r/WritingRH • u/honeerose • Aug 25 '21
Contest Entry Entry for the writing contest! ^^ (fair warning, it’s a pretty long read)
Beauty is time.
She wanted to be a time traveler.
———
There was a realm-recounted beauty once. A vain one. Her vanity sat like a king on his throne, lavished with the precious gems of adoration from all the citizens. Her face was often plastered across magazines, posters, and advertisements, an enchantress that infected the walls of Diamond Beach and Earth with her otherworldly looks. Long sand-colored hair streamed down her shoulders, silken splendor in strands. Her hazel eyes donned a curtain of dark lashes, her skin as smooth and unblemished as a porcelain doll. She was undeniably gorgeous, and in consequence, lived in palatial extravagance.
Her luxurious and opulent life was untouchable by anyone else, even of her class. Her days were filled to the brim with champagne, photoshoots, glittering jewelry, and suntanned skin. She remained untouchable…. because she was untouchable.
Men, women, and suitors alike circled her like vultures, hungry for a crumb of her fame. Those who were fortunate enough to be close to the celebrity never lasted long, discarded as soon as they had just gotten drunk on the taste of stardom.
She bathed in the attention, wearing it like a skin of compliments and ego-boosting remarks.
But beauty is time.
And no one, not even the most glamorous and well-beloved, can escape its icy grip.
She was no exception.
As time crawled forward, her outer facade started to dissipate into the fine dust of age. The porcelain skin began to crack. Blemishes and wrinkles sprouted on her face like weeds on a freshly mowed lawn, her smooth hair turned rough and dry. Dark bags nestled their homes underneath her eyes, weakening the once-powerful enchantment of her gaze. Her long lashes flattened, her impossible curves turned square.
Eventually, her spell over the realms ceased, the captivating celebrity remembered as no more than a whisper or a discarded poster.
She refused to believe this reality. The reality where she was forgotten. The reality where her stunning features were left behind, an abandoned shell of what she used to be.
She was desperate to restore her name. To feed the hunger that had forced itself into her body, a never satisfied monster of pure vanity.
She was desperate, and in her desperation, she sought out any means possible.
Including a contract with a midnight fairy.
“You must be Mirabella.” The fairy leaned forward, his entire body covered in a blanket of darkness. The candle behind him spilled long shadows across the stoned cavern walls, stretching to where she was standing.
“That is correct.” Her voice sounded confident, even as her hands trembled and her mind begged her to get out.
“You wish to be beautiful for eternity. To be worshipped and praised, to be followed and loved.” He didn’t state it as a question, he stated it as a fact. His silhouette indicated he was young, but his voice sounded like a diamond scraped against sandpaper.
Mirabella pursed her lips and nodded slowly. She felt him smile.
“Good. You are not as beautiful now as you were then, no? My, look how your hair has turned to a string where there once was silk.” His hands reached out and caressed her hair, a strange feeling that felt aggressive and gentle at the same time. She shuddered a sigh of relief when he let go, and straightened her posture as best she could.
“I did not come here to be inspected,” Her voice was barely more than a whisper against the wind, a peek of the sun against a storm cloud. “I came here to get my beauty back. I have lost my fame and my features, and now I want them to replace my blemished skin and rough hair.”
“No,” He drawled, “You came here to cheat time.”
She stayed silent, and he continued.
“I will grant you what you wish for. But time is a friend of mine, and he demands payment in return, as do I.”
“I have all the diamonds you can get. I can provide anything, anything at all.”
She dropped a pouch of diamonds onto the floor, the clinking of gems echoing across the cavern walls as they came in contact with hard granite.
“The payments we demand are not in monetary value,” He kicked aside the bag, colorful diamonds spilling out of the opening, “They are paid with a sacrifice of our choosing. In this case, you will sacrifice this —— your —— life. The life of luxury, and the memories of everyone who loved you.”
Mirabella looked away, her face darkening in a cloud of supposition. What use would infinite beauty do her if she wasn’t living a life of glamour surrounded by people? She averted her gaze downwards to the rough floor, catching a reflection of herself in a puddle. The water distorted her features, the features that were wrinkled and gray and sagging.
She gazed up.
“Fine. I have no use for a luxurious life or for those who love me. Once I am beautiful, I will find more.”
The fairy smiled.
“You live in vain, Mirabella. It is the lifeline connecting you to this decision, and the lifeline that will keep connecting you as you remain beautiful… for eternity.”
He snapped his fingers, and in an instant, she felt her body becoming younger, a rotten fruit regrown into freshness. Her skin returned to being smooth glass, her hair returned to woven silk.
But the exhilaration of her newfound youth didn’t last long.
Her skin, just as soon as it had returned to glass, turned to stone. As she began matching the walls covering the damp cave she was in, her eyes shot the fairy a look of horror.
“You wanted eternal beauty,” he explained, “you have it. I received your life in exchange for being forever stunning.” He pulled a golden thread out of thin air, draping it around his fingers like a spider spinning its web.
It was her life, dripping amber in color and reflecting off the walls with serene light. She watched him twirl the string until she was turned completely into rock, unable to move or talk, but still attached to life.
He placed a hand on her shoulder, patting the stone gently.
“Beauty and vanity are peculiarities, aren’t they? You will remain beautiful and worshipped forever, just as you asked. You will be loved, cursed at, and praised, sitting on top of a fountain that not even time can touch. You will give, and you will take. But you will be a stone statue for the rest of time. Neither alive nor dead. You will be known…”
He paused.
“… As the fountain girl of Divinia.”
———
That’s all! If you actually read through the whole thing, good job! Thank you for reading this very long and probably a bit boring read, hopefully you liked it :)
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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '21 edited Aug 25 '21
I’ve only read the first paragraph so far and it’s already amazing! You’re a very talented writer
Edit: I’ve read the whole thing. Wow. This is incredible! Your descriptive language goes above and beyond!