Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my own twisted way of interpreting this crazy story.
A/N: Please review, and don't judge my insanity too harshly?
Title: Cinderella: The Long and Short of It – Minus the Long of It
Once upon a time, there was a girl named Ella.
Ella's mom died, so her dad remarried to a bi... ah, a not-very-nice woman with two not-very-nice daughters.
Then the dad dies.
The stepmother and two stepsisters – let's name them Simone, Jacqueline and Nina – call Ella Cinderella because she now sleeps in the fireplace, for some reason.
Simone, Jacqueline and Nina work Cinderella very hard because she has no backbone and can't or won't stand up to them.
One day the whole kingdom is invited to a ball to find the crown prince a wife, but Simone, Jacqueline and Nina make Cinderella stay behind.
This is probably because they don't want her stunning beauty outshining their outstanding ugliness at the ball, seeing as they want to marry the prince themselves.
Naturally, after the three steps leave, Cinderella's fairy godmother, who has never been seen before, shows up.
The fairy godmother – let's name her Martha – waves her magic wand and POOF, a gorgeous dress appears on Cinderella.
Another wave of the magic wand and POOF, a pumpkin turns into a round coach.
POOF, some rats turn into footmen.
POOF, some mice turn into horses.
POOF, glass slippers which are probably the most uncomfortable, blister-inducing shoes you'll ever find anywhere appear on Cinderella's feet.
Martha tells Cinderella that she has to be home by midnight, because at midnight, all her beautiful things will disappear for a reason that is as of yet unexplained.
Cinderella goes to the ball in her pumpkin-turned-coach.
Cinderella outshines all the ladies from the kingdom there, and wins the prince's heart by dancing with him a few times.
She forgets the midnight curfew, however, and has to run back home because her coach, footmen and dress disappear.
As she leaves in a hurry, she accidentally runs out of one of her glass slippers, which incidentally does NOT disappear along with the rest of her stuff.
Cinderella gets home before Simone, Jacqueline and Nina do, and because they are incredibly stupid, they didn't recognize her at the ball, so they don't know she was there.
The next day, the prince, having found the shoe, makes every lady in the kingdom try it on; because of course no one could POSSIBLY have the same shoe size as Cinderella.
The kingdom must be very, very small, because in one morning, everybody tries it on.
Nobody fits it.
The last house he looks in happens to be Cinderella's house.
Simone, Jacqueline and Nina all try on the uncomfortable glass slippers, but none of them fit into it.
Finally, the prince lets a lowly serving girl (whom he never would have noticed were this story real) try it on.
Of course, it fits her perfectly.
Of course, she happens to be Cinderella.
The prince proposes on the spot.
They get married and live happily ever after.
Simone, Jacqueline and Nina are completely forgotten.
THE END