Once upon a time in a land
much like yours and mine lived a young girl named Ella. She was born in a small
house with her mother, Lily, and her father, a hardworking merchant.
Her mother was kind,
loving, and patient and her father was happy. They were a gracious family, who
saw wonderful success. Such success allowed them to move into a large, four
thousand-acre estate.
Ella loved the lily
gardens around the estate and spent much of her time there. In these gardens
she met an odd, yet charming array of friends: three blind mice, an uncountable
number of birds, and a spider monkey named Zuzu, who had escaped from her
wealthy neighbor’s menagerie.
Months after they arrived,
however, Ella’s mother fell sick. She died shortly after, leaving a heartbroken
husband.
After her death, he left
on business more regularly and left Ella alone to grow into a woman of parallel
kindness to her mother.
During one of his travels,
Ella’s father met a woman. By the time he arrived home on the day of Ella’s
16th birthday, he was married once more.
The woman arrived in an
extravagant horse-drawn carriage with her two daughters. The three ladies
stepped out head-to-toe in silk, lace, gems, and fur. Ella smiled and greeted
her new stepfamily but, disregarding her kindness, they huffed and hollered at
the coachman.
“Goodness me” began the
stepmother, “it’s like he purposefully drove over all those potholes.”
“And the rocks! My poor
dress! Ruined at the seams!” screeched the eldest stepsister.
“I have bruises ALL over!
And my haaair” whined the youngest.
roseElla watched wide-eyed
as the newcomers spent the next weeks changing everything about the estate.
Walls were painted pink, grass was replaced with stone, and the lily gardens
were removed and changed for rose ones.
As months passed, her
father’s business began to decline. He turned solely to trade and was away for
months at sea. While travelling, Ella was Cinderella, a name given to her by
her terrible stepfamily. She cleaned, and cooked, and did everything for them.
But when her father came home for short periods of time, Ella was Ella. She was
ignored by her stepsisters but treated with false-kindness by her stepmother.
Ella never dared to tell
her father about the wickedness of his new wife. She could not bear to have her
poor father’s heart broken again.
One evening at dinner, her
father sat beside his beloved Ella and whispered to her: “I received a letter
today.”
“A letter? Who from?” she
whispered back, avoiding the hot glare from her stepmother.
“The King,” he replied,
smiling.
“The King!” exclaimed the
stepmother.
“What does the King want
with her?” screeched the eldest stepsister.
“Mother! I thought you said nooo animals in
the house! Why is that THING in here?” whined the youngest.
“Cinder – I mean Ella… darling? Would you
please get your monkey off the table?” the stepmother asked through clenched
teeth.
Ella patted her lap and
Zuzu hopped down. He grabbed a piece of bread from her plate and ran out of the
large dining hall.
“What does it say?” the
stepmother asked.
Ella’s father reached into
his tailcoat, pulled out an engraved letter, and handed it to Ella. She read
the handwritten words aloud: “On behalf of the King, Their Graces the Duke and
Duchess of Devonshire, you are invited to attend the Prince’s Masquerade Ball
to be held in a fortnight.”
“Why that’s just two weeks
away!” exclaimed the stepmother.
“TWO weeks?” chimed the
stepsisters.
lilyFor the next two
weeks, the women scampered around the house in frenzy; they could not contain
their excitement. Ella took freedom’s opportunity to spend time with her
father. They replanted a small lily garden behind manor.
On his last night at home,
Ella’s father brought her a large box with a white ribbon on it.
“For you,” he said.
She opened it to find a
pastel pink dress inside. She could, again, feel the glare from her stepmother.
“You must go to bed, dear
Ella. We all have a big day tomorrow. The Prince’s decision will be the right
one, I suspect. My eldest is ravishing! And we must all celebrate their
soon-to-be marriage at the ball,” the stepmother exclaimed.
Ella bid a sad farewell to
her father, scooped up the three blind mice hiding under her new dress, and ran
up the stairs to her room. Zuzu and the rest of her tiny friends followed her.
“No animals in the –”
Ella shut her door before
her stepmother could finish. Sleeping soundly that night, she had wonderful
dreams of the prince and the ball.
The next morning, she
awoke to loud shouts and screams.
“Cinderella!” screeched
the eldest stepsister.
“Cinderellaaa!” whined the
youngest.
Ella was again Cinderella
– a slave to her stepfamily.
She swept the floors with
the corn broom, washed the walls with the sponge, pruned the gardens with the
cutters, and prepared breakfast, lunch, and afternoon tea. The ladies sat out
in the rose garden on white chairs, hidden under an excessively frilly
umbrella. Cinderella was called over.
“Bring down that gorgeous
dress my dear husband bought,” her stepmother commanded shrewdly.
“The pink gown?”
Cinderella asked.
“Correct. Bring it down at
once,” she commanded again.
“Wrap it up in that pretty box!” the
eldest quipped with a sly grin at her sister.
“With the WHITE ribbon on
top!” the two stepsisters shouted in unison. They fell into a fit of laughter
as their wicked mother sipped her tea indifferently.
For the rest of the day,
Cinderella primped the ladies for the ball. The eldest stepsister wore
Cinderella’s pastel pink gown and scolded her for working so slowly.
“Oh, goodness. She is ripe
with jealousy, isn’t she?” Cinderella overheard the stepmother remark.
“Isn’t she just? Must be
hard to see such a pretty gown look better on someone else,” screeched the
eldest.
Cinderella curled their
wigs, sewed their masquerade masks, hemmed their dresses, and powdered their
faces.
Then the women left for
the ball in the same extravagant horse-drawn carriage they had first arrived
in.
Cinderella ran to her room
and wept softly on her bed. She heard shuffles beside her and looked up to see
her tiny friends. In front of them lay a mask.
“Did you make this for
me?” she asked softly.
Cinderella's maskZuzu
pushed the mask closer.
She picked up the small
mask and held it up to her face. She giggled. The mask was made up of twigs
from the birds’ nests; it had lily petals sewn on – three had been sewn
particularly poorly, but Cinderella knew the blind mice had tried their best.
She looked at her friends,
wept, and said:
“If only I could go to the
ball and wear your beautiful mask. I truly wish I could.”
Just then, a shower of
golden glitter rained from the ceiling.
WHOOSH, WHOOSH, SWIRL,
BAM!
“Oopsie! I can never make
an entrance. Nice to meet ya lady, I’m your fairy friend. The name’s Fairy but
you can call me… Well, you can call me Fairy. I never did get a nickname. Hah
huh!” squealed a high-pitched little winged woman in a golden gown.
Cinderella and her friends
backed away from the odd creature. The fairy whooshed and swirled around the
room.
Cinderella“Did I hear
correctly? You wanna go to that big ball? It’s gonna be a big one! Hah huh!
I’ve got just the dress for you… I do!”
And with one flick of her
tiny golden wand Cinderella was dressed in a beautiful blue gown with gorgeous
glass slippers. She grabbed her mask and hurriedly followed Fairy out of the
manor.
PHREEEP!
Fairy whistled loudly and
motioned Cinderella into the silver carriage.
“Now go, go, go! Or you’re
going to be late! Don’t be late! Oopsie! Hah huh! Don’t forget lady, this only
lasts until midnight… on the dot!”
Cinderella waved goodbye
to her friends and the odd fairy creature. She held on tight as the silver
carriage zoomed towards the King’s castle.
Once she arrived at the
massive stone palace, she was escorted to the banquet hall. Upon entering the
large golden-walled and ruby-floored room, Cinderella felt all eyes on her.
“Oh my!” and “What a
wonder!” and “That mask is so strange!” and “Her extravagance is breathtaking!”
were among the comments Cinderella heard as she passed by Dukes and Duchesses,
Lords and Ladies, all dressed in the finest attire.
Suddenly, a handsome man
bowed gently in front of her and asked to dance. His blue eyes glimmered behind
his ruby-encrusted mask as she curtsied and took his outstretched hand.
She danced with him for
the entire night. They discussed many things and the man was surprised at her
knowledge about business.
“You enchant me. My
grandfather desires that I spend my evening looking for the right woman, but I
seem to have found her already,” the man said.
“Your grandfather?”
Cinderella asked.
“Yes, surely you know
him,” the man smiled.
Just as she was about to
respond, Cinderella heard the large golden clock in the center of the banquet
hall strike midnight.
DONG!
DONG!
DONG!
As the clock began to
countdown, Cinderella apologized hurriedly and ran as fast as she could out of
the palace. She jumped into the silver carriage, dropping one of her glass
slippers. She held on tightly as the carriage zoomed away from the palace.
Cinderella had a sleepless
night, unable to get the image of the man’s blue eyes out of her mind.
The next morning she swept
the floors with the corn broom, washed the walls with the sponge, pruned the
gardens with the cutters, and began preparing breakfast. As she set the dining
table, she could hear the wicked ladies complaining.
“Terrible ordeal that
was!” screeched the eldest.
“QUITE horrid!” whined the
youngest.
“The prince was with that
woman all night.”
“It’s because you wore
that uuugly pink dress.”
“Now, now, girls. Come eat
your breakfast. And wipe that stunned look off your face, Cinderella. It
doesn’t suit you,” said the stepmother.
Before they could be
seated, a loud knock came at the door. The women rushed to the entrance and
squealed at the sight of the royal doorman. Cinderella came behind the ladies
slowly.
“Presenting the Prince of
the Greatest Land of all Lands,” the doorman shouted. “The woman he seeks to
marry wore this glass slipper,” he continued. The ladies squealed again.
“It’s a glass slipper!”
Cinderella called out and moved closer. Her stepmother shoved her away.
“Who said that?” asked a
familiar voice.
“I did!” the eldest
stepsister cried.
Then, she tried the
slipper on with no success: the slipper would not fit. Then, the youngest
sister tried the slipper on. Again, no triumph came for her.
Cinderella knew she could
not call out again – her stepmother would surely punish her if she did. So, she
grabbed Zuzu and began to walk up the stairs.
“Who is that?” called the
familiar voice. Cinderella turned around and caught a glimpse of the handsome blue
eyes looking up at her. The man from the ball was the Prince.
“Ella,” she replied
softly.
Cinderella's glass
slipper“Ella,” the prince repeated. He walked carefully into the manor and
greeted her with an outstretched hand. He gently slipped the glass slipper on
her foot: the perfect match.
Without a word, he led her
away from her stunned wicked stepfamily and into the royal carriage. She
motioned her tiny friends to follow. The prince looked at all the animals in
the carriage and laughed.
“You are enchanting,” he
said, looking into Ella’s eyes.
The two were married as
soon as they could be and had a daughter, whom Ella named Lily. Once King and
Queen, they disallowed anyone to capture exotic animals for captivity in
menageries, set out laws that allowed the merchant class to prosper, and lived
happily ever after.
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