He had been so charming at first, sweeping her off her feet and enveloping her in love. But now, he was no charming gentleman. He was The Hunter. And she was his prey.

It was the first month of summer, and the butterfly was young. Dancing among the wildflowers, she flaunted her fresh beauty, fluttering her painted wings in the sunlight for all to see. She saw how the children’s faces brightened when they landed on their freckled noses, how the bumblebees marveled at her delicate looks. Their eyes filled her with pride; she could do anything, she could go anywhere, and she would be loved.

But enthralling of them all was the floating stranger, with eight long legs and a pinched face, who watched her with a special sort of glint in his smile. The other insects warned against him, said he’d only bring harm, but he was so thoughtful, so flattering, so quick with a compliment. How pretty he made her feel.

Surely he couldn’t be a villain. Villains weren’t sweet like him.

She flew toward his beckons, hesitatantly at first, and then at full force. It would be easy to fly away again, she thought, if anything bad happened anyhow.

And then she couldn’t fly at all.

Sticky strands of invisible silk tangled around her wings, her legs, her feeble antennae, imprisoning her in midair. Panic surged to her head—what was going on? What was wrong with her wings? Why couldn’t she move them? Why couldn’t she move at all?

Then, the spider began crawling toward her, reaching with one spindly leg at a time. Oh, she thought, she was saved! He was her friend; he would help set her free, and she would dance for him, just the way he said he loved. It would all be alright. As he creeped closer, she gave her abdomen a playful shrug as if to say, “oops!” and relief washed over her as he started to grin in return.

But the grin stretched across his face much wider than it should have. Fangs emerged, shining in the sunlight. The butterfly hardly realized what had happened when they punctured her feeble body, letting the poison sink in.

It’s no surprise, I suppose. After all, Beauty was always meant to meet the Beast.