The creature was held deep in the castle cellar far from the common world. Her crippled body tottered and dragged hobbling across the cellar’s cold stone floor. She was grotesque beyond words. The creature’s waiting seemed an eternity. No matter the task at hand, she kept a hopeful eye on the heavy wooden door in the chamber corner. This portal never opened shaping her into a potential lifelong prisoner. She didn’t need a reflecting mirror. She didn’t need to see the abnormal lumps and bumps on her face, head, and shoulder exposing her hideousness. The ugly creature was intelligent. Repulsive ugliness encased the creature’s beautiful heart. Frequently her whimpering tears lulled her into sleepy brighter moments. The lonely creature dreamed. She dreamed she danced like a gazelle, sang as a lark, her face clear and bright shone as a soaring night star. It was miraculously wonderful yet no one shared her powerful happiness. Awakening in the deserted darkness she prayed for a transformation that never materialized. The tormented creature’s life was an ordeal.
Her real name was Ungula and she was the fraternal twin sister of Zingara. The hideous damsel was crippled, ugly, and oozed a gelatin-like substance from her left eye. Her humped back and gimp leg made her appear a monster. Ungula kept a small suitcase packed and ready by the door for the fateful day of her freedom. Though almost speechless, every night before retiring she knelt by her bed and prayed. Before getting into bed, she looked at the door checking if it was open. It never was.
Tonight was different. The hideous damsel’s prayers were answered by two human angels named Zingara and Yew Rue. Two loud whining explosions popped a time bomb for each steel hinge.
She staggered whirling around. The door slowly turned and fell off its hinges. A man stood in the door frame. He appeared startled. It was Yew Rue.
“It’s you,” he said as if he recognized her. Obviously, his emotions were jumbling. Fear, disgust, wonder, and compassion all stirred at once. He stepped into the little room. They stared in each other’s eyes reading subtle movements, gestures, and indications. A warmth radiated from her like the sun popping over cloudy mountains. Confusion surged through his heart.
“Could this ugly nightmare be loving me as I sense?” He thought in his tangled mind. “Why do I taste a secret attraction for this unsightly feminine husk?”
“I free you from this dungeon,” he declared determined to act on his feelings and not his sight. To Yew, it was miraculously wonderful sharing her powerful happiness.
Yew shook his head as if clearing it. He could hardly believe his eyes. What was he thinking? This dismal lump was going to be his sister-in-law.
“Ungula, I’m your sister. Do you understand what I am saying?” shouted Zingara.
“Ungula. We’ve got to go now. Mama is coming,” said Yew.
At the word “mama”, Ungula’s expression became suspicious.
“You. Mama,” slurred Ungula with her distorted mouth, gesturing and pointing.
“No. We’ve come to get you out,” said Zingara. She picked up the small suitcase for emphasis.
The suitcase did it. Ungula got the symbolic message. Realizing Ungula could never keep up with their pace, Yew hauled her over his shoulder and took off at a quick lope. She was much lighter than he anticipated.
Lamia sat in human form waiting in her huge but empty throne room. She appeared a beautiful young woman dressed in black and red satin. Her youth had been preserved by sucking the life’s blood of others. She was expecting dinner guests. Any moment.
Explosion shook the room. A huge door toppled off its hinges and crashed to the floor.
“You have a way with doors. You had only to knock,” said Lamia with her usual wit. “I suppose you’ve come to kill me.”
“Yes. Mother aunt, I’ve come to discover if the breasts I suckled are full of milk or poison blood,” threatened Zingara.
“My. You are vulgar. Oh, and you brought your crippled sister. How nice. We’ll have a homecoming party,” she laughed, “But really, one boy for three girls?”
Yew was glancing right and left checking exits. He smelled a trap. Everything was too easy. That’s when the middle of the huge floor opened up swallowing them into pitch darkness.