A/N: okay, so I'm not dead, and I'm not going to try defending myself or come up with excuses. I've been busy, that's all. Pelt me with rotten vegetables all you want 'cause I got a shield. :)"
and i know i should be updating my other stories, but i kinda ran into writer's block, and this idea just came to me. besides, this is one-shot, so no worries about not updating. so R&R and tell me what you think.
Cinders in the Fire
by Maplerose
I. The Girl: The Dream
"We're leaving!" called the shrill voice.
"Don't forget to put out the fire after we leave and get it going shortly before we would arrive home, wench!" shrieked the other woman.
The girl sighed and went back to sit the fireplace and watched the last log finish burning. It was just like her stepmother to not allow her to keep the fire going to warm herself.
It was the last night of the ball, and oh, how she wished to be where her stepfamily was. Wearing extravagant dresses, going to that beautiful palace where people danced to the music until they could dance no more. But alas, she was not allowed to go.
She was an orphan, a servant to her cruel stepmother and stepsisters. Her mother died shortly after giving birth. Her father married again to a widowed countess who seemed to be nice at first. But when the father died a couple of years later, the woman turned cruel.
The girl had a name, but ever since her father's death when she was nine, they started to call her Cinders because she was always covered in soot from the fire. At first she refused to answer to that name, but in time, she accepted it with compliance, for she had given up hope of ever escaping the servitude that her stepfamily had put her under. She'd forgotten her real name. Or perhaps she didn't forget, she just didn't want to remember, for it reminded her of better days, days that were likely never to be equaled again.
All her hopes of escape had been dashed. She couldn't run away, because somehow they'd always managed to find her. She suppressed her pain and anger by dreaming up stories of faraway places, of princes and princesses, of fairies and magic, where there is no pain and no suffering. She liked to believe that she was living in those stories to get away from her life.
One day, when she was sixteen, those stories seemed to come true. It was announced that His Royal Highness, the crown prince was having three balls. At the end of the balls, he will chose a fair maiden to be his wife, and every eligible daughter of the noble estates was invited.
The young girl's eyes brightened as she heard the crier say those words. Hope rushed to her like the tide. If she were chosen to be the prince's wife, she would be able to get away from this life. Then she would use her influence as the queen to make sure that no other girl would live her life.
But her hope was dashed once again when she arrived home from the market.
"Don't even think about going to the ball," said the stepmother.
"But every daughter of the house is invited!" she argued.
"The crier said every eligible daughter, and you are hardly eligible, are you Cinders?" the older stepsister sneered.
"Besides, you are supposed to make us beautiful," the younger stepsister added.
Cinders sighed. She had known that she wouldn't be allowed to go, but she had dared that hope that maybe they would let her go. It was too good to hope for. Besides, even if she could go, there was no way she could make herself look presentable, for she was covered with years of cinders, and only two dress that were both tattered and in worse condition than the rags she used to clean the floor. Even if she could somehow be presentable, there was little chance of her getting chosen anyway, the reasonable part of her told herself. So while every other lady was at the ball, including her stepfamily – she prayed her stepsisters wouldn't be chosen, because she did not want either of them to be queen – she was left by the fire, only to imagine what it would be like.
She shivered, perhaps with the excitement of her imaginings, but it was mostly the cold. The fire was dying, taking the heat with it. Almost instinctively, she threw in another log and blew on the last little flame to make it catch the new wood. She knew if her stepmother found out, she would get a beating. But how would she know.
Cinders sat back down in front of the fireplace, stared into the roaring fire, and started dreaming again.
II. The Lady: The Dress
All of a sudden, there was something in the air that made her sneeze. At first, she thought it was the soot, but when she looked up, there, standing before her beside the fireplace was a lady. A strange glow surrounded her and tiny bits of shiny glitter floated down gently into Cinders' lap.
So that's what was making me sneeze. But what is it?
She was startled by a voice calling her name, not the name that her stepfamily given her, but the name that she was born with. She remembered the lady in the room with her. The lady looked to be in her forties. She was wearing a fancy dress that shimmered when she moved, and a pointed hat on her salt and pepper hair. A pair of dainty glasses rested on her nose, and her blue eyes were kind. Besides the strange glow surrounding her, and the glitter that came when she did, she was carrying a wand. At first, Cinders was scared at the sudden appearance of the woman, but when she spoke and the kind look she gave, the girl knew that she had nothing to be afraid of.
Still, she was curious. "Who are you?"
The lady didn't answer. "Do you want to go to the ball, child?"
Cinders nodded, still wondering who the lady was and how she knew her name.
As if she could read her mind, the lady spoke. "I'm your fairy godmother." And as if she noticed her surroundings for the first time, she looked around and gasped. "My poor child. What has happened to you? Did they do this to you?" She came closer and gently touched the girl's shoulder, which was covered in soot. The girl was still in awe, for she never knew she had a godmother, much less a fairy."
If you really want to go to the ball, I can help you get there. I think you deserve a break." The woman spoke again.
Cinders shook her head to clear it, and then pinched herself to make sure that she wasn't dreaming.
"I have nothing to wear and I'm, well, not presentable enough," she finally said.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of that. Just stand over there please."
Cinders did as she was asked. Then, the lady whispered something inaudible and waved her wand. To the girl's amazement, a bolt of light shot out of the wand towards her. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain, but it never came. Slowly, she opened her eyes and gasped.
In front of her was a mirror. She saw that she was no longer covered in soot, and that her pale skin was revealed, and so was her hair. She reached up and touched the strands to make sure that they were real. The top half of her bright flaming locks were braided and twisted up into a bun that rested high on her head, while the other half hang loosely, gently falling to the middle of her back.
And then her eyes traveled to her dress. Oh, it was beautiful. The dark green satin brought out her eyes and complimented her hair. The hems and the bodice were embroidered in gold stitches. The square neckline was quite low, showing off the sparkling gold necklace in the shape of a rose. The long sleeves were slit at the elbows, revealing the gold material. The dress had a generous puffed out train and draped to the floor, but when she lifted the hem, Cinders revealed two sparkling delicate glass slippers.
"Oh, thank you so much!" she exclaimed to her godmother and twirled around, pretending to dance. But she stopped in mid-twirl as her fairy godmother began to fade away, disappearing into the mists in which she came.
"Wait!" she called and reached for the place where the fairy stood, but the fairy was gone.
The room suddenly dimmed. Cinders looked at the fire as if noticing it for the first time. The log was gone as the last flame sputtered and died, leaving glowing embers behind.
She quickly threw in two more logs and some dry straw to help it catch fire from the embers. She blew on the tiny flame until the logs burned steadily. She looked up and saw that her fairy godmother was back.
"You called?" the fairy said.
"Yes. I, I don't have any transportation to get to the ball," the girl answered shyly.
"Oh, I can help you with that." The lady looked around the room. "What can we use?"
A little bat was perched just outside the window, waiting for some poor unfortunate insect to fly by. With a wave of the fairy's wand, the bat disappeared and a magnificent black stallion appeared outside.
"Hmm, not bad, but we need something faster," the fairy tapped her chin with one finger. "Aha!" With more waves of the wand, the horse sprouted wings right before the girl's eyes.
"Now, what about the carriage," the lady muttered to herself. She spotted a pumpkin on the counter and turned it into a great big orange carriage.
A mouse poked its nose around the dining table leg, looking for crumbs. A couple waves of the wand, and it turned into a driver for the carriage.
"There! I think that's all, you have your dress, and your transportation. You can go to the ball now. Just remember, be back by midnight, sharp. Because shortly after midnight, everything will be back the way it was," the lady cautioned.
"Don't worry, I'll remember."
Cinders walked outside and started to climb into the carriage, but her godmother stopped her.
"Wait! You're missing something!"
"What am I missing?" asked the girl, confused.
The fairy didn't answer, but muttered a few words and waved her wand a bit more. "There! Now you can go."
In the mirror that her godmother held up, Cinders saw that a sparkling tiara set with emeralds that matched the shade of her dress rested in her hair.
"Oh thank you! Thank you for everything!" the girl gushed. "How can I ever repay you?"
"Just have a good time, that's all I ask." The fairy smiled and disappeared in a cloud of glitter.
III. The Ball: The Prince
The horse took off and soared into the night sky over the countryside. Cinders was so excited, and at the same time, she was also nervous. A thousand doubts came rushing to her head. What if her stepfamily recognized her? What if the Prince already chose a wife? What if it's not as glamorous as she thought?
That last doubt was instantly erased as they landed in front of the palace steps. The palace was gorgeous, even more splendid with the decorations and lights. She could hear music drifting out into the night air as she was ushered into the palace and to the ballroom. As she stood on the top steps, she gasped as she took in the sights.
The room was bigger and brighter than Cinders ever thought possible. The room was so big that hundreds of people could easily fit with room to spare. The ceiling reached to the sky, and the lights rivaled the sun in its brightness. The walls were covered with tapestry embroidered with scenes of adventures. The smooth dance floor was made of the finest marble. Couples waltzed gracefully to the music, as the ladies' dresses sweeping back and force to the beat.
Cinders gingerly walked down the steps, still looking around her with awe. When she reached to the bottom, a gentleman asked her to dance. That was when she didn't know how to dance. So she politely refused and sat to the side to observe others, hoping to learn a few things.
She sat there for a good half-hour. Dancing didn't look that hard. So she stood up and walked to the food. She hadn't seen her stepfamily so far; even so, she kept her face down in case they recognized her.
"Oof," she grunted as she bumped into someone. Because her face was turned to the ground, she hadn't seen the person.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, still staring at the ground.
"That's alright," said the other person. "Would you like to dance?"
Cinders looked up into the beautiful blue eyes of a very handsome man and nodded slowly.
The dance was a slow waltz, so she was able to keep up, but she had to keep her eyes on her feet to make sure she didn't step on her partner's toes.
"I don't think I've seen you before, is this your first time here?" her partner asked.
Cinders nodded and added hesitantly, "This, this is my first time dancing actually, so I, um, that is, forgive me if I step on you." The last bit she blurted out.
The man chuckled lightly. "Don't worry about it. I've been to many dances, and I'm still a klutz."
"But you lead so nicely," Cinders protested.
"You haven't seen me during the gavotte last night," he chuckled again. "My name is Eric, what's yours?"
Cinders froze. She couldn't tell him that her name was Cinders.
"My name is, um, ah, Elle," she blurted out her mother's name.
"Elle. That's a pretty name. Where are you from Elle?"
"I'm, um, not from around here. That's why I wasn't at the last couple balls. I'm just visiting my, uh, cousin and I heard about this last ball, so I decided to come." Cinders felt bad for lying, but she couldn't tell the truth, because her stepmother was quite sociable and everyone knew that she only had two daughters. She had made up the story that her stepdaughter died with the father, so nobody would suspect that she was mistreating her stepdaughter.
"Who is your cousin then?" asked Eric.
"She's um, well, see, her mother, my aunt, married to a farmer, so I don't think you would know her." Another lie.
They chattered a bit more before the dance was over. As Cinders was about to go, Eric gripped her arm.
"Wait, how about one more dance?" he asked. Cinders blushed and nodded.
As they were getting ready for the third dance, a man came over and stopped them.
He turned to Eric, "Your mother wishes to speak to you after this dance, Highness." After that, he left.
Cinders' eyes widened. If the man called Eric "Highness", then Eric must be…
She gasped, let go of Eric and gave a wobbly curtsy. "I'm sorry, Highness, I, I didn't know…" she muttered, looking down. Her face was red with embarrassment.
To her surprise, the prince smiled and shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I'm sick of all that Highness stuff. It's much better if girls just be themselves around me." Then seeing Cinders' uncertain look, he added, "Please, call me Eric."
"All right, um, Eric" she said hesitantly.
IV. The Slipper: The Decision
It was an hour to midnight, and Cinders was taking a rest from dancing. Eric must've taken a liking to her, for he had almost danced the whole night with her, even the fast gavottes – and he didn't mind when she stepped on him too many times to count. She didn't mind, for Eric was easygoing, unlike what she thought of royalty. The only thing she didn't like was the jealous looks she received from the other girls. She was having so much fun that at times she forgot to keep a low profile. Luckily, her stepfamily hadn't found her yet. If they had, they'd surely come up to her and tell her to leave, not rudely though, because the prince was there.
The fire in the ballroom fireplace roared. The musicians played and people were danced as if they can never run out of energy. Cinders thanked her fairy godmother in her head for giving her a chance to come. The glass slippers, although sound uncomfortable, were actually quite comfortable to dance in, probably because they were fairy-made.
"All rested?" She snapped back to the present at the sound of Eric's voice. She nodded. "Then let's go," he extended his hand to her.
"Go? But we've been dancing for hours!" despite her complaint, she took his hand and followed him.
"Tired already?" he chuckled. "You obviously haven't been to many balls then. The balls my parents usually throw are way longer, and I'm required to dance constantly, and they throw those balls almost every week. It's amazing that my feet are still attached to me."
She laughed along with him. She liked his laugh, for it was sincere and came easily.
"Where are we going?" she asked when Eric led her towards a door.
"Outside," he answered.
"Why? It's cold outside," she protested
"Privacy," was the short answer.
"What for?" she asked, confused.
"You'll see." He pulled Cinders through the door, climbed some stairs and onto a balcony overlooking the garden.
Eric took one of Cinders' hands in his and placed his other hand on her waist. "So, do you like it here? At the palace I mean." He asked as they danced to the faint music drifting from the ballroom.
"Yeah, it's very nice, very grand."
"Good," he whispered. "Do you like the ball so far?"
"Yes, I, uh, had a lot of fun so far. I've never been to a even so grand before." With just the two of them, she was very aware that Eric's face was just inches from her own and his hand on her waist. Her heart started to pump faster and she could feel her face flushing.
They danced silently for a while. The moon was full and illuminated the garden with its silvery night. The violin strings sang a sweet romantic song that drifted to their ears. For a moment, Cinders forgot the rest of the world, and forgot the time; she wanted time to stand still.
It was Eric who broke the silence. "Do you like me?" he asked, his face full of, was is hope?
Cinders swallowed and nodded. For some reason, her palms were sweaty and her heart beat even faster.
"Before I announce it to everyone, I want to ask you something. It that okay?" For some reason, Eric seemed nervous.
"Sure."
"Do, do you like me enough to um, be my bride?"
Cinders gasped. Not with horror, but with surprise. She didn't even think about being chosen when she came. The fact that she was able to come was good enough for her. Her dreams, they were coming true!
She tried to answer, but nothing came out. She was so excited. So she cleared her throat and tried again.
"I, ahem, I would love to be your bride." There, she said it.
Eric smiled, but this grin was bigger than Cinders had ever seen. He drew her close and their lips met…
Cinders was suddenly jerked away from their kiss by the sound of the clock chiming midnight. She'd forgotten that she had get home before midnight. She fled away from a shocked Eric into the ballroom. She shoved people out of the way, ignoring the looks she was getting as she raced across the dance floor towards the exit. She didn't care that she looked strange. All she cared about was getting home before everything changed back. Luckily, her dress hadn't changed yet.
"Wait!" she heard Eric call from behind her, and ran faster. She knew that if Eric caught her, she would never be able to get away.
The glass slippers were hard to run in, and the right slipper fell off on the steps when she almost made it to her carriage. She paused, turned around and wondered if she should go back and collect the slipper, but Eric was right behind her on top of the steps. If she went to get the slipper, Eric would surely catch her.
"Wait!" he called. "Don't you want to be my bride?" he asked.
"I do," she whispered softly to herself. She didn't want Eric to see her in her rags and change his mind. But Eric looked so hurt and confused by her action that she didn't want to leave him there, wondering.
She had a choice to run and keep her dignity, or stay and answer Eric, and possibly risking him changing his mind.
With a deep breath, she chose. She walked back up the stairs towards Eric. She knew that if she goes home, she would go back to the life with her stepfamily. But if Eric changes his mind, she would still go back to that life. What made up her mind was the chance that Eric will still like her even if she wasn't wearing beautiful clothes. Besides, she thought that Eric wasn't the kind of person that judged people by appearance.
This was her chance, her chance for her dream to come true. She walked up to Eric and raised her head to meet his eyes squarely.
"I do. I do want to marry you. But there's something I have to tell you."
The air around her shimmered, and she was momentarily consumed by a lavender haze. When that haze cleared, there stood a girl wearing a glittering white dress with a matching diamond tiara in her fiery red hair that shone in the palace lights.
"What is it that you want to tell me?" asked Eric, awestruck.
Cinders was as amazed as Eric was. She was bracing herself for Eric's horror, but when she looked down at her dress, she discovered it was more beautiful than the green one. What was going on? She realized that this must be her godmother's doing and silently thanked her again.
"Uh, I, I just wanted to say, I'm sorry for running, don't take it personally."
Eric smiled and pulled her into another kiss, right in front of the crowd of people that came to see the commotion was about. Cinders felt that she was on top of the world…
V. Realization
Cinders opened her eyes and saw the smiling face of Eric, but for some reason, he was getting farther away from her.
"Wait! Eric, where are you going?" she reached for him, but somehow she could not reach him.
The crowd was also getting farther and farther away. Then their faces became and blur and started to fade, dissolving into nothingness. The last thing to dissolve was Eric's face; it was etched into her memory. But at last, it too, disappeared, leaving the girl staring at the cold fireplace.
She desperately searched for more logs, but she had used up the pile. She realized that she would definitely get a beating when her stepfamily came home.
It had all been a dream. Just a dream. All that was left of the wonderful night was the memory of that face and a pile of ashes…
THE END