Chapter one, Cinderella
A ball was to be held in the royal palace, and every maiden of the kingdom was invited. The servant girl thought that perhaps, just maybe, she would be able to go too, along with the two beautiful daughters of the family. The prince was looking for a wife, if she could manage to catch his eye… the girl dared not dream any further, after all, something so wonderful could never happen to her.
The girl's name was not Cinderella. Jackie was pretty-ish and fairly hard working, what she did not have was a fairy godmother.
When the girl finally plucked up the courage to ask the master of the house if she would be able to go to the ball with them, he had laughed. She had an old dress of her mother's, and she won't cause them any trouble, she said. The master was kind in explaining that, though the invitation had said every maiden of the kingdom, it was only meant for the daughters of high standing families. "I'm sorry Jackie," he had said, "you're a perfectly sweet girl, but it simply wouldn't be proper." She was ashamed that she had ever thought it possible.
On the night of the ball, when Jackie had finished all her chores and was left standing in her room with nothing to do but go to bed. She took out her mother's dress and put it on, but she did not have a mirror to see how she looked. She lifted the skirt twirled, admiring the way it flared out, it was the most beautiful thing she had ever worn, but it would have looked plain next to the extravagant ball gowns the ladies wore that night. She did not imagine that she was dancing with the prince. Jackie carefully folded the dress away and went to bed. She did not cry into her pillow.
The next morning, Jackie was surprised to find the royal messenger upon answering the door. He asked her to bring the ladies of the house for some important business. Of course, he had meant the young mistresses, not her, the servant girl. She led him to the sitting room and hurried to gather the family.
The messenger presented them with, of all things, a glass slipper and announced that the maiden who fit the shoe was to become the prince's bride. Jackie, who was standing by thought that it was a completely ridiculous way of finding the run-away maiden. After all, there must be more than one girl that the shoe would fit, couldn't they have made a portrait, or gather all the young women who fit the prince's description then have him identify the one? The messenger left after finding that neither of the ladies had correctly sized feet.
Later, Jackie heard that the prince had married a lowly servant girl whom he had fallen in love with at the ball. She thought it must have been a strange rumor, It could have never happened, for a girl like her to have even gone to the ball, and to be beautiful enough for the prince to fall in love with. Jackie looked down at her hands, rough and calloused from work, it was most definitely impossible.
*author's note*
I will be writing more of these, if you have a fairy tale that you would like me to write about, please mention it in a comment, it would be really helpful. Please also review if you enjoyed seeing me take your favorite stories and replacing the happily ever after with a reminder that everyone's life sucks. Have a nice day.