I nod. “I know! That wasn’t so nice. But I guess the beast was really protective of his roses or something. Anyway, the merchant begged the beast to spare his life. He told the beast he had three daughters he wanted to live for. The beast told the merchant that he could swap his life for one of his daughters’ lives. The merchant had no intention of letting one of his daughters die, but since he wanted to go home and see them again, he agreed to it, thinking he’d buy himself some time. When he got home, his daughter Beauty insisted on honoring the deal and going in his place.”

Jonah looks incredulous. “Why would she do that?”

“I have no idea. Maybe she felt guilty because of the rose? Anyway, she moved in with the beast. He thought she was beautiful and loved her right away.”

“Did she like him?”

“No. At first, she was horrified by him. He was really nice to her, though. He wanted her to be happy. But he was lonely and a bit grouchy since no one wanted to spend any time with him. But every day that she got to know him better, his looks scared her a little less. He also set her up with her own wing of the castle and filled it with beautiful clothes and jewels. Every night, he would ask her to marry him and she would say no. She still really missed her dad. But then she discovered a magic mirror in her room!”

“Like the one in our basement?”

“Kind of. When Beauty looked inside it, she could see back home. One day, she saw that her dad was sick. She begged the beast to let her go home and promised to return in a week. He agreed. But her sisters were jealous of her and convinced her to stay longer so the beast would get angry. She did stay, and the beast got really sad.”

“Aw.”

“One night, Beauty dreamt that the beast was dying and she hurried back to his castle. When she got there, she saw that he really was dying — he missed her that much. She felt terrible and told him that she would marry him. As soon as she said the words, he turned back into a handsome prince! The end.”

“That’s nice,” Jonah says as I peek back out at the real beast and Prince. They’re still playing. “So where are we in the story now?” Jonah asks.

“I don’t see Beauty,” I whisper, “and the beast is still a beast, so I guess we’re near the beginning? Maybe before Beauty’s dad the merchant visits?”

“So what do we do? Talk to the beast?”