Elena Alfano
January 25, 2013
Beauty's Mission
Once upon a time there was a very wealthy merchant who had six children; three
daughters and three sons. Two of the daughters were very ungrateful and certainly not kind. The
third daughter however was extremely beautiful on the inside and out. She was caring,
courageous, sweet and smart. Her two sisters were constantly asking for material goods from
their father. One unfortunate day, the merchant had been informed that he had lost one of his
merchandise ships and the family became very poor instantly. The two sisters were furious and
upset that their wealth was gone and they would have to adjust to a new life. Soon after this
information, the family moved to a small country side house. Beauty's two sisters were awfully
bothered by this but Beauty was ready to take on this new life.
Every day, Beauty was more than happy to help her father and brothers out by doing
house work like cleaning, cooking and so forth. Beauty continued ever so contently with doing
all of her helpful house work while her sisters lay around complaining all day. One day, the
family received a life changing letter; the merchant's ship had arrived safely. Over all, the family
was all very happy but the ungracious daughters were pleased just to have their wealth back and
to have luxury goods again. As the father was preparing for his journey back home to his ship, he
made sure to ask each child what they wanted specifically. Of course, the two daughters asked
for beautiful jewels and dresses. Beauty asked for one simple yet lovely thing; a red rose. She
had specifically made sure to ask for something because she felt if she didn’t her sisters would
automatically think she was trying to be a 'goodie- good'. Therefore, she made sure to ask for a
special rose to be picked. Little did her father know at the time Beauty asked that this simple rose
would wind up being the biggest burden and it would change the whole family's lives forever.
The father was happy to make the long, rough journey to retrieve his fortune back. He
started off into the dangerous woods with fear buried inside him. He started off with confidence,
but as it got darker and colder his terror grew and he did not know what to expect next. Late into
the journey, about three hours in, the merchant grew so starving and the cold mist started to
1
freeze up his body. Just as he thought that he couldn’t make it any longer, he saw a bright
shining light in the far distance. The sight of this gave him just enough hope to make it there.
Finally the freezing cold and hungry merchant made it to the light. As he approached it
and got closer and closer, his mouth dropped with amazement. It was a beautiful and huge
mansion. He cautiously looked around it and finally decided to let himself in. There was a warm
blazing fire that he spotted so he decided to let himself dry off near it. As he was lounging out by
the fire he saw a huge dinner table covered with delicious and delectable foods. He made the
decision to take the opportunity to eat it hoping the home owner wouldn’t mind. After he ate, he
looked around some more for an owner of the helpful mansion. Finally, the tired and sore
merchant found his way to a bedroom and quickly dosed off into a deep sleep. When he had
awoken, clean fresh clothes were folded right by the foot of his bed. He was rather confused and
did not understand why the owner was being so kind. The merchant appreciatively put on the dry
clothes and started to walk out and continue his journey. On his way out, he passed by a beautiful
rose garden. He placed his hand over the reddest and plumpest rose he could find. Little did he
know that this was the worst choice he could have made. He plucked the rose without a thought.
Within seconds, the merchant saw a huge, hairy beast come towards him with rage and anger. He
had assumed it was because he ate his food and slept in one of his bedrooms. The beast screamed
in anger "How ungrateful you are! After all my kindness and allowing you to stay in my house,
you take one of my special roses! You MUST pay for this. I shall now end your life." The
merchant replied quivering in fear "I am so sorry sir! I had no idea the meaning of these roses or
how special they were to you!" Beast did not want to hear any more excuses. He quickly pulled
out a sword and slayed the sorry merchant on the spot. What would happen next? The merchant
was murdered so far out in the woods; would anyone ever find him so far out in the woods?.
About two weeks went by, and Beauty along with her three brothers was extremely
scared and getting very upset. Her sisters were growing very angry and did not know why their
father wasn’t back with their beautiful goods yet. Beauty made a final decision on about the
second week of her missing father. She was adamant on finding her father dead or alive. Her
brothers were distressed about Beauty's decision, but there was no physical way they could stop
her. She packed up a few necessary belongings and was out on her way.
2
Being beautiful was not the only strong characteristic Beauty contained. She was
extremely brilliant as well with an incredible sense of direction. As she was on her journey, she
was constantly thinking about the route that her father would have most sensibly taken. After a
whole day of searching, Beauty finally saw the same light her father had seen. It was twinkling
and lovely and Beauty knew it had to mean something. She happily followed the beautiful light
with high hopes and positive thoughts.
Finally, Beauty reached the light. This light turned out to be a huge striking mansion
resembling a castle. Beauty was in astonishment yet had a tight knot in her stomach; she started
to feel a depressed vibe as if something had gone terribly wrong. Beauty entered the castle and
started frantically looking around. She didn’t even take into consideration that she was invading
whose ever home this was. After no luck and seeing no owner, she left and walked through the
same rose garden as her father did when he was killed. Her vibe got stronger and she grew even
sadder. Finally she had found her father lying in his own blood. Beauty broke down like never
before with sadness and grief. She first bent down and kissed his bloody forehead. Beauty then
took a lock of her father's hair and took a shovel found in the garden and buried him in front of
the gorgeous roses.
Beauty never found out why her father was murdered, or ever even met Beast. She was
filled with sorrow and heartache yet was satisfied with completing her humble mission of finding
her father and doing what she knew she needed to do. Her physical and mental strength got her
through her terrible finding of her father lying dead upon the mysterious castle's ground.
Beauty returned home to her siblings to share the upsetting news. Beauty's brothers were
very great full that their lovely sister had returned home safely and was able to put their poor
father to a peaceful rest. Though the siblings had a peace of mind knowing what had happened to
their father, they still were all very disheartened and were upset or angry for different reasons.
The family carried on living in the small country house with the two sisters carrying out their
complaints and anger. The family in their own ways each lived sadly, ever after.
3
Works Cited
Tatar, Maria, and Carter Angela. The Classic Fairy Tales: Texts, Criticism (Beauty and the
Beast). Norton Critical Edition. 50-75. New York, NY: Norton, 1999. Print.
4