Immediately, she regretted making that decision. She buried her head in her hands, and sobbed away, no one noticing her cries as the crowd cheered loudly for the charming young man who was about to face his destiny. People were placing bets with each other about what the outcome would be.
"I bet ten on the tiger! The king hates him so much, if he lets him live, I'll think he's an idiot! Whatever people say, I think he puts tigers behind both doors."
"I say 20 for the lady. The king wouldn't break his daughter's heart by letting him die, would he? However barbaric he might be, I don't think he would do that to his daughter, breaking her heart."
"I think you're both wrong. Look, the princess is gone. She must somehow be in both of the doors."
The three of them turned and looked at where the princess had been sitting before - sure enough, she was gone. Still, no one noticed that the princess had disappeared but them. They turned back to look at the doors with a grim look on their faces. Who knows what would happen when the king found out about it.
The crowd stopped cheering when the young man stood in front of the door on the right. He took a deep breath, and put his hand on the big brass handles. Even he did not know what fate the princess had given him. He turned to look at where the royal family was sitting, but she wasn’t there. With a resigned look on his face, he pulled the door wide open.
To his horror, he saw what was behind the door – the tiger savaging the girl behind the door. Rooted to the ground, he stared at the scene. Never had this ever happened before. The crowd was similarly shocked, many of which had their mouth open, staring openly at the king. The king himself cursed silently and stalked out of the arena.
The young an regained his senses, and taking the chance, ran for it.
"I bet ten on the tiger! The king hates him so much, if he lets him live, I'll think he's an idiot! Whatever people say, I think he puts tigers behind both doors."
"I say 20 for the lady. The king wouldn't break his daughter's heart by letting him die, would he? However barbaric he might be, I don't think he would do that to his daughter, breaking her heart."
"I think you're both wrong. Look, the princess is gone. She must somehow be in both of the doors."
The three of them turned and looked at where the princess had been sitting before - sure enough, she was gone. Still, no one noticed that the princess had disappeared but them. They turned back to look at the doors with a grim look on their faces. Who knows what would happen when the king found out about it.
The crowd stopped cheering when the young man stood in front of the door on the right. He took a deep breath, and put his hand on the big brass handles. Even he did not know what fate the princess had given him. He turned to look at where the royal family was sitting, but she wasn’t there. With a resigned look on his face, he pulled the door wide open.
To his horror, he saw what was behind the door – the tiger savaging the girl behind the door. Rooted to the ground, he stared at the scene. Never had this ever happened before. The crowd was similarly shocked, many of which had their mouth open, staring openly at the king. The king himself cursed silently and stalked out of the arena.
The young an regained his senses, and taking the chance, ran for it.
~344 words~
I found the ending refresing, as the young man was not only spared, but could probably lead his life with the princess thereafter. The new twist added to the plot had people placing bets on the outcome and allowed for some dialogue to be weaved in. The ending sentence was crisp and left the reader wondering what was going to happen next.
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