Sleep

Cinderella

That night I had a restless sleep, thoughts kept on revisiting me. The prince, the slipper, the carriage, my sister, Rapunzle, the knife...

But I managed to sleep.

"Cinderella, wake up!" My step mother yelled, "it's 4:15 am, you were supposed to be up at four, you have cleaning, and mending, and cooking, and sewing, and you have to be in your room by noon! When the prince comes."

I wasn't going to stand around and watch the prince shove the slipper on the wrong feet.

"No!" I said loudly.

"What," her volume lowered in a death threat way.  With adults, yelling could be scary, but you knew you were in the most trouble when they got awfully calm, in such a delicate way, the slightest movement would send them into action. 

"N. O. No!" I said.

"Fine then, have it your way," she walked away.

"She's planning you know," I said to a bird perched on the windowsill.

"Get out while you can!" The bird replied. I let out a shocked scream. Then I heard footsteps come back up the steps to my room in the attic. The footsteps belonged to three pairs of feet.

"You're getting what you deserve," Druzella said. The three of them laughed wickedly. With a loud creek the door opened and Druzella stepped forward, holding up a hammer and nails. Druzella rushed back to the other side and slammed the door shut.

"No!" I screamed. I twisted the handle and tried to open the door but Anastasia and Druzella were holding it shut, while my stepmother began nailing. Helpless pounding and screaming did me no good, but I stuck with that method until my throat felt like I had swallowed magma, and my voice was a mere squeak of a mouse. The door was completely nailed shut, and my voice was completely gone. Weeping hurt my throat to much, and my tears stung my face. For the next few hours I stared out the window. The window was very small, and there was a very steep drop, I couldn't jump. Just then a strong breeze blew through the window and circled around the room.

A bright white carriage teetered up the road. It bared the royal emblem, a black swan cradling a ball of fire, of Prince Carmen's family. I grabbed my slipper and opened the window. If I hadn't've lost my voice, I would have cried for help. Somehow I had to get their attention. And I knew a way. It was dangerous, but less dangerous than being up here. I held out my hand and calmed my breathing. Immediately, fire sprouted in my hand like a fish leaping out of water. I carefully leaned out the window, and chucked the fire ball just to the side of the carriage. The carriage careened to one side, because the horses were spooked, and came to a halt. A guard came out of the carriage and scanned the surroundings. Stepmother, Druzella, and Anastasia came outside, trotting in such an obnoxious way it made me annoyed. I waved around my hands, trying to get the guard's attention. He saw me and pointed, saying inaudible words to the carriage. Someone, Prince Carmen, poked his head out of the carriage and eyed me. I tried to cry for help, but it came out sounding more like an unoiled metal carriage wheel. The prince and the guard had a muted conversation, glancing up at me often.

"In the name of the future king, come down at once!" The guard shouted. I couldn't reply, and I couldn't come down. I mouthed the word help and tried to signal him with my hands, but I felt like I was trying to speak a language for the first time. (Granted, if I could speak I wouldn't be in such a mess.)

This is it, I must climb down the window, although it seems impossible. The prince had marched forward, with a guard at his side, staring up at me in wonder. I grabbed the other slipper and leaned out the window as far as I could, pushing off the sill. It was about a 50 foot drop or more, which made my stomach lurch. With one final push, I tumbled out of the sill, and tried to scream.

"I got you!" Someone yelled, running toward me. With a thud I landed in someone's arms. It was the prince.

"Oh, she's just our ungrateful servant, she must have locked herself in a room, the stupid little girl," my stepmother recovered. The prince and I were too busy staring into one another's eyes.

"I know you, somehow," he said.

"Do you have the slipper?" Druzella interrupted.

"Ah, yes...we should do...that," He was staring at me, trying to place my face to a location.

"Sir, we ought to get a move on," a guard interrupted.

The prince snapped back to focus, and put me down. From the carriage, he pulled out a slipper. Druzella stepped forward. She had cleaned the blood off her toes, but she still only had four of them. The prince was about to put on the slipper when he stopped, and counted the toes.

"No, it is not her," he said.

"You didn't even put the slipper on!" Druzella complained.

"You have four toes Madame, and it doesn't look like it was naturally that way, in fact it looks like the missing toe was cut off a few days ago, the new skin has barely grown all the way back," the prince moved the slipper farther away from her and toward Anastasia, who was wearing thick socks.  She put her foot into the slipper and it fit, she jumped around a bit and cheered. 

"It fits, Princie! Now, let's head on down to the palace!" She looked at her mother who smiled in approval. 

"Okay, now try it on with the socks off," the prince smirked. 

"There was nothing in the rules about that," Anastasia said, moving her feet away.  "I'm wearing socks because my feet get awful cold, it's for my health."

She was such a liar.

"I believe the girl I danced with wasn't wearing socks, so it couldn't have been you, I guess," the prince reached for the slipper, but Anastasia pulled away.

"Miss, hand it over," the guard stepped forward.

"But it's mine!" She whined.

"No it is not, it is mine and I have the other slipper to prove it!" I said, really quietly, which was currently my only volume.  But, it was loud enough for the prince to hear.  I held out the slipper for them to view.

"Hand it over," the guard grabbed at the slipper Anastasia was wearing. 

"Anastasia, hand it over," stepmother ordered.

Anastasia glared at me and handed it over with a little kid pout.  Stepmother dragged Anastasia and Druzella to our front door by their ears, pushed them through the doorway, and headed back.  

"The servant girl didn't even go to the ball, I had her doing chores the whole night.  She stole the other slipper from Anastasia," my stepmother urged.

"We will try it on and see," the prince ordered.  He lifted up the slipper, and I slid my foot into it.  Something in his brain clicked, the missing piece had been found.  His memory had been restored. 

"It was you, it is you!" The prince picked me up and spun me around.  We both grinned, ignoring my stepmother.

"A perfect fit," I smiled. 

He led me to the carriage, but not before we heard a crackling sound.  The fire I'd used to get his attention had spread to the house.  My nightmares were being swallowed by the red flame.  I felt enlightened. 

"Perfect kindling," I said.