Once apon a time, in a land far away, there lived three sisters. The eldest, Drizella, had long brown curls and blue eyes. Her dainty hands were pale. The middle girl, Anastasia, had long red curls and green eyes. Her hands were strong and pale. The youngest, Cinderella, had straight, long yellow hair and blue eyes. Her skin was pale.
The three girls lived with their parents on a big farm. They had many servants that worked the farm. But one sad day, their father died. Their mother became bitter. She made Drizella feed the chickens and Anastasia milk the goats. But Cinderella had to clean the entire house!
Cinderella's older sisters knew that this was not fair. Drizella tried to lighten her littlest sister's load by polishing the banisters, but she was too dainty to be of much help. Anastasia, who secretly lifted weights in the barn at bedtime, was more help.
One day, the sisters' mother found out about Anastasia's lifting weights. She was angry.
"My daughters should be dainty and princesslike, not muscly and strong," snapped Anastasia's mother.
Cinderella was near. "But I am muscly from cleaning the house," she piped up.
"You could never catch a rich man's eye, so you don't matter," her mother said coldly.
Cinderella began to cry. "Am I really that ugly?" she asked Anastasia.
"No," Anastasia said, "you're just... plain."
Cinderella smiled. It was true, her straw-colored hair could never catch the light like Anastasia's or bounce effortlessly like Drizella's, but Cinderella knew she was fine how she was.
One fine day, there was a knock at the door. Cinderella answered it.
"There is a letter for the household," he said. "Are you servant?"
Cinderella flushed. "No, I am one of the daughters," she said.
"I am very sorry, I didn't know," the man said.
Cinderella did dress more plainly than her sisters. While they wore long dresses with a puff to the sleeve, she only wore a simple green and brown jumper with an apron.
Cinderella took the letter to her mother. Her mother read it silently. Then she said, "There is a ball happening tonight at the palace, and we are invited!"
Drizella squealed. "I'll get to dress like a princess!"
Anastasia crossed her arms. "I don't wanna put on no frilly dress," she said.
Cinderella was quite excited. She could wear her lovely dress that was blue, and the beads she had borrowed from Drizella would set off her eyes just right!
"Go up to the attic and get the cages," their mother told one of the servants.
Drizella put on a green sleeveless top. "Cinderella, do you know where my green puffy sleeves are?"
Cinderella ran to get her sister's sleeves. The servant came downstairs with two cages that had a hole in the top and bottom.
"I didn't know we had hoop skirts!" cried Drizella.
Anastasia made a face. "That looks uncomfortable," she said.
Cinderella came back with green puffy sleeves. Her mouth fell open.
"Help me!" cried Anastasia. "This thing is impossible to get into!"
Cinderella helped Anastasia get into her cage skirt.
Drizella got into her skirt easily. Then she put on her puffy sleeves. Servants brought a length of pink fabric in and wrapped it around Anastasia's cage. Then they found two big puffs and put them at the top of the skirt. A servant did Anastasia's hair into a bun.
"Ugh, this is too princessy!" cried Anastasia.
"It's lovely!" Drizella argued. She now had on a green skirt that was very lovely.
Cinderella came down the stairs wearing an elegant blue dress that shimmered in the light.
"It's lovely!" gasped Drizella.
"Is that all you can say?" asked Anastasia, fed up with all of these fancy dresses.
Three young servants were wearing fancy dresses. They would escort the sisters to the ball.
Soon it was time to leave. Anastasia walked quickly to the carriage. Drizella followed. Cinderella was wearing a pink dress for the ride, and she had stopped. The servant escorting her had torn her dress and was crying.
"Don't cry," Cinderella said. "Here." She folded the ends of the skirt and pinned it. Now the rip was not showing.
Cinderella stood up and turned around. Something about her caught Drizella's eye.
"You're wearing my necklace, and you never asked!" Drizella cried.
"I didn't?" asked Cinderella.
Drizella shook her head and tried to undo the clasp.
"But it makes my eyes sparkle!" Cinderella protested. She pulled at the necklace.
Drizella was frustrated. She pulled a little too hard, and the necklace broke! The beads flew everywhere.
"Now it's broken," Cinderella said. She began to cry.
Anastasia rushed over. "Don't cry," she said. Then she saw Cinderella's dress.
"That's my dress! You already had one for tonight, why did you have to go and take mine?" asked Anastasia.
"I didn't think you would mind," answered Cinderella.
"Well, you need to ask before you take!" Anastasia said. She was angry, and she pulled the zipper with such force that it ripped the dress in two!
Anastasia went quiet and looked at her toes. "I guess I am strong," she said sadly.
Cinderella was crying very hard now. Anastasia gave her a hug. "I'm sorry, little sis," she said.
Cinderella nodded but kept crying. Drizella came over with Cinderella's blue dress. "Dry your tears, at least you have another dress," Drizella said. "And if I do your hair up, you won't look so plain."
Cinderella sniffled and wiped her nose. She climbed into her dress. Drizella styled Cinderella's stick-straight hair into a bun. Now Cinderella looked elegant.
The sisters went to the carriage. They got in. Their mother was sitting there. She was silent as the carriage drove to the palace.
When the carriage stopped, the sisters got out and went inside. Even Anastasia was impressed by the sheer size of it.
"And I thought our house was big!" she exclaimed.
There were many girls at the party. One pointed to the sisters.
"It's the farm girls!" she said.
Another girl began mooing loudly. Soon the group of girls from their school were all mooing.
Drizella glared at them. "Princesses do not moo," she said with a touch of superiority.
Anastasia clenched her fists. "Wanna fight," she said, "I can punch hard!"
Just then, there was a sound, and in walked a man in a sharp suit.
"Introducing His Majesty and High Honor the Royal Prince!" said a man walking behind the prince.
Everyone was quiet. The prince looked around the room and said, "Don't worry ladies, everyone will get a turn to dance with me!"
The prince went around the room. When the music started, everyone started dancing.
When Drizella danced with the prince, he mumbled to himself, "She's trying to hard."
When it was Anastasia's turn, he squeezed her arms. "Too strong," he said.
Anastasia glared at him. "I'll have you know that I don't like princes!" she shouted.
"Temper, temper," the prince said.
When it was Cinderella's turn, all the prince said was "straw".
Cinderella started crying and ran out to the carriage. Her shoe fell off into the gutter.
Cinderella's sisters hurried out to their little sister.
"What's wrong?" asked Drizella.
"I'm ugly," sobbed Cinderella. "My hair is stick-straight and straw-colored, and my eyes are dull as a doorknob!"
Anastasia gave her sister a hug. "You're not ugly. You may not have curly hair or green eyes, but you're pretty how you are."
"I wanna go home," Cinderella said.
Anastasia and Drizella told the servant waiting by the carriage to take them home. The next day, the sisters were rudely awakened by their mom.
"The prince wants one of you," she said. "He says that her name is Straw Girl and that she lost a shoe in the gutter."
Anastasia and Drizella raced out, but Cinderella stayed behind. "I'm sick," she said, fake-coughing.
"Suit yourself," her mother said, and walked out of the room.
The prince was in their house! He held up a shoe. "This is Straw Girl's," he said.
"That's Cinderella's shoe!" cried Drizella.
"Well then, where is she?" asked the prince.
Drizella went to their room. Cinderella was still in bed.
"The prince wants you," Drizella said.
Cinderella sat up and followed her sister to the living room.
"What do you want?" Cinderella asked.
"Put on this shoe," the prince said.
Cinderella did. It fit perfectly, of course.
"Am I going to live at the castle?" asked Cinderella.
The prince smiled. It was a mean smile.
"No," he said. "Where is your other shoe?"
Cinderella went to get it. When she came back, the prince took it.
"I'll be going now," he said.
"Wait! My shoes!" Cinderella cried.
"You won't be needing them anymore. Guards!" the prince cried.
Two guards grabbed Cinderella's arms.
Anastasia's eyes grew wide. Then she clenched her fists.
"Don't you mess with my sister!" she yelled. She punched the prince's face and grabbed the shoes. Then she put them on her hands and used the heels to hit the guards! Cinderella wrenched free.
"Give these to Drizella!" yelled Anastasia, thrusting the shoes towards Cinderella. Cinderella took them and ran inside. Anastasia smiled.
The redheaded girl punched the guards until they were on the ground begging for mercy. Then she started on the prince.
When she was done, the three rude men had black eyes and bruises everywhere. Anastasia smiled and went inside.
The prince and his guards went back to the palace slowly. When they were asked what had happened, they kept silent. Neither wanted to admit that they had been whupped by a girl.
Drizella, Anastasia, and Cinderella lived in their home for years. Their mother finally stopped being bitter. She accepted that Anastasia was a strong girl, and even let her use the weights again!
Drizella told everyone at school how Anastasia had whupped the prince, and nobody mooed at them anymore. They were all impressed, and a little scared too! Nobody wanted to mess with the three sisters. And everyone lived happily ever after.
The End