Author Information
Swansea
Edgar Marroquin
Lucia Villarreal
Swansea
| Beauty. Beauty at the mere sight of her! Alas, a beautiful swan strokes her wings across the crystalline water. Frogs look at her mesmerizing beauty, staring in awe whilst she caresses her wings. She climbs out of the water and realizes true ugliness when she perceives her world. That is, the slimy frogs, dark leeches and repulsive toads surround her. She’s easily annoyed at their presence and decides to flee the lagoon.
“Ugh!” she cried. “These fools keep staring at me, what do they marvel at?”
She was all too gorgeous; she didn’t believe the animals round the lagoon could stare much. She was too arrogant and too cruel. She took flight every afternoon towards the South and would return only when the moon rose into the night sky. Swansea would at the moon, and before her… a glimpse of her utter beauty, her exquisite good looks.
Most days, she ignored the wildlife around the lagoon and all its animals. She never met their gaze. When she did so, they would soon discover that she had the coldest of eyes. Eyes that pierce and bruise thy beholder’s eyes. Many animals never knew the effect she had on them. With her cold glare she transmitted her own wretched self. That is…her vanity, her arrogance, and her utmost cruelty to the rest of the biota. A curious frog came by and stared at her for a while.
“My oh my! Aren’t you beautiful, Swansea…” cried Frog George.
“I am, aren’t I?” bragged Swansea proudly. “Too bad, I can’t look at you, the way I look at myself.”
She turned away and left the frog hurting.
He’d always known true beauty beheld Swansea. He did not expect her sudden reaction towards his complement. He’d never been thoroughly hurting. He looked at his own reflection, and realized his sheer dreadful appearance.
He fell down to his hind legs and wept. He had never felt such hatred, such disgrace. His eyes lost the gleam of illusion and beauty for he perceived a world filled with upmost arrogance and denial. Little by little, Frog George’s red eyes darkened significantly. The bright red in his glint faded into a jet black. He no longer believed in the beauty of kindness, compassion nor love.
Swansea flew back to the South. However, her journey lasted long enough for the frost of Winter would take its toll on the lagoon. She returned to only to debris. The lagoon and its life ticked by; time strolled by and Swansea was horrified.
Long after her quest for any signs of life round the lagoon, she found Frog George, the only living thing remaining and she approached him instantly.
“Frog George!” Swansea exclaimed. “The lagoon! All animals and all living things have perished! What has happened?”
“You! You’ve happened!” Frog George wailed. “Beauty has ruined us all. You have decided to act selfishly; you’ve taken beauty for granted. You have succumbed to the evil cobwebs of arrogance! Despicable arrogance has ruined your soul. It has ruined life, and nothing can be done now, we’ve all been exposed to egotism that the world has begun its descent into nothingness, into the dark abyss. Nothing is left, nothing but your wretched soul, your wretched beauty...”
