towards the stairs, ready to make a run for it, when a tall, imposing figure stood before him. "Good morning Quasimodo."

"Good… good morning Master," he stammered back.

"And where do you think you're going at this hour?"

"No… nowhere, sir. I was just going downstairs to see if you were coming."

"Oh, dear, impatient boy. How many times have I told you that you're not aloud outside of your tower?"

"Many," he answered, sounding defeated.

"That's right. You're a smart lad. Now, breakfast," he said sitting down at the table, removing his black fedora to expose his grey-haired, balding head. Quasimodo went to get the plates and cups while Frollo started pulling out the contents of his basket. When he sat down, he placed before him two croissants, some butter, grapes, and wine. "So tell me," Frollo said as he poured the wine, "how have you been?"

"Good," he replied, spreading butter on his croissant.

"Really? Because you seem awfully distracted. Is there something troubling you?"

"What? Oh, of course not. How about you? Anything exciting happening at work?"

"Not really. I did recently convict a con man who claimed that he could help people using 'voodoo,' or some nonsense like that. Granted he was colored, so of course I found him guilty." After twenty years of being raised by him, he wasn't surprised by his blatant racism anymore. But he always wondered why if he was so prejudiced towards everyone who didn't follow societal norms why he had voluntarily decided to take him in, as he was left abandoned on the church doorstep as a baby. "But enough about me. You don't want to hear about my boring job. What I want to know is why you keep looking outside."

"Huh? Oh, no reason. It's just a nice day today, that's all."

Frollo glared at him suspiciously before standing up and heading towards the balcony. "I know you want to go outside," he said looking straight ahead.

"Whatever do you mean?" Quasimodo asked, approaching him.

Frollo whipped his head, glaring at him. "Don't play stupid with me, boy!" he snapped. Quasimodo cowered. "I'm sorry," he sighed. "It's just that I don't understand why you want to go outside so badly. After all, I've given you everything you could ever need, and apparently it's still not enough for you. You don't know what it's like out there, but I do. The world is cruel and wicked. I'm just trying to protect you."

"I know."

"So then what is it that has captured your attention so much that you would risk giving all of this up just to go outside?"

"It's nothing."

"I know when you're lying to me Quasimodo."

"Okay fine. I saw a couple dancing in the park and I was hoping that I could go down so I could get a better look."

"Hm, let me see this dancing couple." Frollo made his way to the edge of the balcony to look over, Quasimodo following behind.

"Right there master, look." He pointed to the Romani below.

Frollo tightly gripped the stone as he looked over. "Don't you dare move!" he exclaimed as he turned around and quickly headed out. "I'll be right back."

Down below the female continued to dance while the male passed out flyers. "If you like what you see here before you ladies and gentlemen, then come on down to Clopin's Cabinet of Curiosities! We have people of all shapes and sizes who are dying to show off their skills and oddities to you, as well as more dancing from the lovely La Esmeralda here!" Frollo stormed over from the church to them. "Good morning sir," Clopin greeted, bowing as he removed his hat. "Is something troubling you?"

"You're damn right something's troubling me! How dare you infect this land in the presence of the house of God with your heathen ways!"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me! As if you parasites weren't bad enough, you go around encouraging innocent people to be exposed to your abominations of God!"

"What did you just call us?" Esmeralda demanded, marching over to join the two men. Before she could get any closer to Frollo, Clopin grabbed her and pulled her back.

"For your information, my carnies are not 'abominations of God;' they're outcasts that men like you have deemed unacceptable for society. All I've done is simply given them a home and a job."

"And just what authority do you have over us here anyway? Does this park belong to the church across the street? Have we imposed on private property?"

"Well, no… but…"

"Then who owns this place?"

"The public… but…"

"Then you have no authority to kick us out of here as we are doing nothing wrong. We know our rights, and just because you don't like what you see doesn't mean that your bitching and whining is going to get rid of us because there's nothing you could do."

By this time Esmeralda was practically pressing against Frollo's face. Clopin grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her back. "Esmeralda," he spat as he whispered loudly, "stop it! The last thing we want to do here is make any enemies."

"Your friend is right Esmeralda," he responded with a wicked smile, "It would be unwise to have me as an enemy." His smile faded as he snatched the flyers from Clopin and headed back to the church, crumpling them as he clenched his fists.

Back in the tower Quasimodo watched the whole scene below but couldn't hear what was spoken. When he heard Frollo approaching from the stairs he ran away so that Frollo wouldn't know that he was being watched. "What did you do?" he asked upon his return.

"I tried to get those gypsies to leave, but I couldn't."

"Were they doing something wrong?"

"As if having them around wasn't bad enough, they were trying to brainwash people with this." He pulled out one of the flyers and threw it on the ground.

Quasimodo opened up the paper to read the flyer. "'Clopin's Cabinet of Curiosities?'"

"A freak show. Just when I thought that this town was safe from corruption, the plagued and wretched make their way here to invade their sinful forms upon us!"

"You mean, monsters like me?" he asked timidly.

"Yes Quasimodo. That is the life that I've always protected you from. A lifetime of misery and burden, exposing yourself to those who seek entertainment from your ugliness, having people stare at you and laugh at you and mock you. At least here you're safe from their cruelty."

"But do you think that maybe we could possibly go so I could see those people like me? Just knowing that I'm not alone would make me feel so much better about myself."

"Trust me Quasimodo, you're better off alone. You have to accept that no matter what no one is ever going to accept you, whether you're hidden away up here or showing off your looks for pennies. Now I don't want to hear another word about this. Do as I say and stay in here. Remember Quasimodo, this is your sanctuary." He turned around and walked out, leaving him alone.

"My sanctuary…"

Huh, that was weird, Belle thought as she watched the old man storm off after shouting at the Romani couple.

She had come into town to return a library book and get a new one, but because she was a frequent patron there and had checked that one out twice already, the librarian had let her keep it. She wasn't in a hurry to go back home, so she had decided to go read at the park and enjoy the fresh air. When she arrived she saw the Roma woman dancing and playing her tambourine, so she decided to go watch. While she was watching, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder, causing her to gasp and turn around. Standing behind her was a thin dark-skinned man with shoulder-length black hair and a beard. "Good morning miss," he greeted, taking off his hat and bowing to her.

"Good morning sir," she responded cautiously.

"You seem like someone who would be interested in the strange and unusual, yes? Someone looking for a change in her boring life and would like to see new and exciting sights?"

Her excitement perked up as he had described everything that she was feeling. "Yes, exactly!"

"What if I told you that you could find what you're looking for right here in Jupiter? All you would have to do is go to the far edge of town until you find the signs leading you there."

"But where and what exactly is this place?"

"It's right here," he replied, handing her a flyer. "Everything you need to know is all on this piece of paper."

"'Clopin's Cabinet of Curiosities; A showcase of people from around the world of all shapes and sizes filled with song, dance, and sights like which you've never seen.'"

"Tonight is our grand opening. I hope to see you there Miss…"

"Belle."

"Miss Belle. Such an appropriate name for such a beautiful lady like yourself." He took her hand and bowed again, kissing it. He smiled at her as he let go before they parted ways. She sat down at the park's fountain, looking over the flyer she just got. She always hated living in Jupiter, finding it to be such a small provincial town, wishing that she could go on adventures or living more exciting lives like the characters in her books. But now there was finally going to be a change in town. She knew she had to go to this show and experience something different and special for once in her life.

Belle was in the middle of reading her book when she heard something that caught her attention. She looked up and over at where she had gotten the flyer when she saw a tall, thin man throwing a tantrum like an idiot at Clopin. The woman dancing had stopped and went up to try and fight him, but Clopin held her back. The man grabbed all the flyers before heading back to the church across the street. Belle couldn't help but roll her eyes at the whole thing. Probably some radical religious bigot, she thought. She never understood how some people could be so intolerant and judgmental just because of a person's differences. She always felt torn when it came to feeling like an outcast. She never really had any friends as she was always reading and everyone always thought she was weird, but she was always praised for her physical beauty, as if that were the only thing important about her that mattered.

She was still reading when she saw the lighting over her book change from an approaching shadow. It wasn't until a giant hand slammed down on the book, pushing it into her lap that she finally stopped reading. "Hello Belle."

"Good morning Gaston," she replied, not even bothering to look up at him. He grabbed the book out of her hands and started flipping through it. "Gaston, may I have my book please?"

"How can you read this, there's no pictures!"

Belle stood up, crossing her arms. "Well some people use their imagination."

"Belle, it's about time you got your head out of those books and paid attention to more important things…" He tossed the book over his shoulder into the mud. When Belle bent down to pick it up, he placed his foot on it. "…like me."

She picked up her book, pulled out a napkin from her pocket and wiped it. "Gaston, you are positively primeval."

"Why thank you Belle." He grabbed her book again and wrapped his arm around her. "How's about I pick you up tonight and I take you back to my place for a little fun?"

She grabbed her book back and removed his arm off of her. "You're never going to stop asking me out, are you?"

"Not until you say yes."

Suddenly a light bulb turned on in her head. "You know what? I will go out with you tonight, but only under two conditions."

Gaston raised his eyes in shock, surprised that she had actually said yes, before settling into a smug expression. He crossed his arms and looked as if he were ready for her to humor him. "Depends on what they are."

"One, I get to choose the date; and two, you have to promise to leave me alone afterwards."

"Sounds fair enough. What exactly do you have in mind?"

"This." She pulled out the flyer and held it up in front of his face. "Or can you not read?"

"I know how read!" he remarked, snatching the flyer and skimming it. "A freak show? The one night I finally have you all to myself and you want to go to a freak show?"

"Yes," Belle answered sternly, grabbing it out of his hands.

Gaston softened up and went back to that same smug look. "You know what? That doesn't sound too bad."

"Really?" Belle asked in shock.

"Yeah, it'll be fun to watch those freaks of nature make idiots of themselves. I could use a good laugh."

Belle wasn't happy with his point of view on the show, but if it meant getting rid of him for good then she just had to deal with it. "And it's just the show. No dinner, no going to anyone's home, nothing else. You pick me up, we go, and you bring me home, that's it."

"Alright, fine," he replied begrudgingly.

"Pick me up at seven." With that she walked away. She couldn't wait for the night, using Gaston to kill two birds with one stone.