Cinderella
Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there was a tiny kingdom. Peaceful, prosperous, and rich in romance and tradition. Here, in a stately shadow, there lived a widowed gentleman and his little daughter, Cinderella. Although he was a kind and devoted father, and gave his beloved child every luxury and comfort, still, he felt she needed a mother's care. And so, he married again, choosing for his second wife, a woman of good family, with two daughters just Cinderella's age. By name, Anastasia and Drizella. It was upon the untimely death of this good man, however, that the stepmother's true nature was revealed; cold, cruel, and bitterly jealous of Cinderella's charm and beauty. She was grimly determined to forward the interests of her own two awkward daughters. Thus, as time went by, the chateau fell into despair. For the family fortunes were squandered upon the vain and selfish stepsisters, while Cinderella was abused, humiliated, and finally forced to become a servant in her own house. And yet, through it all, Cinderella remained ever gentle and kind. For with each dawn, she found new hope that someday, her dreams of happiness would come true.
That is the bitter beginning of the beloved story of Cinderella. Our ever so beautiful, pure, and gentle Cinderella; our Cinderella that talked to birds and rats and randomly broke out into songs like High School Musical with mice. I mean, seriously, she set up a mouse trap, pretended like she was letting him go, but made him wear a shirt and a hat, and kept him in an even bigger trap where a cat tried to eat him at all times. Just like any other story, there is more than one side to it than you can think of.
My name is Anastasia, or Ana, whichever one you prefer. I'm one of the "two awkward daughters" or the "vain and selfish stepsister" that let the "chateau fell into despair." For the record, I'm not awkward. If you're going to curse at me now because I've been so horrible to my so-called "wonderful" sister, and that I just claimed that I'm not awkward, I've had enough. I'd been charged with child abuse, identity theft, and a bunch of other things that made me serve plenty of time in jail and pay plenty of fines. And on top of that, I got sued by Cinderella and her royal lawyers and lost because her lawyers were literally the most expensive in the entire kingdom.
I know this sound like a total lie to you, but all that crap they told you about Cinderella's story is only a part of the truth. Unlike your imagination, a perfect "ever gentle and kind" girl does not exist. Welcome to reality.
My childhood wasn't a particularly happy one. After my father lost his job, he started drinking, and completely lost hold of himself. When I came home from school, my mom would have one more bruise than she had the day before. When I asked her how she got that bruise, she would always tell us that she ran across a wall or a pole. I didn't know until I was ten that it was because my dad beat her every day. When my father died of who knows what, my mom turned, well, not so nice. My sister and I only later found out that our mom accidentally (emphasis on "accidentally") killed my father. After that, she treated us a lot more differently than she used to. After about a year of brainwashing and training, just by her giving us a look or a hint, we knew what she had in mind and carried it into action. We became her two faithful foot soldiers. Truth is, we were just as scared of our mother as Cinderella. We just weren't in the right situation to show it to anybody else; even each other.
A couple years before the invitation to the royal ball arrived, I took a trip to Arendelle, a neighboring kingdom, where Queen Elsa ruled. It was a beautiful kingdom, a perfect blend of warm and cold, and very far advanced in technology. It was the perfect place for a teenager's first trip going on her own. The best attraction was, by far, the ice arena. The arena was beautiful, perfectly designed with only ice by Queen Elsa herself. That was my first time skating, and I wasn't really good at it; but, hey, A for effort!
So I set my foot on ice for the first time, and within ten seconds after my first entrance, I fell back. Well, I almost did. Two seconds before I fell, somebody caught me in mid-air. I didn't know who that was, of course. But he was just…glowing. He was beautiful, and honestly speaking, cross my heart, I fell for him at first glance.
He told me his name was Ken, which turned out to be one of his many fake names. He was two years older than I, he was from a far-away kingdom, and all those other things that I later found out that he made up. We had a nice time in the arena, had a nice dinner, nothing could've been any better.
Okay, fine, falling in love with someone the first time you met him because he's gorgeous is a bit too cliché, I get it. But, luckily, I really got to know this guy. He was fun, caring, and I could really be myself around him. Honestly speaking, I didn't expect myself to come to love this kind of a person. Mom and I were always looking for someone sharp, rich, and charismatic. But I guess I'd been brainwashed by mom, who had come to think that emotions only make you tired.
A few weeks later, it was time for me to leave because six weeks that my mom promised me was almost over. I did not want to leave Arendelle, or let alone Ken. But I was concerned about how mom and Drizella were doing, and Ken was scheduled to leave Arendelle only a couple weeks later to other neighboring kingdoms, so I hopped on my ride home with no hesitation.
I remember, the last thing that Ken said to me was: "You know, I'm glad I got to meet a great friend like you."
A great friend, he said. Nothing more, nothing less. I should've been hurt with the thought that he never, and would have never, liked me the way I did, but I was satisfied. For the first time in my life, I came to love a man, and I was remembered by him as a great friend. To me, that was more than what I could've ever asked for.
So ever since I came back from my trip to Arendelle, all I could ever think about was Ken, and all I could talk about was Ken, except my mom and Drizella thought it was annoying and pointless. But Cinderella listened. She listened to everything I had to say and everything I wanted to say. She smiled and laughed with me, and told me she was jealous of me. She became so close to me and made me feel bad about all the times I was mean to her. So I explained to her that I was only mean to her because of mom, and she forgave me for it. It felt like we were actually becoming sisters, or even better, friends. I wish my story can really end there, but the story of the main character didn't end yet, so mine had to go on.
About a year later, we were all invited to go to the royal ball upon the arrival of the prince. I had no intension of marrying the prince. But if every eligible maiden was going to be there, so was every eligible bachelor. So it was going to be a nice party, and I had no intension of missing it.
It scarred me to tear out the dress that the mice made for Cinderella, but I had no choice, for my dress would've been torn up too, if I hadn't. Thankfully, I already knew that this was going to happen. So I went to this lady that I knew that called herself the "Fairy God Mother." She didn't particularly like me; in fact, she hated me. But when I told her about Cinderella and that she needed help, she disappeared right away. I guess she really did help a lot, since we all know how she dazzled everyone with her sparkling dress, with nobody recognizing her but me.
I walked over the prince with Drizella as I was told to do so by the Duke. As I bowed down and stood back up, I saw his face for the first time. At first he seemed only vaguely familiar, and then I recognized the face. It was the face that I'd been dreaming about since…Arendelle.
"Ken!" I shouted.
"Ken? Who's Ken?" Drizella asked.
"Ken, don't you recognize me?" I shouted again.
"I'm sorry, do I know you?" he asked.
I couldn't believe my eyes, but I couldn't believe my ears even more. Ken, my Ken, did not remember who I was.
"Excuse me, are you Miss Anastasia?" a servant boy asked as I looked at Ken's face with disbelief.
"Yes, yes I am," I answered with air filling a half of my words.
"Follow me, please, madam."
He took me to a tiny vault located deep down at the heart of the palace. He opened the vault and there lied a piece of parchment paper.
"Our prince, His Majesty got amnesia about a year ago on his trip in Arendelle because of an accident that he had. Nobody knows what happened, but he left you this letter as his last request before he…lost all his memory. He said he wrote it to the only person that knew him as 'Ken.' And do forgive him for hiding his identity. You know he had to; he's the prince," the servant boy explained.
I silently nodded as I tried to get a hold of myself. Who knew my first love was a prince who lost all memory? And who knew the prince of a classic fairy tale had amnesia?
That night, I watched Cinderella and the prince as they had the time of their lives. He was the same exact person, alright. His eyes glowed the same way, his body moved the same way, and he talked the same way. He just didn't know who I was, that's all.
That night, I came back home and read the letter. And man, he had awful handwriting. It read:
Dear Ana,
This is going to be the last time I remember you and think about you, so I'm going to make this the best letter that I can possibly write.
I spent five weeks with you, but it feels like I've known you forever. I never had a friend in my life. It may not have seemed obvious to you, but I am the prince of your home kingdom. I don't expect you to believe me right away, but I guess you already know because there's no way you would've gotten this letter if you didn't find me.
Daniel, the servant boy that brought you to the vault, is more than just a servant boy. Really, he really is not just a servant boy. He's my secret agent, and my best friend. I'm not supposed to be communicating with anybody right now, but thanks to Daniel's magic (seriously I don't know how he does it), I'm not allowed to write one last letter that only Daniel and you know about.
I'd been kidnapped by this girl that calls herself "Cindy." By my definition, I think she's a psychopathic hypnotist. In an hour, I'm not going to remember anything about myself except that I'm the prince, and that I should go back to my palace. She told me that I'm later going to fall in love with no one else but her after I lose all my memory. I hope to God that it's not true because she may have the looks of a princess, but she's, as I said, a psychotic hypnotist. And besides, even if I end up losing all my memories, I still want to remember you. And if I can't, I want to meet you and love you again.
Ana, you're the most delightful person I'd ever met. You are generous, sensitive, and funny. And most importantly, you get me, and you understand me. And I think I love you. No, scratch that. I love you. I would ask you for your hand in marriage, but I cannot, for I am afraid that it would ruin our friendship, and I there's nearly no chance that I'm going to remember you. I'm so sorry it has to be this way, but if it helps to make things better, this was not my choice to make.
I'm sorry, I have to go. I think I hear Cindy coming. I hope to see you later.
With love, Ken
Cindy? I recognized that name. "Cindy" was short for "Cinderella." I used to call her that when I was a kid because I was too lazy for two extra syllables. Nothing made sense to me anymore. This was outrageous, this didn't make any sense. But as everything I knew started piling up, it suddenly clicked. But it wasn't like an "ah-ha" moment that you get when you get a really great idea. It was that moment when you realize something and a great amount of tears accompany you as you realize that idea.
So Cinderella stalked me to Arendelle, saw me with the prince, recognized the prince, wanted the prince for herself, kidnapped him, hypnotized him so that she can have him for herself in a fairy tale way, and it would seem like happy ending to everyone else. Her plan was way too elaborate, intense, and creative.
And Ken loved me. This was unbelievable, impossible, unthinkable! He was the first and the last person that I ever loved, and he was the first and the last person that loved me. It didn't matter to me if he was the prince or not anymore. It mattered that for the first time in my life, I could've been happy. For all I know, I could've been happy for the rest of my life. But with an elaborate plan, my kind and gentle stepsister took that away from me. She might have the face and the story of a fairy tale princess, but she was a fake.
The rest of the story goes as written. Cinderella "accidentally" drops her glass slipper, the Duke finds her, she shows the other shoe to the Duke, and it fits her, she marries the prince, and happily ever after. At least for her. Drizella, mom, and I get sued, but I don't even bother to try to win (even though Drizella and mom did but what do they know?), we pay a bunch of fines, and we're, well, not happy.
The terms "Cinderella story" is used to describe a story when a kind, innocent, but poor girl falls in love with a rich man and lives happily ever after. But the real Cinderella story is about a manipulative, evil girl who became happy by taking away another person's happiness. Is that the kind of person you would want to be famous and idolized? Is that who you want to be?