The Ugly Truth

Alison felt eyes glare at her from the back of her head as she walked down. Nervous but excited, she gazed over at the handful of charming men waiting to be her escort at the bottom of the staircase. “Good evening gentleman, which fine fellow shall I pick tonight?,” she giggled, putting the fickle men in a trance.

Mesmerised by her sister’s beauty for a second, Skye looked away, flushed. Her breathing started to quicken, this was not the first time she had to watch her 16 year old sister gain the likes of the entire crowd just from her looks.

She began to make a dash for the exit. This was ridiculous, how could she sit through an entire night of torture?

“Hey Sk-” her sister started as she saw Skye coming her way, only to be cut off as she realised she was leaving.

Skye scanned her surroundings outside and spotted her ride. “Turbo!” she smiled, finally coming to terms with the fact that her horse was really the only person she liked. Even if he wasn’t exactly a person. She swiftly mounted and rode towards Wellington, the opposite way in which she came to the ball. She was sick of not being able to be perfect like her sister. “Which fine fellow shall I pick tonight?” she mimicked, pulling the horse’s reigns harder. A surge of rage took over her, invigorating her.

Suddenly, Turbo jolted and came to a halt, causing a shriek to release from Skye’s mouth. “What in the world..” she opened her eyes, and dismounted immediately to take a closer look at the sight before her. The raggedy, old house was not what surprised her, but the shockingly bright green lights that beamed out of it from every angle. It felt like she was staring at an oddly shaped UFO.

As if a magnet were pulling her, her feet dragged her to the doorstep, where she saw that the door was actually open. Almost as if someone had anticipated her arrival. “Hello?” she called, only to hear the distant echo of her own voice. Before she knew it, she was standing inside what she now realised was a small tea shop. “What am I doing?” Skye thought, neither able to find an answer or to leave.

“My, my, look at you!” a shrill voice pierced Skye’s ears. She hastily swivelled around to look at who was talking. An old lady stood before her, wearing all sorts of antique looking jewellery. “Please, feel free to buy something.” she smiled revealing her yellow, crooked teeth while motioning to the assortment of China, exotic tea bags and plates behind her. Finally knocking some sense into her brain, Skye backed up and got ready to leave. “That’s alright really, I’m sorry for intruding, I don’t know what got into me, I’m not usually like this.”

As Skye shivered, feeling an eerie chill wash over her, she tried to leave the house, only for the doors and blinds to be shut in her face. BAM. The deafening sound of silence caused her heart to drop. An uneasiness swirled in her body that she didn’t like one bit.

“Isn’t it rude to leave the party so early? You must do that too often,” she let out a cackle, quickly disguised as a chuckle. “Now that you’re here, you mustn't go without buying something.” the woman’s expression became stern.

"JUST PRETEND YOU LIKE A CUP AND BUY IT SO YOU CAN LEAVE” Skye’s mind screamed. “I don’t really want anything.” her defiance had gotten the better of her.

“Well in that case, I can give you something you do want in exchange. One wish, anything you want.”

“You couldn’t give me that if you tried.” Skye mumbled under her breath, an image of Alison popping in her head.

“You’d be surprised, little one.” the woman teased, annoying Skye that she was actually believing what this crazy lady was telling her.

Slightly skeptical, Skye waited for a few seconds before blurting out what she was thinking. “I wish to be more beautiful than my sister.” She gasped, hearing those words come from her mouth.

“Ah, attaining beauty and the absence of it are both ugly, it seems. Are you sure that is what you wish for?” her words sounded like a test.

There wasn’t much thought behind the question for Skye. “Yes.”

“Well then..” she snapped her fingers and continued, “Your wish is my command.”

“Wait, that’s it, it’s done?” Skye sounded shocked. With a nod from the lady, her heartbeat began to fasten. “Do you have a mirror so I can look?” she asked quickly, curiosity consuming her.

“I’m afraid you won’t find what you wish to see,” she paused. Skye felt a bit agitated and confused.

“In here of course.” the woman laughed, rather oddly.

Quickly purchasing the first set of china she could find, she bid farewell to the strange lady and ran out the doors, forgetting everything that had happened earlier that day. Pushing her whirlpool of thoughts aside, she got on her horse and made her way home as fast as she could. As she looked behind at the weird green-lighted house, the small feeling of uneasiness in her body remained.

In the blink of an eye, she had arrived. The ball finished an hour ago, so maybe her sister was home. Reassuring herself that if the old lady really had made her wish come true, this had to be a good thing. Skye had started to feel a bit different too, like a new person. Or was that her mind playing tricks on her again? She would see for herself soon enough.

After storming through the doors, leaping up the wooden stairs 2 at a time, then darting to her room, her patience had reached the limit. “I’m ready.” she squealed, as if she were an 8 year old girl again. She opened her eyes that she hadn’t even noticed were shut to reveal her new appearance in her bedroom mirror.

She exhaled loudly, scoffing in disbelief at what she saw. Had it not worked? No, the lady said she had fulfilled her wish, but the mirror told her otherwise. Her same stupid face and stiff dark hair remained. She inspected her body, just in case, only to find the same results.

“Lying witch.” she spat, astonished at how gullible she could be. The whole situation was laughable, but Skye wasn’t in the mood for laughing. She was beyond exasperated. “I was so close to having every-” her thought was interrupted by a low growl. Skye stood up, instinctively, wondering what the noise was. GRRR. The noise returned after a few seconds. Her stomach dropped for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. She slowly left her room and followed where her ears told her the sound had come from. “Alison’s room” her eyes skimmed over the sign quickly, before opening the door.

A blood curdling scream was let out. Skye stumbled backwards, looking for something to protect herself with on the hard wooden floor but the best she could find was a bobby pin. “Stay back!” she yelled, never having been in this situation before. She held the bobby pin towards the face of the big, black, frightening wolf that stood before her, ignoring how stupid her weapon of defense was. “How the hell did a wolf get into Alison’s room?” she thought, flabbergasted on the floor, not knowing what to do.

She crawled backwards steadily, keeping her eyes locked on the wolf’s face, which surprisingly didn’t look as menacing as the rest of its body. In fact, it looked slightly scared, Skye thought. Briefly pausing, Skye stood up and moved closer to the wolf’s face, ignorant of the fact that she was unreasonably close to its teeth. It stood there, and began to whimper, looking straight up at the girl standing in front. “I feel like I know you from somewhere.” Skye spoke aloud to the wolf, suddenly feeling a sickening knot in her stomach.

Noticing the bright green eyes finally, she placed a hand over her mouth, trying not to rush to conclusions, but finding it extremely difficult. Her hands began to tremble, registering the possibility that she may have just done something unforgivable. “I wish to be more beautiful than my sister” her own previous words rang through her ears. “That’s what you meant.” she whispered looking down at the terrifying wolf.

She fell to her knees. “Please I’m sorry, I take it back, I didn’t mean it, please, forgive me.” she cried out, shutting her eyes like this was a dream she could come back from. As reality hit her like a truck, hopelessness engulfed her. “I’m so sorry.” she had never meant those words to anyone as much as now. Looking at Alison, standing timidly, also shaking with fear, Skye began to cry. Hot tears rushed down her cheeks, like a never ending fountain. With every tear dropped, she felt more regretful for her actions.

After minutes of weeping, the wolf walked over and snuggled against Skye, making her heart pain even more at the sight of her sister empathising with a villain. She could never forgive herself unless she could fix this. Wiping her tears away, with stained mascara running down her face, Skye pondered if she could in fact, fix this. Gathering the last ounce of hope she could find, she ran all the way back to the house, on foot, this time more urgently than she had before. “I will fix this.” she kept telling herself as she ran with more purpose, every step.

Her eyes catching a glimpse of the emerging green lights again, she raced inside the house, wishing so badly that there was a way to reverse this. As she was about to step her foot inside, her head collided with the door that she had not seen. Falling on her back, she was confused. The door was closed? She stood up quickly, ignoring the searing pain in her forehead and banged on the door with all the strength she had. After what seemed like the longest minute of her life, the old woman returned to the door, standing uninterested in what Skye had to say. “What do you want?” the lady snapped, almost about to close the door.

“Wait. I’m sorry I didn’t listen, I didn’t intend for this at all, I promise.” Skye cried.

“Fat load of good sorry will do you now.” the lady scoffed, knowing this wasn’t the first time she had heard this.

“I’m not just sorry. I’m selfish. More selfish than anyone I know. And I don’t want someone I love dearly to have to pay the price of my mistake. I will do anything, turn me into a wolf, please, I’m begging you, just don’t do this to her. I deserve this. Me.” her tears burned her eyes again.

The old woman could read her face easily. There was not one bit of greed in it any more, but an uncanny resemblance of a child. “One more chance, you wont get it again….

“remember... being beautiful has nothing to do with looks.”

The lady inhaled deeply before clicking her fingers for the last time.

Skye let out a gasp. Why was she not a wolf?

“You’ve shown enough remorse, go home. She’s waiting.” the lady said, closing the door.

Skye stood at the door, starstruck from what had just occurred. More than anything, she felt relieved, but also undeserving of the woman’s mercy. Staring at the green lighted house for the final time, Skye walked down the old, unstable pathway to her home, momentarily stopping to appreciate the sun that was like a blanket to her as it rose. She smiled, a tear of joy rolling down her cheek, which was rare for her. “This is my happy ending after all,” she laughed. And she was okay with that. In fact, she was more than happy.