The Enchanted Roses

Once upon a time there was a young maiden girl named Savvy. She lived in the valley of Swallows Bend right past the big white church. Her home was a little grey house on the edge of town with her mother and her younger brother Joshua. It wasn't much, but it was home.

Each day Savvy would walk her brother to school and then go do chores for her mother. She had just turned twenty and began to catch the eyes of the single men in town. She was beautiful; she had golden hair that fell just above the bend in her back, blue eyes as clear as the river that ran through town, and the biggest smile you have ever seen. So it was easy to see why she caught the eye of all the young men in Swallows Bend.

One day, Savvy's mother needed to go out of town to care for their sick grandmother. However, that was not the only reason she was paying a visit to their grandmother. Savvy was not aware of the true meaning of her mother's trip. Her mother told her and Joshua to pick one thing that they wanted her to bring back for them. The truth was that their mother received an inheritance for the death of her father, so she was going to pick it up and on the way back she would buy something for her children for doing their part around the house. They did not get many surprises, so she knew the children would appreciate this small gift.

"Mom, will you bring me home a new hunting knife so that I may use it to skin the animals we eat?" exclaimed Joshua.

"Why of course, darling, anything you want," said mother.

"Mother, I have everything I need," Savvy claimed.

"Then think about something that you want," her mother told her.

"Hmm, how about the prettiest bouquet of roses that you can find?" said Savvy with a grin on her face.

"Anything for you, darling," said her mother.

Her mother kissed them goodbye and left Swallows Bend.

On the way back, Savvy's mother got lost during a grueling thunderstorm and the roses that she had gotten for Savvy flew away into the wind. Her mother was sad, but she could not afford to turn around. The wind howled and it rained for what seemed like days. This had to be worse than any hurricane to come through Swallows Bend. Savvy's mother fought again the wind, trying to stay on the little woven path. Eventually, the road washed away with the rain. She could not even see where the road was anymore, so she decided to try and stop somewhere for the night. However, she struggled to find a place.

Eventually, she stumbled upon this run-down castle that she had no idea even existed. She quickly ran to the steps and knocked to see if anyone would let her inside. When she knocked no one answered, but the door flew open and what she found inside surprised her. Dozens of the most beautiful roses she had ever seen littered the hallways of the castle. Even though the castle looked old on the outside, it glittered like diamonds on the inside. There was not electricity; the hallways were lit by candles which meant that someone had to live there but there was no one in sight. Savvy's mother knew that the roses would please her daughter, so when the rain let up she took a vase and left.

When Savvy's mother returned, she gave the gifts to the children who were thrilled with what they received. Savvy loved the roses her mother took and set them on her windowsill so that the whole town could see her beautiful gift, but one night a mangled up beast came into her bedroom and demanded that she come with him for the price of the roses. Savvy screamed and tried to fight the beast, but it only made things worse. Joshua went after the Beast with his hunting knife, but the Beast was too strong and threw Joshua to the ground. "Come with me or your mother shall be killed!" exclaimed the Beast. So Savvy went.

No one heard from Savvy for months and the whole town thought that she was dead, but her roses remained alive and just as beautiful as they had when her mother took them. Even though she had not heard from Savvy, her mother knew that as long as the roses were alive, so was Savvy. Little did she know that she was right...

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Much like the castle, the Beast is scary and dull on the outside but a gem on the inside. Why does he live in a castle? How did he become such a Beast?

Several years ago the Beast was not actually a Beast yet. He was a son who was born into a very wealthy family, and one day they threw the most elegant party of the year. All of their friends and family came, but you could only come in if you received an invitation. A poor young woman approached the castle looking for some food but was rejected because she did not have an invitation. Little did they know that this woman was actually a witch who cursed the castle and all of those who inhabited it. Thus, the man became the Beast. The witch turned the rest of his family and their friends into roses that would be enchanted forever. The Beast began to grow hair all over his body and fangs began to come out of his gums. He was unrecognizable.

"Since you have shown me no mercy, I cast a spell onto you so that your family and friends shall remain roses until you are shown kindness by another stranger," screamed the witch.

"But no one will be kind to a beast," cried the Beast.

"Then you shall forever be cursed," proclaimed the witch and off she went back into the forest.

Several years had gone by and no one dared to enter the castle, that is until Savvy's mother stumbled upon it.