Cinderella (A Slightly Altered Tale)
by Katherine Ickes

Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl named Cinderella. She was graced with beauty unlike any other, though it was not usually recognized due to her lower class status and position as servant/slave for her step family. It hadn't always been this way, as Cinderella's father had died shortly after marrying her evil stepmother, as her biological mother had died during childbirth. Everyone supposed that Cinderella was forced to live an impoverished life because her new family was extremely jealous of her natural good looks, but no one really knew the extent of her treatment there.

Cinderella's stepsisters were not blessed with the same natural beauty as was Cinderella, though it wasn't for this reason that she didn't enjoy their company. These two evil stepsisters were so rife with jealousy that they ordered Cinderella to be subservient to them in every imaginable fashion. Although she was quite embittered with familial situation and saddened that she was not able to wear the beautiful gowns afforded to her sisters, Cinderella was never gloomy and went about her chores singing pleasantly to herself, only angering her jealous family more.

When an invitation came announcing a grand ball at the King's palace, ordering every woman in town to come in full regalia to present themselves as potential wives for the prince, Cinderella was not without excitement. It seemed that if every woman in town was officially ordered to come, she was not excluded. Her excitement dwindled, however, when her stepmother scoffed at the idea of fashioning Cinderella with any slightly appropriate garments to wear to the gala. Enraged at the idea that Cinderella could escape her life of servitude and become a proper suitor to the prince (in the place of her own daughters), her evil stepmother forbade her to leave the house the night of the party.

As the stepsisters got ready on the night of the grand ball, Cinderella was forced to complete an unending list of chores. Just when she thought all hope was gone, a light emerged from the corner of the cellar where Cinderella was sweeping out cobwebs. The light turned into a sparkling form, which then gave way to a fairy of sorts, whose kind face offered Cinderella a feeling of safety. The fairy introduced herself as a "fairy godmother" and told Cinderella that she would dress her up to go to the ball, complete with an ornamented carriage and exquisite dress, though warned that the spell would only last until midnight. As Cinderella took off to the ball, the fairy godmother warned her that looks could be deceiving, and that true love can be found in mysterious places.

These words stayed in the back of Cinderella's mind, though she didn't quite understand what was meant by them as she entered the palace and walked down the lush burgandy carpeting to the sparkling dance floor. She saw that people were staring at her, most likely because they had never noticed this beautiful girl in town before. When her stepsisters noticed her they were infuriated. She noticed the prince dancing with every girl in the room, though eventually he laid eyes on Cinderella. She was flattered at first, but then realized the value of her godmother's words when she was considering the prince's offer to his hand in marriage.

Cinderella lost track of time, and eventually when the clock was striking midnight she was caught a little off-guard. In order to test the prince's alleged love for her, Cinderella decided to let her clothes turn back into rags, and her beautifully made up face fall back to soot-covered smudges. She felt that if he truly loved her, it wouldn't matter that she wasn't rich and glamorous, and he could accept her even as the peasant she was. The prince and all of his guests were taken aback and then appalled by Cinderella's unfortunate appearance, and she instantly felt as though she had to leave. She ran out of the palace and continued to run, past the town, and past her old house. She decided that this was as good a time as any to leave her oppressive home life and try to start over. Cinderella decided that even without anything to shelter her from the storms or feed her, she would be free, something she was willing to struggle for.

After awhile she met a young pauper on the outskirts of the kingdom, in a small village. Cinderella was skeptical of marriage at first, though eventually she became comfortable with their situation and they decided to marry and start a family. Because she didn't want her children to be without extended family, she slowly started to approach her stepsisters. After awhile Cinderella realized that they weren't really evil, they were just embittered by the societal emphasis on beauty in conjunction with worth. Cinderella expressed good tidings towards them and eventually their family was reunited, under remarkable different terms.