week 7 story: the beast part 1

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Once upon a time, there was a man who had the face of a monster but the heart of gold. He didn’t always look like this, he just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

One stormy Thursday afternoon, he was walking down the street on his way home from work when he was suddenly shoved into a wall. Before he had time to react, a gallon of acid was thrown on him. In a second, his world became engulfed in pain. His agonizing screams were drowned out by the sound of pain. His eyes were shut but all he could see was pain. His body prickled and shook with pain. His body fell to the ground and blacked out, trying its best to shut out the seemingly everlasting pain.

A couple years have passed and the seemingly everlasting pain was now gone, but the scars left behind were permanent. They were everywhere, disguising what he looked like a time ago. He never got used to his new image. He hated looking at his reflection, hating what he saw because he never recognized who he was looking at.

It wasn’t only him who was disgusted by his looks. He became the laughing stock of the community. There wasn’t anyone who didn’t know about him and his gruesome story and because of the humiliation, he hadn’t left his house in years.  It didn’t help that people constantly came knocking on his door. You see, the community had made a bet. Since his accident, no one has been able to look him in the eyes without flinching, screaming, running away, etc. So many people have tried and failed, which only enticed more people to participate in this cruel game.

He was sitting in his living room, watching tv when he heard a knock. It was the first of many he was going to experience that day. Reluctantly, he slowly got up and walked to the door, taking a deep breath before he opened it. He opened the door quickly, ready to get the situation over with, and the moment his eyes met the man’s, the man’s eyes widened and he immediately took off. Relief that he was gone mixed in with the sadness he felt from the rejection.

2 hours later, he heard another knock. Just like before, he slowly walked to his door reluctantly. When he opened the door, he didn’t even have time to make eye contact with the woman before she started screaming and running away. He sighed. Why couldn’t they just leave him alone.

Later that night, he heard another knock. He already felt so humiliated from earlier in the day, but he still went to go open the door. Once the door was all the way open, he looked up completely expecting the visitor to be gone by this point, yet he was surprised to find himself looking straight into the warmest brown eyes he had ever seen.

*to be continued…*

Author's Note: I decided to base my story off the scene in the Mahabharata where Vyasa, who has a frightful appearance, is ordered to sleep with all 3 daughters in order to produce sons. The story kind of reminded me of Beauty and the Beast so I decided to incorporate that idea into my story. Also, I decided to write the story in a blunt and vague way where no character is named.

Bibliography: The Mahabharata, written by R. K. Narayan