Author's Note: This story is a twist on the fairy tale of Cinderella. This was written as a challenge from a literary group I'm in. The challenge: what would happen if the slipper fit one of the stepsisters? What if Cinderella isn't who we thought she was? Here's what I came up with. It won first place in our group competition.
The Other Stepsister
Once upon a time in a faraway land, there lived a young girl. For many years, the only residents of the rather large house, besides the servants, were the wealthy merchant and his lovely daughter, Ella. Ella was beautiful, with her hair of sunned gold and eyes of sparkling blue. Her red lips were the envy of many a maid in the town. In addition to her beauty, Ella grew to be quite smart and accomplished, usually found reading or drawing on most days. Her father adored her, but he always was left with a nagging regret that she needed a mother figure, as she had lost her mother to childbirth.
Ella relished being an only child, and her father often doted on her. She knew of her talents and beauty, which made her father grow a bit uncomfortable. Determined that Ella would remain grounded, he began searching for a suitable companion, preferably one with daughters. Ella knew her father had grown lonely these long years, even with her by his side. When she received the news of his upcoming nuptials, though, she grew a bit wary. Why couldn't she be the one to bring a smile to her father's face?
To her dismay, her father fell even deeper into love, and the dreaded wedding day finally arrived. Now, for one reason or another, Ella hadn't really met her new stepsisters yet. On the morning of the wedding, everyone gathered in the garden and introductions were made. To Ella, her new stepsisters were people she would yet hold at a distance. They, too, each had their own unique beauty: Kiarra had long chestnut locks and even deeper chestnut eyes, and Juliet had hair of raven black and eyes of bright green. Ella knew she would no longer be the only beauty turning heads in the town. With a sigh, Ella soon resigned herself to her fate.
Months went by, and Ella found herself settling in to her new life. In light of the fact that there were now five people living in their house, Ella and the girls began pitching in for minor chores around the manor. Ella's father seemed to be weakening, and with his missed work, they couldn't hire as many servants as they were used to. After much grumbling, the three girls slowly became used to their new routines.
Ella and Kiarra were becoming fast friends, but Juliet seemed to be left out of the loop many a time. Juliet couldn't put her finger on it, but the dynamics in the house seemed to be slowly shifting. Never much for extra reading, Juliet devoted much of her time outdoors painting landscapes and the creatures that strayed across her path. She didn't mind helping out around the house, and she, for one, was excited about finally having a family. Ella had taken to reading in front of the fire at night and often fell asleep near the embers, causing the members of the household to dub her "Cinderella". After several years, Ella grew out of this phase, but the nickname seemed to stick.
Sadly, one-day Ella's father grew so frail that he passed away. Devastated, the entire household practically shut down with morning. Ella couldn't believe her whole world, her father, was no longer with them. What had she ever done to deserve being alone? She barricaded herself in her room for weeks, rarely seeing anyone. When she finally emerged, gone was the young girl. In her place stood a subdued young woman, someone who had only recently accepted the rite of young-adulthood. Everything she had known the past sixteen years had been ripped from her, and Ella knew she would never be the same.
The next few months wrought a dramatic change in Ella. After having fits of cleaning to drown out her sorrows woven in with her periods of isolation in her room, Ella soon began cleaning less and less and pitching in less and less around the house. Gone was the warm young woman, and Ella began taking on the haughty persona now adopted by Kiarra and her stepmother. Poor Juliet had to take up more and more of the burdens as servants were slowly let go and her sister and stepsister ceased to do much of any work around the house. Her mother had long ago ceased to lift a finger around the manor, causing Juliet no end to her frustration. Soon Juliet had a wicked sister and a wicked stepsister instead of the two friends she was hoping for. Since Kiarra and Cinderella seemed determined to do nothing but pursue young men and their artistic pursuits, Juliet bore the brunt of everything.
When springtime dawned, word spread throughout the kingdom of the occurrence of a famed royal ball. Knowing she could use the relief, Juliet began quietly planning her gown. Kiarra and Cinderella were doing the same, eagerly gossiping about the young people that would be in attendance. As the day grew near, Cinderella, Kiarra and her mother piled chores in ever alarming frequency on Juliet. She was entitled to go to the ball, so when would it be her turn?
Cinderella decided that this ball would be her time to shine and to nab the bachelor prince. After all, her family was well known around town and had been highly respected for many years. Why not choose her? Anyone who knew young Ella as a child would be distressed to see how far his or her little angel had fallen, especially Ella's father. She had become a downright brat, taking after Kiarra herself. Being doted upon by her stepmother hadn't helped matters either. She seemed to have swapped places with Juliet in her stepmother's heart.
The night of the masked ball soon arrived, and after frantically finishing her chores, Juliet was torn away from her own preparations to help Kiarra and Cinderella. When those two were ready to the satisfaction of her mother, and her mother herself was coiffed to perfection, Juliet was finally permitted to go get herself ready. Soon hisses and shouts that she was making them late drifted upstairs, causing Juliet even more distress. Hurriedly throwing herself together, Juliet finally was pleased with her reflection. Slowly climbing down the winding staircase, Juliet's heart dropped as she realized that her beauty had been encompassed by that of Cinderella and Kiarra. Ignoring a snide remark by her sister, Juliet watched as her "stepsisters" climbed into the waiting carriage, followed by her mother. After making sure everything had been finished, Juliet climbed into the carriage herself. She became lulled into a trance by the gently swaying carriage, wondering what the ball would bring.
Of course, Cinderella was swept off her feet the moment she entered, and she ended up dancing all night. She had been the most desirable woman in the room, and they never knew about the inner claws she kept buried. Kiarra herself had a court of admirers the entire night. Juliet had been dancing with one stranger, someone who's warm voice and dashing features captured her heart. She adjusted her mask, thinking how much she wished she knew more of the stranger. At the stroke of midnight, Juliet prepared to lift her mask and meet the identity of her handsome stranger when she was yanked away by Kiarra.
"We're leaving. Let's go," Kiarra informed her. Protesting, Juliet refused to go even further before getting an explanation. After all, this was the most important night of her life!
"NO! I'm staying! I have to meet him!" Juliet pleaded with her sister; not believing her enchanted night was about to be over.
"Cinderella wants her mystery man to go on a quest for her. She's dropped clues, and she has to be home when he finally shows up there!" Kiarra began dragging her sister again, feeling annoyed that she got stuck with this job. Juliet's heart dropped. Why did everything have to revolve around Cinderella? As Juliet called a hasty good-bye, she didn't notice the jeweled slipper that fell off her foot and Kiarra dragged her away.
In disguise, the prince, who had been enchanted with Juliet, not Cinderella, gently leaned down and picked up the slipper of the maiden he had been dancing with all night. He knew she was the one for him, and they had enjoyed quite interesting conversation. He had never met anyone like Juliet, and he didn't even know her name! The prince just knew that this was the girl he wanted to marry. He waited in vain through the unmasking, but no one looked in the slightest like his mystery woman.
The ladies arrived home, Kiarra and Cinderella carrying on about their wonderful night. Juliet tried to tune them out as she went upstairs and curled up to go to sleep. She realized that she was missing a slipper, and it nagged her that she couldn't remember where she left it. Juliet suffered in silence over the next week, praying her sisters would finally talk themselves out.
Meanwhile, the one suitor that had been courting Cinderella soon found he was bored with the clues. He dropped the slipper he found from Cinderella, and he realized that she was just not that important to him. Little did Cinderella realize that her chances at a suitor were slowly disappearing. On the opposite end, the prince had launched a kingdom-wide search to find his mystery woman. Disgusted at his lack of leads, the Prince resorted to going door-to-door and having each maid try on the slipper.
They had searched all day and were stopping at their final cottage for the night. The prince's footman knocked on the door, and an astonished maid ushered the prince and his entourage into the sitting room. The stepmother, Kiarra, Cinderella and Juliet soon followed in, and they were quickly explained the situation. Cinderella knew it was only a matter of minutes before she'd become a princess. After all, wasn't she the one who left a trail? Behind everyone, Juliet began to tremble as she recognized the profile of the prince. She was a bit shocked to find out his identity, and the feeling soon turned to dread as she realized that one of her sisters might fit the slipper as well. When it was their turn, both Kiarra and Cinderella tried all of their tricks but were unable to fit into to slipper.
Shyly, Juliet stepped forward and sat down. The prince felt his body electrify when he caught sight of her, recognizing her from the ball even without her lavish costume. Juliet daintily held out her foot, ignoring the ranting and protests by her sisters that it couldn't be hers. Her foot slid in easily, the slipper fitting her foot perfectly. Her green eyes met the brown eyes of a prince, and he leaned towards her. Their lips met and locked in a kiss, sealing their future together happily ever after.