***Disclaimer: Disney owns Beauty and the Beast and its characters -- not me.***

Ten years had gone by, and the right girl still hadn't made it to the castle. In fact, no girl had made it to the castle. Let me go a step further and tell you that no human being set eyes upon that castle since I had placed the curse. And it was about time for the rose to begin its wilt. I'd been searching for a girl who might possibly be the one, but had yet to find her.

Moreover, the Beast was becoming more and more beastly. He now wore no shirt, only pants and a red cape. He no longer took care of his hygiene. And as for eating, well he had long ago forgotten how to use silverware, and now just hunted in the woods for his meal. And it was only going to get worse. It would take a very special woman indeed to bring him around, and I feared that yet one more spell of mine would become permanent.

It was surely a conundrum, I thought as I traveled through the nearby village in invisible mode. There were many women, some married and unavailable, some way too old, some, like the blonde triplets, way too ditzy, and all were very superficial. I was beginning to lose hope of finding the right girl in this village, until a beautiful voice that was singing caught my attention. I looked to the owner of the voice and saw a very beautiful brunette, wearing a blue dress and white apron. She was beautiful on the outside, but of course that wasn't the main thing I was going after. But something told me to follow her.

When the baker greeted her, I learned that the young woman's name was Belle. She tried to tell the baker about the book she'd just read, but he showed no interest and she went on. As she continued to the book shop, the town was singing about how odd it was for her to be reading. She sang about how there must be more than this provincial life as she arrived outside the book shop.

Inside, the store owner, the only one so far who did not seem bothered by her love of books, looked at the next book that she selected to borrow. He commented that she'd already read it twice, and when she described all she loved about it, he told her to keep it.

I knew at this point this girl had potential. Perhaps she was the one. She seemed to be into fairy tales. I got even more of a sense of this as she sat by the fountain singing about what she was reading. She seemed kind as well, and unconcerned about her outer appearances, perhaps even unaware of her physical beauty. And if she was so fascinated with fairy tales, perhaps she would be one who could fit right into a fairy tale of her very own. I was almost certain that this was the one.

But soon, a problem became apparent. It seemed that Belle had someone wanting her as his bride. It was a very handsome man who jumped in front of her. She greeted him, and I learned then that his name was Gaston. He took her book and began poking fun at her for reading, something the whole town seemed to do. He threw it in the mud and told her to pay attention to more important things -- namely him. She took her book out of the puddle, wiped it off on her apron, and politely declined to look at his trophies with him. She said she needed to go help her father, at which point Gaston's sidekick came over, and they made fun of her father, calling him a crazy old loon. Just as she scolded them, there was an explosion, and she ran home.

Belle burst into the cellar of her house, where her father was. There was smoke all over, and the old man was frustrated, saying he'd never get his invention to work. Belle assured him that he would, and win first prize at the fair the next day. He got a boost of confidence from her encouraging words and got back to work on his machine.

I now knew that Belle was the one. I didn't know if she would teach the Beast to love and love him in return, but I knew that if anyone could, it was her. I just needed to get her to the castle.

I realized I had a chance of that after her father got his machine working and set off for the fair. I would have to get him to the castle, and could only hope that the Beast would not eat him once he got there. He didn't seem to have the greatest sense of direction, and his horse seemed easily spooked. This would make my job easier. The horse, whom he called Philippe, got more and more upset. Soon bats flew out, getting him even more spooked. Wolves howled. Finally, Philippe bucked, throwing his rider off and running away.

This was my chance. I used my power to make sure once the wolves found him, that they chased him in the direction of the castle. It worked, and soon he made it in the castle gates to safety, but just barely. He looked up and gasped at the sight of the uninviting castle. But, needing shelter, he went inside.

A little ways inside were two familiar faces. Cogsworth, the head of the household, who had become a mantle clock, and Lumiere, the Maitre-d, who had become a candelabra. The man, who I would later learn to be called Maurice, called out. Lumiere wanted to welcome him, but Cogsworth tried to keep him quiet. But Lumiere welcomed him anyway, and the poor man was so startled to see a talking clock and candelabra.

Lumiere led him into the den to sit by the fire. The dog, who became a footstool, came and placed himself under Maurice's feet. Mrs. Potts and her son Chip, a teapot and teacup respectively, rolled in on a cart and gave him tea. All of this happening, despite Cogsworth's protests.

And then it happened. The Beast stormed into the room. Lumiere tried to explain, but the Beast roared him to silence. Cogsworth started to say that he was against it, but was also silenced by a roar. The Beast demanded to know why Maurice was there, but it wasn't a good enough answer that the old man was lost in the woods. The Beast said that Maurice was unwelcome in the castle. But then, he accused the man of coming to stare at him and locked him in the dungeon.

Oh dear. I don't know exactly what I expected, but it seemed the Beast was no kinder to Maurice than he was to me ten years before. Well, at least he did give the man shelter. But then I realized this had to happen, or how else would Belle be drawn to the castle? I would get to work on that the next day.