Once upon a time, there was a family of three – a father, a mother, and their daughter – living an averagely wealthy life. The father is a merchant of luxurious yet affordable cloths that are in demand within the circles of both the rich and the poor. The mother would just stay at home and is mainly responsible of raising their daughter. Now this couple is an upstanding part of the community and is also good at heart, which makes them liked by many and in their friends’ good graces. The daughter, moreover, was raised to be just like them. However, I will not delve on the lives of her parents. The daughter was named Ella and this is her story.
One sunny day, Ella’s mother contracted an unknown disease. Because of the nature of the malady, none of the town doctors could do anything for her mother. The father searched far and wide to find a cure or to find someone who – maybe – knows of an antidote. But alas! There was nothing. There was no one. All they could do was watch the mother get thinner each day, and get weaker each minute. This happened until one day, the mother was able to walk again! The father and daughter was overjoyed at seeing the woman they both love differently hum her usual songs while walking along her garden, touching her prized roses, and flitting with butterflies. The whole house was alight with joy as opposed to its depressing atmosphere these past weeks. On that night, Ella’s mother tucked her in her bed and hummed her favourite lullaby.
‘Sleep, child’ she heard her mother say while slowly drifting towards welcomed slumber. ‘Be strong. Be brave’ she heard her mother’s murmurs. ‘Courage, child. Courage’ she slowly nodded showing that she understood. Her mother smiled and kissed her forehead. ‘I love you, child. You are loved and I will always be in your heart. I will see you, Ella’ and she hugged her mother fiercely, which was returned with equal ferocity.
Ella was awakened the next morning by a loud wailing coming from somewhere in the large house. She suddenly has this inexplicable feeling of dread, of intense fear. She soon found out that the heartbreaking sound was coming from her parents’ bedroom. Now, Ella is an intelligent and extremely witty child so she already had inkling of what is going on; however, being a child, she immediately dismissed all negative thoughts and proceeded inside the room with the door already halfway open.
The girl slowly walked towards the foot of the enormous bed and stood rooted on the spot. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Her mother – her dear, beautiful, kind, intelligent mother – was dead. She just couldn’t understand! Wasn’t it just yesterday when her mother was back to being the sun to her world? Wasn’t it just last night when her mother was humming her lullaby, telling her that she’s loved, telling her to have courage? She all have these unanswered questions in her head when she saw her mother’s pale face. Her mother was smiling peacefully. It was then that she managed to rein her emotions for she now knew that her mother was ready. Her mother welcomed her death with open arms, knowing that everything will be alright.
The burial happened the following week. There was a whirlwind of tears and quiet remembering. Friends from afar had come and paid their respects and offer their own brand of comfort to the father and daughter. Ella shed some tears but knowing that her mother would disapprove of her dwelling on the past, welcomed the guests with all smiles and open arms. Her father, however, was a different story. It seemed that he did not take his wife’s passing very good. He drowned himself in wine and alcohol especially after the burial. He would go to the local pub early in the afternoon and would go home in the wee hours of the morning. This alarmed Ella and when her father came home early smelling of cheap cigarette and litres of alcohol, she guided him towards her mother’s favourite couch by the fireplace, draped him with her mother’s favourite blanket, placed a cup of tea on the circular table where her mother would put her finished stitched doilies, kissed her father’s forehead and murmured, ‘Courage, father. She will always be in our hearts, you see. So, have courage, father’. She left the man and went to her room to call it a night.
When morning came, Ella woke up to the smell of breakfast. She was surprised since the last time she woke up to this was the day her mother passed away. She went to the dining room and discovered her father already sitting on his usual chair by the dining table and already nursing a cuppa. ‘Ella’ her father greeted her and kissed her forehead, eyes showing love and gratefulness. ‘I think I need to get back to our business. It’s high time to move forward. What do you say?’ and Ella smiled. ‘That would be delightful, Father. I know that would be what Mother would like. To moving forward?’ and she raised her cup of milk with honey. Her father chuckled good-naturedly and clinked his cup to her daughter’s. ‘To moving forward’.
Everything was back to normal – as normal as the father and daughter could get. Her father was back to selling cloths and garnered more customers. Ella was learning everything a woman should learn. She was, in every sense of the world, slowly becoming her mother. Not a replica, no, for she knows no one could be like her mother; but rather, an aspiring woman who looks up to her role model. Everything was sunshine and daisies. But, as far as life goes, something twisted their way comes.
She was a very beautiful woman – nothing compared to her mother, but Cinderella knew not to compare others to her mother, even herself. Her father brought the woman back home after a week-long journey to a faraway place to buy exotic cloths. She was happy that her father found love once again, her anger that her father replaced her mother slowly ebbing into understanding. Her happiness was also doubled after seeing the two daughters of her father’s new love. She saw the love reflected on the couple’s eyes and was immensely joyous when her father decided to finally get married. She soon found out, however, that her naivety would soon be her downfall, her patience and sanity tested.
A week after the wedding, her father soon got word of some hard-to-come-by cloths with hard-to-resist bargains. He then set off with the knowledge that her darling Ella would be in undoubtedly good hands. After a tearful goodbye from his new wife and her daughters – Ella is immune to all this nonsense – the father then set off towards his destination. Upon seeing that his husband is not within hearing distance and is unlikely to come back, she ushered the three girls inside the house, locked all the doors, and closed all the curtains. The only light was coming from the candelabra on the coffee table, giving off a feeling of foreboding.
‘Mother, what is ever the matter?’ beautiful Ella asked earnestly. Instead of the usual pat on the head and a caress on a cheek, she sneered maliciously and held the girl’s face with her cheeks that will surely bruise. Ella grunted in obvious pain but the woman she was calling Mother just a week ago never relented. Instead, she gripped the cheeks harder, enough to have a firm hold on Ella’s jaw.
‘Do not call me ‘Mother’, you filth’ the stepmother spat. ‘I was never your mother. You were never my daughter’ she cackled along with her children, much to the young Ella’s dismay.
‘But I thought –‘ whatever Ella was going to say was abruptly cut short when she was harshly released from her stepmother’s iron grip. She tasted the coppery taste of her own blood but was afraid to say anything, fearing for the worst.
‘Tch! You were just a leverage to help me be closer your father’ here she held her head high, taking pride in what she’s accomplished. ‘He was enchanted by my beauty, and I was enchanted by his wealth. She worshipped my body but I worshipped his pockets of silver and pouches of gold. He loved me and my daughters, more than precious jewels; and, I loved his jewels and your deceased mother’s rarities’ she cackled again. Ella discovered that her laugh was rather throaty and not at all those tinkling sound that she is accustomed to hearing. Then the woman stopped laughing and a hard glint appeared on her eyes while slowly stalking the fallen form of Ella, like a lion to his prey. ‘Yet, there is still someone whose beauty she is most enchanted with and most protected; a person she loved more that the most precious of jewels, more than my daughters, more than me’ there was a pregnant pause. ‘You’
Ella’s eyes glistened with tears upon knowing that her father loves her more than anyone in the world. However, the stepmother mistook the tears as the effects of her ferocity. Ella’s fear of her. She smirked evilly and straightened up. ‘You, Ella, will now be doing all the household chores. From now on, you will follow our every command, our every whim, our every little demand. Think of it as me being kind. I could easily kill you right now, you know’ and she threw her head back and emitted that highly annoying laugh, which was tripled by her daughters.
The very next day, all the maids, the gardener, the cook, and basically the entirety of the household was fired by the new mistress. She gave Ella work clothes that are more fitting to that of a street mouse. Along with taking care of her and her daughters, along with the house, she gave Ella just one more specific task – she was to clean the fireplace and tend to it every night to provide heat and warmth. Word also came to them that the father will be delayed a week or two at the most, much to the evil doers’ joy and to little Ella’s disappointment.
Ella’s days were made of a kettle of ‘Wake up Izzy and Annie, Ella!’ and ‘Feed the milk to the cat. Only milk!’ for breakfast; a heaping of ‘Fetch this errand for us, Ella!’ and a glass of ‘Wash our ribbons, Ella!’ for lunch; and, for dinner, a juicy ‘Light the fireplace now, girl!’ and a steaming ‘Stop being stupid for once, stupid!’. This routine continued for almost three weeks until one day, her stepmother called for a family meeting.
‘I’m ha- I am so sad to say that my husband, your father, is dead’ she announced like she just squashed a cockroach – uncaring of the creature but fussed over the mess it left behind. Griselda and Anastasia were just looking at their nails like it was the most important thing in the world. Ella, however, found her world completely shattered and something within her snapped. She, nevertheless, reined her emotions in, chanting the mantra her mother taught to her over and over in her head. ‘Apparently,’ her stepmother continued. ‘He left the house and all his wealth to me’ and it was there that she was overcome with so much joy. The celebration was the mother and daughters eating at the most expensive restaurant and buying clothes that are obviously without taste, tacky, and useless. It’s only redeeming quality, to them at least, is the expensiveness of the article.
Now, the three evil ones own a rather fat cat with fur of dirtiest grey. They named him Prince with the delusion that the animal was as prim and as proper as, well, a prince. However, for Ella, this cat was her watcher and one of her tormentor. One wrong move would result in the cat’s annoying yowl and, sure as ever, Ella would get her usual dose of maltreatment. It was one of those rare days that the three ladies are out of the house doing whoever knows what, leaving their beloved Prince and Ella. Ella was mopping the floor near the fireplace when she accidentally knocked over her stepmothers favourite vase of china. Unfortunately, Prince yowled so loudly that one might hear it down the market. Ella was in a state of distress. Heaven knows what would happen to her should her stepmother found out. The yowls of the blasted cat were also not helping and seem to just aggravate her head.
Then, a loud yowl caused something within Ella to snap. She grabbed the cat none too gentle and pried open its jaws and stuffed the entire cloth she was using as her mop onto the animal. She then proceeded to stuff the animal up the chimney with ropes pegged to the side of the chimney wall – high enough that no one could see but low enough that the flames could easily reach. Ella did not leave unscathed, much to her panic. She was, however, thankful that the scratches were only found on her arms which are easily concealed by her slave uniform. She then proceeded to light up the fire and the smell of roasting meat wafted on the air. The ladies’ came home way past midnight and wasn’t greeted by Prince – a usual. If they would wonder where their cat would be, they would just put it to his penchant for going out on days and coming home if he wants to. No one would also notice the fur found on the ashes of the fireplace since they don’t even come near to it. No one suspected Ella: they were enemies, after all.
Then one day, a missive was given to the public: the Crowned Prince is looking for his bride, regardless of social status. Now, this prince is very picky. He’s travelled to other kingdoms looking for love but he failed every time. So, he decided to stay local. After all, how can someone appreciate beauties from other lands if one cannot appreciate what is near?
The whole kingdom was buzzing in excitement, particularly from one household.
‘Finally!’ the stepmother gushed. ‘You, my dears, are going to marry the prince and we’ll be rich forever’ and then cackled. Her daughters didn’t mind who would marry the prince, as long as all of them would benefit.
‘Stepmother’, Ella started and the three sneered at the girl. ‘Can I please go to the ball?’ she added hopefully. Her stepmother and stepsisters couldn’t do anything but to laugh hard, clutching their sides.
‘How funny! You don’t really think that you would be gracing the castle halls with your filthiness, not to mention your apparent ugliness’ her stepmother added and dismissed the poor girl to start their preparations for this evening’s ball.
Ella, on the other hand, was not deterred. She stood there and slowly lifted her head to glare at her stepmother.
The woman flinched upon seeing the burning hatred on the girl’s eyes. This was not the Ella of the cinders that she knew. ‘How dare you glare at me like that?’ and she slapped the girl. The daughters’ then helped their mother in slapping Ella. Then, the stepmother made the mistake of insulting Ella’s mother, ‘You are just like you pathetically incompetent mother! It seems that a rotten apple doesn’t fall far from its rotten tree’ and they cackled their evil, throaty laugh.
Ella saw red and lashed at her tormentors. She picked up a heavy stool and banged it to Anastasia’s head very hard. Blood spurted from the girl’s head but Ella did not stop there. She pounded again and again until matter was splayed on the walls, on her dirty dress, and on Griselda and her mother’s rooted bodies. The stool was destroyed but Ella then saw a knife to cut fruits and the dashed towards Griselda. She never saw it coming. Ella slashed at her throat causing the victim to give out a gurgled laugh. Ella continued to hack the appendage, laughing maniacally all throughout. She then pulled the head from the body quite easily like plucking a grape from a bunch.
‘No!’ the stepmother wailed. ‘You demon!’ and she walked away backwards but the solid wall was blocking her vain escape.
Ella mimicked the evil woman’s laugh. ‘You made me this’ and Ella gave her an evil grin that distorted her beautiful features. ‘Now your next’
‘What are you going to do to me?’ the stepmother trembled.
‘You are going to think of all the things you’ve done to me and my father’ she answered with a shrug. ‘You’re going to burn’ and she pulled up a candle from a candelabra nearby and threw it at the woman’s long skirt which quickly caught with fire.
The slowly burning woman shrieked and pleaded for forgiveness.
‘Oh , I forgive you – not!’ and Ella smiled evilly.
‘You’re not going away with this’
‘Are you sure? I even killed your cat without you knowing. That was fun’
‘No! Please!’
Ella tsked. ‘Aw, you’re pleads are a little bit too late, stepmother’
‘They’re going to know you killed us!’ she tried again.
‘Don’t get your hopes up, woman. When they will come and investigate, all of you would be ashes along with this house’ and she turned in her heel and walked outside. But, she stopped and called back, ‘Enjoy the fire, stepmother. As for me’ Ella giggled much to the burning woman’s horror. ‘I’m going to the ball’. As she was slowly dying, the stepmother pondered one last thought. If only I’d said yes.
Ella walked out of the house slowly burning everything. From the outside, the house looked like a burning head. She walked out to the garden and saw a slim woman in her early thirties, wearing a shimmering silver dress and holding a black wand on her right hand, looking at her approvingly.
‘So, you showed them, huh’ the woman stated coolly.
Ella shrugged. ‘Eh. They had it coming’
The woman shrugged too. ‘So, going to the ball?’ and Ella nodded.
‘But, I’ve got nothing to wear’
‘Oh, nonsense. I’m your fairy godmother and I’ll solve everything.
‘Thank the heavens. I thought I’ll kill again to steal clothes’ and they both laughed.
The fairy godmother plucked a plump pumpkin from a patch and transforms it into a pearl-white carriage gilded with silvers and gold. She then found four ducks and transforms them into palomino stallions along with a wayward mouse to act as the valet and driver. She then transformed Ella’s dirty and bloody clothes into a shimmering ball gown made with colors of baby blue’s, periwinkle’s, and a touch of blue-green. She then made two glass slippers that perfectly fitted Ella’s feet.
‘Off you go, dearie!’ the woman gushed excitedly.
Ella was immensely happy, but, ‘So, what’s the catch?’
The woman pouted and snickered, ‘Nothing. Think of it as 18 years worth of presents’
Ella laughed light-heartedly and gave her fairy godmother a tight hug. ‘Will I ever see you again?’
‘Of course, dearie! Now, run along and go the ball’
Ella proceeded to ride on the carriage and went towards the direction to the castle along with a shout of ‘Go get him, tigress!’ from her fairy godmother. She looked back and saw the house collapsing but still burning. She then made herself comfortable and smiled despite everything that happened.
Upon arriving at the ball, the prince whose name was Eric, only danced with Ella. They danced until the chime of the clock signalling midnight tolled and Ella’s foot caught her other foot and almost fell to the floor when Prince Eric caught her. Realizing that Ella’s right glass slipper came off, he knelt down and put it on the girl’s foot.
‘It’s a perfect fit’ and he smiled dazzlingly which Ella returned. The Prince then smacked his head, ‘Oh, my! Where are my manners? It seemed that I forgot everything because of you’ and Ella blushed beautifully.
‘I must ask you, the most beautiful maiden I’ve ever laid eyes on, your name’
Ella snickered and had a faraway look. She remembered the burning of her old home and fought the urge to cackle victoriously.
‘Hello, Prince Eric. I’m Cinderella’ and they both laughed at their own antics. And without further ado to this absolutely lengthy story, they lived happily ever after.
A/N: So, this is my take on the ever-famous Cinderella. I'm immensely sorry for the length. So, read and review. Enjoy.650Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLTeln4228v
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