Fairy Tales From Around the World

The Little Glass Slipper

"Hey, what's that?" Reika asked, seeing the scroll.

"Let me see it!" Fujiko said as she took the scroll from her stepsister.

"Hey! Let go of that!"

"No! Gimme that back! I wanna see it!"

"I saw it first!"

"No, I saw it first!"

"It's my turn!"

"No, it's my turn!!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!!"

As the two girls continued to argue over the scroll, Lady Hinako calmly took the invitation from her daughters, opened it, and read it silently to herself. As she read, she gasped to herself as her eyes seemed to brighten every few seconds. The moment she finished reading the scroll, she excitedly stood from her chair and smiled.

"My goodness! This is wonderful news! Our big chance!" She exclaimed before turning her attention to her daughters. "Girls. Girls. GIRLS!! Stop fighting at once! It's a message from the palace!"

"THE PALACE?!" Reika and Fujiko cried. Their arguing abruptly stopped.

"Yes, it's true! The King and Queen are inviting us to a Gala tomorrow evening! It's for the Prince to find a wife!" Lady Hinako answered, holding up the invitation in the air.

"A WIFE?!" Reika and Fujiko excitedly squealed.

The two sisters cheered and jumped for joy at the prospect of meeting and possibly being wed to the Prince himself. Sakura cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Uh, Stepmother? Did you read the part about every eligible maiden being invited?" she asked.

All too soon, the room went quiet. Lady Hinako broke the silence by glaring at her stepdaughter as she grumbled, "Yes, I did. Why?"

"No reason. But, I was just thinking...can I go to the Gala too? Please?" Sakura asked with a bashful look on her face.

"You?! Go to the Gala?!" Reika and Fujiko scoffed. Lady Hinako put her hand over her face and closed her eyes as she shook her head.

"Have you lost your mind, Sakura?!" Reika said.

"What would a Prince want with an ugly servant girl like you?!" Fujiko added.

"But, I just thought..." The pinkette started before hearing her stepmother's voice.

"Girls, enough," Lady Hinako ordered before looking back at her stepdaughter. "Well, let's see, Sakura. How do I put this delicately? No."

She gave Sakura a cruel glare and smiled wickedly with her daughters following suit. The room was quiet again. Sakura's hopeful smile suddenly twisted into a disappointed frown and her eyes softened.

"What? But-but...but why, Stepmother?!" Sakura asked.

"Is it not obvious, dear? You're all raggedy and filthy. You can't go to the Gala dressed like that. Everybody would just laugh at you if you came in those old things. And we wouldn't want that now, would we? You stay put, Gala out. No. Bye-bye. End of discussion," Lady Hinako said bluntly.

Reika and Fujiko laughed harshly at their disappointed stepsister. Sakura looked at herself with a shameful expression and sighed. Her stepmother was right. Lady Hinako and her daughters soon went back to their rooms to pick out their outfits for the Gala.