Another Beauty and the BEAST story

Chapter V

A few hours pass of me just lying in the bed that I'm supposed to sleep in for the next years of my life, regretting ever sacrificing myself, and missing my home town and everyone in it, except maybe Stella and Gabriela. I remember Elsa's command for me to join her for dinner, but I can't force myself to move an inch from where I'm lying.

There's a knock on the door, and I freeze, fearing that it's her. But it's not, as a cart with a teaset is rolled into the room. I sit up, staring at the cart moving on it's own. The shock continues, as suddenly the teapot begins to pour the tea up itself into small little cup, and the milk and sugar adds itself. I stare at it, only thinking one thing: what is this place?

"I thought you might want a spot of tea, dear", the teapot introduces herself and motions for the cup to jump towards me. I stare at the pot, amazed that it both moves and talks on it's own. When the cup comes towards me, I back away, only to bump into the wardrobe.

"Careful, young lad'," the wardrobe warns me, and I gasp and back away from that too. The furniture talks and moves on it own! I back away so fast that I stumble over the bed and fall down on the mattress, baffled by the furniture in front of me. The wardrobe starts hopping towards me on it's golden paw-shaped legs.

"But- This is impossible-" I stutter. The wardrobe springs itself down beside me on the bed and sighs like an old man would sigh over his favorite cup being shattered by his grandchildren.

"I know it is, lad, but here we are," the wardrobe answers. The cup makes a new attempt to move towards me, and this time I let it approach me.

"I told you he was pretty, Mama," the cup whispers to the teapot before I pick it up and nod my thanks to the teapot, but it's to occupied with instructing the little cup in my hand not to spill. The cup ignores her, and it makes me smile a little, in the middle of it all.

"Hey, new guy, wanna see me do a trick?" The cup asks the second the teapot turns away to check on the other cups. I nod, and the little cup blows air into the tea so that it starts to bubble. I mask my laugh with a snort.

"CHIP!" The teapot says admonishingly. The little cup, Chip, looks guilty as he lets me drink a little of the tea. I exhale, feeling the warm liquid filling me from the inside and out, and it makes me feel a little better. I think about the cups of tea I drank together with Mother back in our little cottage. In the evenings, when the sun had set and the dark and cold of the night approached, that's when we would've made ourselves a cup of tea each and sit out on the porch, with only the tea and each other to keep us warm. We would listen to the sounds of the approaching night, how the animals all stopped eating and prepared themselves and their children to go to sleep. The day-birds would stop singing in the trees, and instead the wise owl's vocalizations would take their place. Everything settled, even the noise from downtown, and for a few hours the world was at peace with itself. I loved those moments, being able to momentarily forget about all the expectations that the people put on me, and being able to only live. The air had seemed clearer, and so had my chest felt when we left the porch to go to sleep.

"That was a very brave thing you did, my dear," the teapot whispered from her cart, waking me from my memories.

"Oh, so you saw that, did you?" I say, trying to play it off with a fake smile. The teapot does not fall for it.

"We all think so, lad," the wardrobe agrees, and for a few seconds there is a silent awe between us, the furniture and myself.

"But I've lost everything; my mother, my dreams, my horse, everything," I sighed and, once again, let my head rest in my hands. It felt as if my shoulders could not bear anymore weight.

"Cheer up, dear. It'll turn out all right in the end. You'll see. And you didn't lose your horse, he's in the stables with the others," the teapot adds with a comforting smile. The thought that Philippe is nearby was a small comfort, but I still couldn't shake all off the regret and despair off my shoulders.