A long time ago there lived a boy
Who never looked into a mirror.
He didn't want to see himself
As his face filled others with fear.
He desperately wanted a sole companion,
A friend to help keep him sane.
However he'd rather remain alone
Than have a friend who shared in his pain.
Soon he came up with the perfect plan
With a cunning, diabolical grin.
He'd reclaim people's wasted beauty and
Make a beautiful friend from their skin.
It was a dreary night that he'll remember,
A night when he shed no tears,
As throughout the dusk and gloom he preyed
On the Vain he caught looking in mirrors.
Stealthily in the darkness he traveled
Roaming like the shadow of a Wight;
A dark hand reaching out from the shadows
Cleansing the world of their blight.
He took them all home, took them into his lair
He dare not leave any traces.
Through means unknown, the horror began
As he peeled back their cold, pallid faces.
Through mediums both arcane and strange,
He built a makeshift frame.
The parts were all so beautiful
But his friend was sans a brain.
A convulsive twitch and a hideous moan,
His grotesque new life was flawed.
Creation's glory faded away
Because its beauty was just a facade
The boy drew back and held his breath
At the sight of his living necropolis.
He retched amidst the stench of death,
He saw beauty without all its complements
With fitful spurts of motion,
The creature his master sought
And spoke with voices legion
In a tone with anger fraught.
You were a silly fool to think
That you could master this power.
Tampering with what's God's alone
Leads to consequences dour.
Your desires started honorably,
Your friend was born from need,
But you stole his beauty from others
Because your heart was ruled by greed.
You bound us all in chains of flesh
Inside this cursed frame.
You robbed us of our own free lives,
And We became too terrible to name.
When the creature was finished speaking,
It moved its hand with tact.
It struck with demoniac speed
And everything went black.
As the light returned and the boy came to,
His head felt split asunder.
He sat up and surveyed the room and
realized his massive blunder
He had never seen a mirror
But he knew those had been his eyes
All the hateful slander
Was nothing more than lies
He cried and wept and gnashed his teeth
When he saw his gorgeous frame,
The creature had made use of him
To replace its missing brain.
His lesson was learned, his sentence earned,
To wander alone was his duty.
He'd walk the Earth forever spurned,
As a reminder to value life's beauty.
YOU ARE READING
Perjured Beauty
HorrorA short story that originally began as an assignment for my AP Literature class in high school. I initially meant to emulate the style of "The Night Before Christmas."