Beauty or Beast

As the cell door clanged shut, and the key was turned in the lock, the prisoner spoke up over the sound of water dripping off the damp brick walls. .

"Never thought I'd meet anything uglier than me, but here we are."

"Ugly is in the eye of the beholder," the jailer said, pocketing the key.

Little light crept into the cells in the deepest basement of the ruined castle. But the jailer and prisoner could make each other out.

"What do your fellow beasts call you?" the jailer demanded.

"They don't call me anything," the prisoner responded. "If they did, I'd cut their tongues out."

"Feisty one aren't you. I don't mind sharing my name; I'm Jonathan. What should I call you?"

"Well...." the prisoner slowly answered. "Cheryl."

"Ok Cheryl.' Jonathan said. "What's your story?"

"I met a boy who was so handsome, so rugged, so..." Cheryl said. "I thought he was my one true love."

"Hmm...." Jonathan commented. "And then?"

"When I wouldn't just stay his doll," Cheryl breathed out, "he turned me into this with a curse."

"Why were you sneaking around in this old castle?", Jonathan asked.

"Just avoiding people. They don't react well to beasts. What's your tale?"

"Six months of increasingly angry fights," Jonathan replied. "I was texting a friend about how to break it off. She saw the texts on my phone. That's when I found out she was a witch, literally."

"I guess two beasts can get along," Jonathan said, taking the key out of his pocket and unlocking the cell door.

"I wonder...", Cheryl said shyly, "if breaking our curses might work like that ancient fairy tale."

"Could be worth a try," Jonathan said.

With hesitant smiles, the two beasts moved toward each other.