I hated being a slave to my horrible mother. I felt trapped, in a little box. I felt like a human experiment to my mother's whims.
"Cinderella? Come clean the floors in the dining room. And stop staring into space! Make use of yourself," said my stepmother, calling from the second floor.
The dining room didn't even need cleaning. I had cleaned it two hours ago. But alas, down I went with my bucket and mop, to the dining room. I dreamed of being the beautiful princess at the Royal Ball.
In fact, I didn't even need a prince. I would be beautiful and stunning all by myself.
I danced around the dining room, humming a jazzy tune, cleaning plates after mopping. Singing can always make work go faster, in my opinion.
"Cinderella, you missed a spot," commented Anastasia, to a spot that was already clean.
"Oh? Did I? Ha-ha, sorry," I said with a sarcastic tone. I looked her dead in the eye as I mopped the spot that I 'missed'.
Anastasia seemed to get the message, leaving the dining room immediately. When I was done, I made my way back up to my quarters.
On the way there, I stopped to find Anastasia and Drizella talking about something very interesting, in my opinion.
"Now, did you know that the King is inviting every maiden to attend the Royal Ball?"
I put my ear to the door.
"Ooh! How exciting! We need a dress! And fast!"
Every maiden? Even maids? My heart started beating. I needed a dress.
Soon, from the craftsmanship of my animal friends, I had a dress.
But then my evil family ruined it.
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I sat down, on the cold hard bench, just praying for something to happen. My life needed some excitement. I watched the fountain in front of me. Tears started to flow, almost matching the flow of the fountain.
"Oh, please, please, fairy godmother, please help me," I said, wiping the salty tears from my face.
"Who said anything about a fairy godmother?"
I looked up, and saw a very decorated fairy godfather. He stood with his hands on his hips, looking quite offended.
"I'm as much help as she is. Actually, more."
I didn't bother asking where my fairy godmother was. She likes to go clubbing, I hear. I shrugged. I didn't mind who it was, at this point.
"I-I need a dress, and quick. Anything will do," I said.
"Oh, slow down, tiger. We need to find something that fits you. Something tight in all the right places," he winked. I raised a brow.
Soon, with a quick bib-be-de-bop, I was in a blue, flowing dress.
"Ooh, girl, you are looking fine!" exclaimed my fairy godfather. He explained to me the rules and stuff, but to be honest, I wasn't listening. Strike of midnight--something or another.
Off I went in a pumpkin carriage, which was very roomy. Then it made me grimace from the thought of why they needed so much room.
The castle was bustling, inside and out, with the giggling of ladies and the smooth-talking men. It was dark, and candles lined the castle streets. It was beautiful.
It smelled like sweet perfume when I walked inside. It was like a dream come true. The prince was at the back, on a throne, just watching the ladies.
What a creep.
I waltzed my way up to the main room. I made eye contact with the prince. He looked to be enchanted with me, as I danced with myself. Looking around the room, there was guards in armor lining the perimeter.
He walked up to me, when I was getting a drink for myself.
"Care for a dance?"
I didn't necessarily care for a dance, but I took his hand anyway, because I was bored. When I danced with him, I could see why ladies were all over him.
When we spun, I made eye contact with a royal knight. She watched me, tilting her helmet, and repositioning herself. The helmets are designed in a way where you can only see their eyes.
Then she looked away when she noticed I caught her staring.
I smiled, knowing she was probably staring at me when I wasn't looking. How cute.
When the dance was over, it looked to be as if the prince was in love with me or something. Creepy. We only had one dance.
"Yeah, no," I said, briskly walking away from him. When I poured myself a glass, I noticed the knight was looking at me, again. I looked at her and smiled. I noticed her eyes widen. She had beautiful eyes.
"Hey," I said, walking up to her. I leaned on the wall, next to her.
"Hello," she said, after a moment of silence.
"I caught you staring, you know," I said, looking up to her. She didn't look at me back. In fact, she wasn't moving at all.
"Was I?" she asked, pretending to be dumb.
"You know, I think you kind of were," I said.
"You caught me," she replied, still not looking at me.
We people-watched for a moment, then I said, "What do you say we get out of here?"
Then, she finally looked down at me. Our eyes met, and I felt my heart skip a beat. Her eyes were a beautiful brown color. She was mysterious. And I loved it.
"Sure."
She had finally opened up to me once we left the castle, from the back entrance. We laughed as we snuck out, into the garden.
"How about you take that helmet off?" I asked, touching her arm.
"I'll only take it off if you agree to dance with me," she said, taking my arm and leading me into the center of the Queen's garden. There were bright flowers of every color, but with only the dark light, everything turned calm. The only sound was the fountain in the corner.
"I'll take you up on that challenge," I agreed, placing my hand on hers.
She briskly took a step forward, so that we were close to each other. She was in full armor, mind you.
We danced like two flowers in a flowing stream.
She knew how to dance. I wouldn't mind if she didn't, but it made things much more enchanting.
Then, the clock stroke at midnight. My beautiful, blue dress turned into my ugly old maid outfit in the middle of our dance.
She stopped. I was embarrassed, and I didn't know what to do, so I ran off.
She caught me on the arm, but not forcefully. But enough to bring me back to her. We looked into each other's eyes, but my face was flushed.
"Where are you going? I don't even know your name."
I was in shock. "You don't care that I'm. . . not an actual princess?"
"To me you're an actual princess."
My heart fluttered. Who was this knight?
"You promised me you'd take your helmet off," I replied.
This time, she took her helmet off, revealing beautiful, long brown hair, and a small scar on her chin. I almost felt unworthy to be in her presence.
"One more dance?" she asked.
I smiled. "Gladly."
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At the end of the night, we sat on the bench in the garden, watching the fountain flow. We were holding hands.
"What is your name?" she asked.
"Cinderella," I replied, "And yours?"
"Cinderella. Beautiful. Well, the name's Adira, pleasure to meet you."
I smiled. "And you as well."
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She had promised she would meet me again, and she kept that promise, arriving at my doorstep exactly one year later.
And we all lived happily ever after. . .
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