The Beauty Within

The Beauty Within

by E. Bush

Deep in the woods sat a small cavern atop a low hill. The dark cave where the evil lurked was where even the bravest would be too afraid to trespass. It seemed that even Mother Nature didn’t dare come close, as there was a small clearing around the cave’s entrance. Freshwater springs traveled around the cave, partitioning it off from the rest of the forest. That was where the beast lived.

At first glance, the monster might look like a dog, but it certainly wasn’t. The creature had black fur, matted and tangled and covered with mud; it had two horns, no ears, and a short snout. The paws with great claws shone in the moonlight. It was very skinny from lack of food. It had a long tongue, but it stayed uselessly in its mouth. Its teeth were small and few but very sharp. The being had large bulbous eyes, a green iris, and almost no pupil.

It would stomp around in the cave all day, staying out of the sun, and only dared to venture out at night. There was only one place that the creature was afraid to go. The connecting freshwater streams around the mountain limited the critter’s territory. The beast didn’t want to come near the streams because freshwater was harmful. The thing had become so used to its way of life that it was content to hide away during the day and only leave the cave when the sky was dark. 

The hunger burned through the creature day after day until it dared to venture out in the daylight. The creature staggered around and made a meal of a few pebbles and mouthfuls of grass. But it couldn’t quench its hunger. Stumbling to the stream, desperate to get a last satisfaction before it died, it lowered its head to the water and drank deeply.

Instead of harming it, the water gave it strength. After drinking, the beast stepped into the stream. After a few minutes, the heavy, ugly fur was cleaned and revealed a golden fur coat. The horns were washed off and became like silver. With another sip of water, scales fell from the eyes, and it could see. 

It took a moment to look around while splashing around in the stream. With its tongue, it caught a couple of small fish and ate them. The fish was the first meal of prey that the beast had had in a while. After it ate, the creature rose from the water and stepped out of the stream. It was on the other side, where it had never been before. It went on and never returned to the cave again.