Storytelling Week 5: Who Can Ring Her Belle?

Another Valentine’s Day, another year single and I am perfectly happy with that yet, here I am at this stupid speed dating event that I was forced to attend. You would think that by now my parents and my best friend, Aurora, would know me well enough to know that I absolutely do not have the time for a boyfriend. My mom and dad constantly hound me about marriage and kids and my best friend Aurora keeps attempting to set me up with her boyfriend, Philip’s friends. I guess it would be nice to not be the third wheel every time we hangout but, then again I do enjoy my freedom. But, like I said before, I’m here at Snow White’s Singles Mingle speed dating so obviously I can’t be all that opposed to finding a boyfriend.

“Hello, everyone! Are you all ready to begin?”

Gosh, Snow’s voice could be annoying. If she can find a guy to put up with that sound everyday then surely I can find someone to put up with me. As the first round starts, I begin to get nervous. Right when decided that I am going to blow this Popsicle stand, a guy of medium height and bright brown eyes walked up to me.

“Hi, I’m Aladdin. And you are?” he said while extending his hand.

“I’m Belle. It’s nice to meet you. So, tell me about yourself, Aladdin.”

“Well, you may hear people say that I am a “street rat” he said with air quotes, but I am actually quite the hard worker.”

Somehow, I found that very hard to believe but, my mother always told me that you can’t always believe what people say so, I decided to amuse him.

“You see these pants? I made them myself. I actually make 5 pairs a day. I give two to the Sultan, one I keep for myself, of course and the other I would give to my girlfriend,” he said with a wink. “The last pair I sell for you know food and stuff. Gotta eat to live, gotta sale to eat.”

Suddenly, the bell dinged signaling that it was time to switch partners. Thank God! The next guy that sat at my table was tall and lean with brown dreads.

“Hello. I’m Tarzan and may I say you are quite the looker.” After this creepy statement, he proceeded to growl at me.

“Um, thanks. Why don’t you tell me a little about yourself?”

“Well, um, I’m Tarzan. My talents include talking to apes, vine surfing, and farming. And uh, that’s about it. So umm you wanna get out of here?”

It took everything in me not to laugh at him. Is this guy serious? I mean what did I expect? There is no way I can meet the guy of my dreams at a 5 minute speed dating party hosted by Snow White.

“Last Round!” yelled Snow White in her sing song voice.

Well, here goes nothing. Just one more loser then I can go home. When I looked up, the most beautiful guy I had ever seen was sitting in front of me.

“Hi.” He said with a voice as smooth as jiffy peanut butter. “I’m Adam but my friends call me beast.”

Right from the beginning I could tell that he had to be some type of worrier. He was tall with a muscular build and a fabulous beard that confirmed why his friends called him beast. Adam and I had a connection so deep that our conversation lasted well past the allotted 5 minutes. We moved our date to the nearest coffee shop and I am proud to say that Adam and I have been dating for 8 months now and now Aurora’s dream of double dates and a double wedding is finally coming true.

 

Author's Note: With Valentine's day coming up this weekend, I decided to take the story The Four Scientific Suitors from the Twenty-Two Goblins unit and turn it into the story of the Disney princess, Belle and her experience at a speed dating party. In the original story, there are four men competing for the princess's love but to save time, I decided to only write about three men in my retelling. I tried to keep the story modern by adding some slang in the dialogue.

(Heart)



Bibliography: The Four Scientific Suitors from the Twenty-Two Goblins unit by Sanskrit Vetālapañcaviṃśati translated by Arthur Ryder. Illustrations by Perham W. Nahl (1917).