Beauty and the Bear

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named Ella. She had long, clumpy hair; a hooked nose; a wart on her plump, little cheek; and black, rotted teeth. Okay, okay. Maybe she was only beautiful to her parents, but she had a good heart, and that is what really matters.

Ella loved taking long, leisurely walks through the woods, but the villagers were all scared of the forest. They knew a large bear lived in the woods. This maneating bear had dragged off many of the villagers for his midnight snacks. Ella, however, was not scared. She could spend hours in the woods, unafraid, spying on the animals that lived there. She loved watching them all scurry away whenever she came near. Her favorite thing to do was to scare the birds from their nests and crack their eggs on the nearest rocks. She would spend hours chasing the rabbits back into their holes and swinging her lucky rabbits’ “feet” from a chain on her wrist whenever she knew no one was watching. Okay, okay. Maybe she wasn’t so beautiful on the inside either.

One day, Ella was taking her customary walk through the woods when she heard a sudden growling noise. The sound came from behind her. She turned to see a behemoth creature standing only a few feet away. Its massive paws and furry body quickly helped her to identify the animal as a grizzly bear. Ella was not afraid. She stood her ground and growled back. The bear was not used to people refusing to run away. He tilted his head in confusion and stared straight into Ella’s beady, little eyes. Neither Ella nor the bear looked away from the other. The two stood that way for days with neither willing to give in.

After two weeks, Ella was starting to get hungry. Her stomach gave a mighty growl, so loud in fact, that the bear was startled. He yelped like a puppy and ran off to hide in the woods. In fact, he kept running until he was never heard from again. All of the villagers were so happy that they decided to give Ella a special crown. They christened her as the greatest queen of all times, and she lived happily ever after and never bothered the creatures in the forest again.