10 01 Creative Writing

The Ring

Once up on a time, there was a very ugly boy, aged 17. He was born in a small village named Fradilos, in a very busy family.
However, that boy suffered a terrible curse casted by a bad, old, phantasmagorical wizard. That man gave him a golden ring which made Thiago Bandera (the boy) as ugly as a monster.
17 years went by and Thiago was very unhappy. He had never had a girlfriend. Everybody was always making fun of him and his parents didn’t pay attention to him at all. One day, the sad boy couldn't stand all the pressure and the prejudices anymore… why? - you ask. The girl he was in love with decided to play with his ring, his cursed ring. At that moment, Thiago exploded. As mad as a furious lion, he took out the ring and threw it away to the other side of the village, with such a strenght that when it fell in a lake - a big and deep lake - the ring broke into millions of pieces. Immediately after, the boy fell asleep on the road.
Thiago almost died in three days. His body just wanted to throw out everything, vomit every humiliation, every guffaw, every forced laugh, every contemptuous look. He was very sick, he vomited, he had acne and he was in the heat of a fever.

During that time there wasn’t anyone in his body!
When he recovered, he slowly got up and went to the mirror. He carefully got near it and suddenly, the mirror broke into thousands of pieces. — Can you imagine how Thiago felt? – No, you can’t. – He bursted into tears, just like a child. He felt like the worst person in the world.
As a heavenly power had come upon him, he picked up a little bit of glass and, then, he realized that… the mirror had broken not because he was ugly, but because of his wonderful beauty!! !
The curse was over. Thiago could be happy right now… Wow, if you had seen him! He laughed like a crazy boy; his wide open smile was the mirror of his heart! His dream, his wish… In a split second, he made friends, he became popular and desirable for the girls.
However, Thiago was not stupid; he didn’t get dazzled with fame or happiness. When he was ugly and insignificant, he learned what a really friend was and, at that moment, he didn’t have any. He was surrounded of people, but he was alone. He didn't have a close friend or someone he could really trust.
He couldn’t stand it anymore: Insignificant and ugly or popular and alone? Totally empty! He couldn’t decide, he couldn’t choose. A 17 year-old-boy is not made of steel, the pressure and the confusion became unbearable! He lost everything.
One day, in a cold foggy morning, a boy went with the wind. Losing everything, leaving everybody, he went away and never returned…
Every foggy morning, at his home, we can hear his spirit, his voice, saying:


«Bandera... Thiago Bandera»

Joana Silva; Sara Fernandes; Sara Pereira