Beauty/Peggy and the Beast - RUNNER UP of the 11 - 17 Category, TORCH Storytelling Competition
Beauty Peggy and the Beast
By Isabella Rice
Peggy – as she liked to call herself, not beauty - looked up at the barred windows in her room. It felt as much a prison as a hospital. She sighed, slowly flexing her fingers. She turned around to her cat and stroked her slowly, from the skull to the back. She liked feeling bones. She liked the warmth of the blood. ‘’Once upon a time there was a little girl called Peggy and she lived in a special hospital.’’ She said in her sweet, doll like voice, ‘’the doctors all thought that her head was funny, but Peggy didn’t think so. She just liked to kill, that’s all. She liked ripping flesh. But the doctors kept her here. Now Peggy promises to kill them all, to eat them.’’ Getting excited now, she said ‘’to rip their limbs apart and –‘’She giggled sweetly, the sound echoing all around the room.
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Once, there lived a very rich man. He had three daughters. Two of whom had pure and kind hearts. The third, well, he never thought to say her name. She lived in a hospital far away, the father made sure of that. One day, the man had news that his cargo ships had sank. He was devastated as he had lost everything he had. His house and daughters only remained.
However, the following week, he found that one of his ships had survived. He was overjoyed and went immediately to collect it. On his journey, he discovered a castle. As he was tired, he went inside and ate and slept. On his way out in the morning, he found a beautiful rose bush. He picked two roses for his two lovely daughters. As soon as he did this, a horrifying beast jumped out from behind a rock.
He said that if the man did not give him one of his daughters, he would have to kill him. The man did not hesitate to say that he could have his worst daughter and sent a letter to the hospital, stating the matter.
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Chink! The door of the hatch opened and a face appeared in the gap. It was Mrs Bailey. A smile glimmered on her face, Peggy knew the kindness was false.
‘’Good morning Peggy.’’
‘’Good morning Mrs Bailey.’’
‘’Sleep well?’’
‘’No. I howled at the moon until the wolves came to join me. I invited them in, but they knew all I wanted was their blood.’’
They both knew very well that Peggy had slept all night, the drugs made sure of that. The woman came in slowly, prepared to retreat if necessary, and strapped Peggy to the chair. Only then did she close the door and push the chair down the hall. Peggy grimaced, she hated the white walls, they made her sick. She wished for red ones, deep red, bright red. Yes, she would like that very much. Mrs Bailey wheeled the girl in a room, dimly lit, and handed her the letter. Peggy clasped her chewed, long nails on the curios object and skimmed the words. She grinned.
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The father looked anxious as a van pulled up on the road. Inside was his daughter, his insane daughter. The door slid open and a girl, cuffed, came out. She was more beautiful than he had remembered. Her perfect, strawberry blonde hair was pinned in a ponytail with a bow. Her lips and cheeks were rosy red. This beauty sent a shiver down his spine. There was something about Peggy that got under his skin, infected everything. Like ink that seeped into his veins, poisoning him. She stood there, grinning.
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‘’Hello father.’’ Peggy loathed the look on his face. It was full of pain, terror, sickness. She wanted to eat that face, she wanted to crunch those feelings, she wanted to savour each bite. It was the same face that her mother had worn when Peggy was five. She had enjoyed killing her mother.
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Peggy was dragged back inside the van. Her father just stood there, wanting to vomit, wanting to cry. Eventually he jumped in the car and led the van towards the castle. When they arrived, the beast was there waiting. He looked pleased. ‘’So you did come back.’’ He said. The van pulled up beside the curb, two burly hands chucked Peggy out. She stood there and Mrs Bates led her in. The woman said a brief goodbye and left, as did everyone else.
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Peggy looked at the beast. She watched the beat of his heart and imagined the blood pumping in and out, in and out. She thought of the bones she could lick and the flesh she could rip. She couldn’t resist. She just couldn’t look at him alive any more. She wanted him dead. She wanted bits of his muscle squelching in her mouth, where it was meant to be. She started to sing a faint, screechy song. She pulled a pencil towards her face and ran her teeth down the side of it, sharpening it. She hadn’t killed with a pencil before, but the thought of a pencil as a murder weapon made it too good to resist. There was a sudden blur of movement as she ran towards the switch, absorbing all movements in a swirly darkness. A withering grunt was heard, followed by a fall. A giggle pierced the air, but this sound was muffled. Peggy’s mouth was full.
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And that was the end for the beast, but Peggy still lurks around in that castle, waiting…
