My English Assignment: Ending for "The Lady or the Tiger"
Without the slightest hesitation, he went to the door on the right and opened it. The princess noticed his face transform into a look of utter terror. His eyes widened. His jaw dropped. He stumbled backwards a few steps, and stared at the beast before him. The striped monster’s paws sounded like thunder in the hushed arena. She had lied to him. His beloved princess had lied, and he was going to die.
The tiger circled him in the center or the arena. Low, throaty, growls emanated from the beast, and it glared with gleaming yellow eyes at the young man who would be his next prey. It flung its large paws out to the young man, not with the intention to kill, but to toy with him. The young man leaped back, but not far enough. The paw slammed into his chest and he folded over, completely winded. Warm blood poured from his side onto the ground. He looked up to the princess asking her ‘why’ with the look in his eyes. He knew she saw. She dug her nails deeper into her arms, knowing that her beloved’s end would soon be coming.
The princess was right. The tiger roared and pounced onto the young man’s chest with full force. He gasped and tried to gulp in as much oxygen as he possibly could, but his lungs were beginning to burn as if set on fire. He looked at the princess, who was sitting forward in her chair with a sad expression on her face. Looking the tiger straight in the eyes, he whispered “Do it now.” He glanced at the fair princess one final time before closing his eyes and waiting for the end. The tiger understood what the man had said, for he dug his long claws into his chest. The clothing tore, leaving slash marks both on the cloth and his pale flesh. All sounds the princess could hear drowned out of the stadium. The only thing she could hear was the sound of his heart beating. She watched the blood pour from his wounds, watched the tiger begin tearing his limbs apart. The beat slowed. Slower and slower with every tear of his flesh. She watched him lay in the arena until the heart slowed to the point where it beat no longer. He was gone.
“No!” she cried. Every moment spent with him suddenly flashed through her mind. All the comforting gestures, the steamy nights, the kisses, every single second flowed through her memory as if they were happening once again. She felt his pain stabbing at her breaking heart, as if she had been the one to be torn apart by the tiger. The beast had ripped apart the body so viciously that she could no longer recognize the being, except for the head. The head was laying in a puddle of blood, positioned where it appeared to be facing towards her. His lifeless blue eyes stared at her, chilling her to the bone.
“Father,” said the princess to the king, “I love you.” He looked at her, a surprised look on his face. She stood up, walked to the edge of the arena, and flung herself to her death. She landed with a thump onto the hard ground. The beast turned its attention from the mangled body of her lover to her. I’m going to die, she thought. The eyes gleamed again. The muscles under the orange and black striped fur tensed up to prepare for the pounce. It launched itself onto her, the heavy paws bashed against her shoulders and pinned her to the ground. She slowed her breath. A strange feeling of calmness overtook her as she looked her predator in the eyes. It raised a clawed paw into the air, and she knew this had been the right choice to make.
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