Once Upon A Time,
Mice, pumpkins, fairy godmothers, let me start off by saying that's all a lie. My name is Isabella Ashen and I do not have blonde hair and blue eyes. I do not fall in love with a prince and I do not live happily ever after. Who does, this is life where talking about.
What I do have is two horrible ugly step-sisters, a wretched step-mother, thick brown hair and hazel eyes, and a brother who is the only thing that keeps me sane. My mother is gone and my father is dead, heart attack at the age of 45, that's what too many fried foods will get you. He left me nothing, and no, there is no will hidden somewhere in the house, I've checked. And you know it's not that surprising, we never got along anyway. As soon as he remarried after my mom ran away with her hair dresser, it was like my brother and I did not exist anymore. So anyway, let me tell you how this whole fairy tale thing got started.
First of all, I live in Faylinn, which is the biggest city in Breena. Fairies, elves, dwarves, nymphs, and other magical creatures live in Breena. Breena is the imaginative part of the human world. You know the story about the girl whose father told the king she could spin gold, well that girl is a fairy that got a little too cocky with her magic. Sadly it happens often, Breena's scandals turns into your, what do you call them, Fairy Tales.
Now you're probably wondering why I'm human. My mother and father were human. But my ugly stepsisters have an elf dad and a human/fairy mom which left them looking pretty hideous. Well, ever heard of a changeling, you know when fairies go switch a human baby with a fairy replica, I'm sorry to say it happens quite often. My parents were both changelings and most of the fairies think the humans should be honored to be a part of such a unique cultural experience.
Fact number 1: I have to clean our whole house. I mean it's huge, but does my step mother care, no. She says I should be grateful that I am still living in her house and not in the street. Well let me tell you the street sounds pretty great sometimes. While her daughters have governesses and tutors, I have a mop and a bucket. Oh, and since my parents were both changelings, I have no family to get me out of this mess.
Our story begins on a relatively normal fall day. I was sweeping the kitchen and my brother Benjamin was collecting the harvest to be sold at the market the next day.
"Isabella, Isabella!" I heard a very irritating voice cry. "ISABELLA," it shrieked.
"Yes," I called every polite.
"Did you not hear me calling you?" my step mother asked entering the kitchen. "Are you becoming deaf?"
"No step-mother," I answered through my teeth.
"Good because that would certainly be a shame, medical bills are very expensive. And there is no way I would spend that much money on you," she spat. "I need you to go into town and drop off this letter for me. Can you do that Isabella or are you incompetent."
"Certainly," I whispered, trying very hard not to lose my patience. We stood in silence for a few moments longer.
"Well go then," she urged. I nodded grabbing my cloak and the letter. "And Isabella," she called right before I got to the door. "Do not dillydally, I expect you back to serve dinner."
"Yes," I muttered and then escaped through the door before I lost all of my patience. Incompetent, how dare she, and I never dawdle, who does she thinks I am, that stupid changeling that got tricked by the talking wolf. Well at least I was free for an hour or two. "Ben" I called when I reached the field near the edge of our estate. "Ben." He looked up at me and upon seeing my face smiled.
"And where do you think you're going little sister," he asked with a grin, his green eyes sparkling. Ben always has a smile on his face. It was one of his less annoying qualities.
"I'm not little and I'm going to town," I said.
"You will always be little to me. Don't do anything stupid."
"When do I ever do anything stupid?" I asked innocently. He raised an eyebrow. "I'll see you later; don't kill the steps without me," I said laughing.
My walk to town was uneventful. Our manor was on the outskirts of the city and the walk was long but anything was tolerable when I was away from my wicked step-mother. Finally, I could see the towering buildings that Faylinn was famous for. I hurried to be a part of the wonderful city.
The streets were filled with people who all seemed to be in a hurry to reach their destination. I, on the other hand, walked slowly and found myself gaping up at the familiar buildings. "What where your going dearly," a horse voice called to me. I had just bumped into a giant.
"Sorry," I called.
"No need to shot, little lady, I can hear just fine," he said with a scowl. I quickly hurried away and turned into a side street. Faylinn is designed like a grid. Avenues run north to south and streets run east to west. This formality continues until 110th street in the north and Avenue I in the west, which is marked by the River of Dreams. I know, corny name, but supposedly it grants the truest wishes of the person who throws a small donation into it, which the water nymphs happily collect. That's where the human idea of a wishing fountain came from.
I walked down 48th street towards Avenue D, where the post office is. It also happens to be where my best friend Lily Bell lives. Her family runs the post office and they reside in the apartment on the top floor. As I entered the post office and dropped my letter in the shoot, Lily ran towards me.
"Have you heard?" she said excitedly. Lily was the kind of person that was always in a good mood, in an annoyingly good mood. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"Nothing,"
"Oh, so have you heard?"
"Lily, I practically live in a prison, of course I haven't heard," I said rolling my eyes.
"Well, guess who is having a ball,"
"Geez I don't know Lily," I said. Did I mention she could be pretty annoying sometimes?
"The Prince!" she replied not catching my mood.
"Wonderful," I said sarcastically. She sighed.
"Oh come on, it'll be fun"
"Ok, in the slim chance that my family is even invited, there is no way my step-mother would ever let me go."
"That's just the thing, by royal decree all maidens are invited to attend the ball."
"Hey, wasn't Prince Eric marring the mermaid. Why is there going to be a ball?"
"Well yes but the ball is not for Prince Eric it for his brother, the Crown Prince Chadwick," she said, slightly annoyed.
The town clock struck the hour, announcing that it was five o'clock. Oh no, I was never going to make it back on time. "I have to go," I told Lily already heading towards the door.
"Okay. Well, I will see you tomorrow," she said, giving me a hug. With that I ran out of the post office and down the street towards Avenue I. Once over the River of Dreams I slowed to a walk, my breathing labored. I wondered if the ugly step-sisters knew about the ball. Highly doubtful, I mean if they knew all I would hear was squealing for weeks. I continued my walk, thinking silently to myself about nothing in particular. Once I reached the manor it was dusk and I knew my step-mother would have my head, well not literally, at least I hoped not.
As I crept into the house, I heard my ugly step-sisters in the parlor. The eldest is Madison, who has pointed ears and a strong nose and jaw, which makes her appear very masculine. This is a bad thing for her because she is quite girly, and with over the top make-up her stature makes her look like more of a drag queen then a proper lady. She is tall with broad shoulders and has a very deep voice.
Her sister Alison is petite with hardly any bosom. Her mother fixes this problem by stuffing hay into her corset which leaves a very uneven affect. She is every bit as awful as her mother. Alison's voice is high and squeaky and I try to avoid her as much as possible so I don't strangle my unfortunate looking step-sister.
I could hear them chatting away, gossiping about who knows what, when my step-mother encountered me.
"Ah, Isabella, where have you been?" she said in a sugary sweet voice.
"I delivered the letter for you step-mother," I told her. She narrowed her black cat-like eyes.
"And it takes so long to deliver a letter. No, I don't think it does. And since it seems that you enjoying being outside so much and not returning home as quickly as possible why not spend the rest of the night outside," she said with a smirk. I sighed. "Go, and I expect all your chores you did not finish today done by tomorrow morning." So that is how I ended up outside, in the cold, in the middle of the night. Fact number 2: my step-mother is horrible. She has nothing on Snow Whites' mother. I mean except the fact that she hasn't tried to kill me, not yet at least .
Yes, I was in a pretty tight spot. Sleeping outside like some animal made me realize how truly pathetic I was. All I could do was sit there and wait until the steps fell asleep so I could creep back into the house. I was pondering this and feeling awfully sorry for myself and then what appears but a mouse, and even worse, a talking mouse. Little did I know things had just went from bad to worse.
A.N. Hey everyone. So this is the first chapter of my new story Broken Glass. This story is going to be quite different from conventional Cinderella storys, so I would really appreciate any feedback. Please review. Tell me what you think of Isabella or whatever else you want to say. Thank you so much for reading, this one was fun to write and I hope you enjoyed it. Until the next update, ~Iris Lily~
DC - I do not own the general plot of Cinderella but I do own any of the characters and situations unique to this story. Please do not plagiarize. IF I feel like someone has taken something from my story without permission I will take it down immediately. You will just be ruining it for all the honest readers. So please just enjoy the story, I have worked very hard on it. ~Iris Lily~