Title: Fairytales Aren't Always Happy
Author's Note: This is my first try at fanfiction even though I have been reading them ever since I can remember. Who knew a Cinderella story would be my first ever fic? I got this idea from a creative writing prompt, so I had to work with what I recalled from the movie. I had to rely on the Cinderella Wikipedia page and some videos from YouTube. I also downloaded the subtitles from the movie itself to help me with the process. Please excuse any mistakes! Oh and by the way, I didn't include the mice in this fic. Sorry for any Cinderelly-mice fans! Here's the prompt that inspired this story:
Fairy tales have happy endings. All of us know what happened in that mushy fairy tale, Cinderella. Yeah, it's romantic, the prince actually finding Cinderella. They lived happily ever after. But happy ending can sometimes be, well...boring. No zing. So predictable. So...happy. What if the shoe fit one of the other sisters? What happens then? Play with your imagination here. Be funny if you like. Or serious if you feel like it. Or be an Alfred Hitchcock. Whatever you are into, write your ending to the Cinderella story - but this time, make it so that the shoe fits one of the icky sisters. What does Prince Charming do? How does Cinderella cope with it? And what about the Fairy Godmother? Start your story here.
Warnings: PG13. We have my first try at angst and oh! This doesn't have a happy ending, by the way!
Disclaimer: I don't own Walt Disney's Cinderella or anything close to it. You can find the prompt I used as inspiration at creativewritingprompts [dot] com.
Cinderella didn't know what to do. She had stopped right in her tracks after she heard the news. She wasn't sure of it too herself. The Duke was going to let every girl in the Kingdom try out the glass slipper- her glass slipper- to see who it fitted on? And whoever it fit perfectly on would become the Prince's bride? Unbelievable! That would mean that SHE would be the Prince's wife, right? After all, the slipper was made especially for her!
Cinderella was still staring off into space, waiting for the news to sink in, while Anastasia and Drizella were both squealing in delight, unable to contain their excitement of the thought of being able to become the Prince's bride. "Bride! Bride!", they had both shrieked at each other.
Cinderella returned to her tasks absentmindedly, thoughts focused on the night before. Oh, Prince Charming. How handsome and kind he was. They had danced the night away. The way his hands felt on her.. She had felt safe and protected. It had been such a long time since she felt like that. And after today, she'd get to have those hands of his all the time. It was like a dream come true.
Cinderella barely heard her stepsisters' orders. She was too focused on her daydream. But her trance was soon broken temporarily by her stepsisters' shrill voices. "Wake up, stupid!" "We've gotta get dressed!" Cinderella tried to blink away the last remains of her daydreams away. She still had duties after all. "Dressed.. Oh, yes.." However, nobody could stop Cinderella from returning back to her thoughts of the Prince. Oh, the Prince. Nothing could have stopped her involuntary singing, either. She was just too happy
"So this is love.. Mhmm."
Cinderella continued humming the tune that she and Prince Charming danced to the previous night, unaware that her stepmother had told her daughters to quiet down and has sneakily followed Cinderella out of the room, trying to recall where she had heard that song before. Cinderella was too centered in on thoughts of the Prince. She couldn't hear anything over the tune of the enchanting song she was humming.
That was when it hit Lady Tremaine. That tune. It was the song from the ball! How dare Cinderella purposely disobey her orders! How dare Cinderella dance with the Prince! How dare Cinderella steal her daughters' chances of royalty! How dare her!
Cinderella then became aware that someone has been following her. The creak on that rotten board gave Lady Tremaine away. Cinderella stopped her singing abrubtly and turned around. But it was too late. The last thing she saw was her stepmother's evil look on her stoic face and the sound of the lock to her door. Click. Lady Tremaine had locked Cinderella inside her own room.
"Oh! Oh no! No, please! Oh, you can't! You just can't!"
But, Lady Tremaine could. And she did. After locking Cinderella in the attic, she dropped the key in her sleeve and walked away from the door, without a care in the world. She was fully intent on leaving Cinderella there. Until when? Who knew? Nothing would stand in her way to make even one of her daughters happy.
"Let me out! You must let me out!"
Cinderella's pleading did nothing to soften Lady Tremaine's heart. It didn't even reach her ears. Lady Tremaine was gone. She had left Cinderella inside her own room, locked, without a chance of ever getting out. And besides, Lady Tremaine had other matters to attend to.
"You can't keep me in here!"
No matter how much Cinderella banged on the door and no matter how loud her shouts were, nothing changed. Cinderella's resolve was starting to fade. "Please.." She slumped down on the door and cried and cried. Nobody was coming. Nobody cared about her. She was just a lowly house girl, of course. It was just luck that she got to ever meet the dashing Prince. Cinderella couldn't stop the tears from falling down.
In the foyer, the girls were hawking at each other, trying to look their best to look presentable. They had to impress the Duke! He was a trusted adviser of the King and Prince, after all!
The doorbell startled the Tremaines momentarily before last minute squawking occurred. "Do I look all right? I'm so excited, I just-"
Lady Tremaine quieted the girls down, with a look, before opening the door. "Girls, now remember. This is your last chance. Don't fail me."
With a deep breath, Lady Tremaine welcomed the Duke in the house. "You honor our humble home, m'Lord." To which the Duke replied with a snarky, "Ahem. Quite so."
It was quite a scene in that household. The two sisters were constantly fluffing their hair up and fixing their gowns. Drizella was even flexing her feet muscles! Lady Tremaine was trying her best to please the Duke. She gave false praise and offered all the food that they had in the house. It was quite obvious that everyone was nervous.
The Duke sensed the nervousness in the air and decided to start with the speech given to him by the King. It had listed the terms of agreement when it came to the slipper- how every girl in every household was required to try the glass slipper and whoever it fit on, would become the Prince's bride and yada yada yada. The girls were getting impatient. They already knew all that! Why couldn't the Duke just shut up and let them try on the slippers? A stern look from their mother quieted all thoughts of voicing their opinions, though. They had to present their best selves, after all.
After the horribly long speech, they had finally gotten down to what everyone was waiting for. The fitting.
The Duke rolled up the long piece of parchment and gave out a tiny cough. "We must proceed with the fitting." Lady Tremaine did her best to remain looking stoic. She mustn't let worry cross her face. She had to believe in her girls. "Of course."
"Anastasia, dear." She called on her eldest daughter. Anastasia walked clumsily towards the Duke, ready to try on the glass slipper. Drizella silently hmphed. She had wanted to be the first one to try on the slipper. But it was always Anastasia first. Oh well, like it would fit my feet anyway.
Oh, how nervous Anastasia was as she sat down on the lone chair in the middle of the room. "Oh please, let the slipper fit me! Oh please, oh please, oh please! I need to marry the Prince!"
Unknowingly, her mother's thoughts were very similar to hers at the moment. "Oh, dear Lord, please let the slipper fit her. She needs this. Her sister needs this. We all need this. I've given up too much to get this once in a lifetime chance. I'm just praying my grandmother's genes got to her!"
As the Duke bent down to let Anastasia try on the slipper, Anastasia began hurriedly exclaiming. She had to put on airs of some kind, didn't she? "There! I knew it was my slipper!" She had said this before the slipper even touched her feet. You see, a few months ago, Anastasia had read a book that stated that if you said something and believed in it, no matter how ridiculous it was, it would come true. So Anastasia had no other choice, but to chant falsities. "Exactly my size!"
And what do you know? The slipper did fit her.
Lady Tremaine almost fainted with relief. Even Anastasia looked surprised. The Duke stood up and bowed. "You are the chosen one." Lady Tremaine couldn't stop the smile on her face. She went over to Anastasia and hugged her. Her daughter. The Prince's wife. What joy! Drizella was less than happy, but remembered that being related to royalty meant unlimited snacks. Her mood was soon uplifted.
The formalities went by quickly. As soon as the Duke confirmed that the slipper fit Anastasia, he whisked the Tremaines away to the castle. The Prince, who had learnt that the glass slipper finally found its owner, was ecstatic and waited by the front door, eager to meet his future bride. When the door opened, and when he saw Anastasia, he ran up to her, swept her off her feet and kissed her. The Prince didn't even suspect that Anastasia was a fake. He had already fallen in love with her all over again.
The marriage ceremony was arranged quickly. The Prince, Anastasia and Lady Tremaine couldn't wait, you see. They decided that it would be a huge and grand celebration. Everyone in the Kingdom would be invited and the pre-wedding party would last for 3 days and 2 nights. Everyone couldn't wait for it.
Cinderella was numb. She couldn't feel anymore. She didn't have any more tears, either. She had used them all up.
"Cinderella."
Cinderella knew who it was. It was her Fairy Godmother, of course.
"Cinderella, stand up, dear. Let's get you fixed for the party."
Cinderella didn't say anything. She couldn't. She didn't have the energy to form any more words. Her voice had been overused by all the sobbing and the pleading that she had done.
"Cinderella, come on, honey."
It was no use. Nothing she would do would matter. Even if she did go to the ceremony, it would make no difference. Even if she announced that she was the real owner of the glass slipper, it would make no difference. The Prince had already fallen in love with Anastasia, even if she wasn't the true owner. It didn't matter anymore.
"Cinderella, be a dear and stand up so I can change you into some better clothes."
"No."
The Fairy Godmother was in shock. Cinderella had never said a rude word in her life, and suddenly now, she was acting out? And to the one person who offered to help her! Why was Cinderella refusing, anyway? All the Fairy Godmother wanted was to help Cinderella be with Prince Charming. Didn't everyone wish for a chance like this? To be able to be with the one they love forever? What was wrong now?
"Cind-"
"I said no. Go away. I don't want this."
The Fairy Godmother sighed. She couldn't do anything. Cinderella had made up her mind and she was determined to stick with it.
Prince Charming and Anastasia's wedding ceremony was beautiful. Over a thousand people came and lots of food and drinks were given to everyone. It was truly a celebration that would go down in history books everywhere. On the last night of the celebration, after Prince Charming and Anastasia said their vows to each other and shared a beautiful kiss, tremendous applause filled the entire Kingdom. Everybody was happy and excited for the new couple. Everybody except for one.
No one had remembered Cinderella. After the fateful slipper fitting day, she had stayed upon her bedroom door, waiting for Lady Tremaine to come back, but nothing ever happened. Nobody cared. And who would have? Nobody even knew that she existed. So nobody even turned their heads when Cinderella took her last breath, humming the words, "So this is love.."
A/N: Please leave your thoughts! Anything is welcomed. :)