Cinderella
Once upon a time, there was a little girl named Polka who loved her mother, Solfege, more than anything in the world.
So this is where our story starts - mother and daughter playing in the back garden. Suddenly, Solfege's knees give way and she collapses on the ground. Polka rushed up to her and when she sees that her mother is unconscious, she starts to cry. "Daddy! Daddy! Mommy's dead!"
Now we come to the father. Polka's father was a man named Clef. Clef was a businessman who didn't like nonsense and seemed very cold, for he only loved his wife and his daughter. So when he heard the fretful cries of his daughter, announcing that his beautiful wife was dead, he immediately ran outside, scattering his paperwork in the process.
Soon after Clef reached the back door, Polka also fainted. He immediately sent Minuet, the servant-girl, to fetch Dr. Agogo.
When the doctor arrived both the mother and child were in their beds. "I shall have a look at the woman first" He said calmly. Clef nodded and showed him to where Solfege was sleeping.
The doctor looked over the woman with a brisk attitude, poking in special places to see what the reaction was and occasionally placing his hand around her wrist.
"I'm afraid she has tuberculosis, she will die within a month" Doctor Agogo said solemnly. Clef's eyes widened. "No!" he yelled "there has to be something you can do for her! You're a doctor aren't you?!"
Dr. Agogo only shook his head sadly. "Where is the child?" he asked. Clef miserably escorted him to Polka's room.
As the doctor began his inspection, Clef began to worry. Please he begged don't take away my daughter to. As the doctor stood up, he wore the same expression that he wore when he told Clef that his wife was going to die. "I'm afraid she has cardiovascular disease, it is likely she won't live past the age of 20" the doctor announced.
Clef was shocked. First he finds out that his lovely wife only has a month left to live and now he finds that he will never see his daughter, his beautiful daughter, become a lady.
"Now, for cardiovascular disease, a good diet and regular exercise will help so I suggest she finds a hobby. Good afternoon." And with that. The doctor left the grieving house.
Within two days, Polka finally woke up and when she realized what had happened to her mother, she refused to leave Solfege's room.
After three more weeks, Solfege died. Clef could not bear to look at his daughter, for it reminded him all the more that she did also not have very long. So he sent her away. Not very far, she began dancing lessons, she was sent to the local school and she began helping the servants with their work.
Polka never spoke to her father anymore. It was only at dinnertime that she even saw his face. Since the death of Solfege, Clef had shut himself away and refused most human contact.
One day, some four months later, Clef asked one of the maids to bring Polka to his office. Everyone was surprised. Only business partners and the head maid was allowed in his office.
When Polka reached the double doors witch lead to the Forbidden Room (as everyone called it), she couldn't help but awe at the sight of them looming over her. No wonder no one's allowed to go in this room she thought, the doors are so big. In Polka's 8 yr old mind, she worried about what she could've done that was so bad that she needed to go into her father's office.
When she entered the room, the first thing she noticed was a very dressed-up woman in frilly everything perched on her mother's favorite chair and next to her were two very dressed-up little girls who looked to be a little older than she was.
Polka had a very bad feeling about this. They seemed nice enough, even friendly but Polka didn't like the way they were all smirking at her like they had won a great victory against her and her father.
"Ah Polka, here you are." when she heard her father's voice, she whirled around to find him sitting all high-and-mighty behind his desk. "hello father" she said quietly as she curtsied.
"This is Lady Dolce and her two children Rondo and Rumba" her Clef introduced. Polka curtsied and greeted them. "Lady Dolce is going to be your new mother" her father said with great satisfaction.
Polka's eyed widened. How could he do this?! Just because mother was gone, he could call someone else her new mother?! Lady Dolce smiled a cruel, triumphant smile as Polka stumbled in her curtsy.
It was well known that Clef owned quite the successful business, so if anyone wanted to marry into money, they'd marry Clef. In Lady Dolce's opinion, Clef was a weak man who is so distraught by the death of his wife that he shuns away his daughter.
Clef and Lady Dolce were married the next month. The twins, Rondo and Rumba, were perfectly horrid to Polka when neither Clef nor Dolce was around. Calling her names, pulling her hair and pushing her around. It wouldn't have mattered (as the twins soon found out) if Lady Dolce was there or not because Polka's terrible stepmother would also torment her whenever she was home, especially when she saw Polka helping the maids.
The next year, Clef was killed by a man called Fugue and instead of mourning his death, Lady Dolce sacked all of the staff, and told Polka to do all the housework.
So it started. When she was 10, Lady Dolce made Polka quit school once she had a 'sufficient education for a maid', in fact Lady Dolce made Polka stop everything that didn't include cooking, cleaning or washing.
But, when everyone was asleep, Polka would continue to dance in her little basement. She would glow and bend moonlight in her wake, dancing until she could no longer put off sleeping, for she had a full day of chores tomorrow.
~ 7 years later ~
We now find ourselves a mere two days before the prince's 19th birthday, and a 17-yr-old Polka is in the kitchen trying to make the complicated breakfast her stepmother requested.
As she is adding in the last few ingredients accordingly, she feels something rubbing softly against her leg. "Hello Arco, did you sleep well?" Polka asked, giggling. The red-and-white cat just meowed in response and stayed in the kitchen until he was given a saucer of milk. Arco had previously belonged to one of Polka's best friends, Viola. Polka would always help Viola out with her chores but when she got fired and was sent away, she gave Arco to Polka and told her to take care of him.
When she saw that breakfast was nearly ready, she looked at the recipe again and followed the instructions until there was three steaming bowls of crème de fruits de mer cher.
She put them on individual trays and carried them up one by one to her step-family's rooms. Next, she got a pail of water and a brush and started scrubbing the floor.
As she was just finishing up, her two stepsisters came down the stairs in their usual frilly attires. When they saw Polka scrubbing the floor, they started giggling and whispering to each other. They walked right up to where Polka was and 'accidently' knocked the bucket full of dirty water over.
Polka could hear them gossiping as she went to get a towel to mop up all the water. "Oh, did you hear? It is Prince Allegretto's birthday in two days!" gushed Rondo.
"Oh yes I did! I also heard that on his birthday, he will be throwing a huge ball in which he hopes to find a wife!" swooned Rumba.
"well, I should hope so! After his 18th birthday seemed to be unsuccessful,
Polka listened to their petty argument over who Prince Allegretto was going to marry with amusement. Apparently, according to Viola, it was every rich girls' dream to marry a prince.
The next two days went much like the days before them. Wake up, eat, clean, cook, sweep, polish, go to the market, cook, clean, sew, try to repair the rags she got as clothes, cook, eat, dance, go to sleep.
But on the third day went she went to collect the mail, there were four envelopes with the seal of the royal family on them. Strange she thought. Polka turned them over to see who they were addressed to.
One said 'Lady Dolce', one said 'Rondo Dolce' , the next said 'Rumba Dolce' and the last one, unbelievably, said 'Polka Cinders'.
She quickly broke the seal and opened the letter.
Dear Polka Cinders
The pleasure of your company in requested for a masquerade ball tonight from 6 o' clock at the royal castle, Ritardando.
Polka nearly dropped the invitation in surprise. T-they're inviting m-me to go to the p-prince's ball?! She thought, In fact, Polka was so distracted that she didn't hear the footsteps of Lady Dolce behind her.
"what are you doing, reading our mail?" she asked, clearly furious. "b-but this is my letter" Polka stuttered.
"oh that's ridiculous, who'd be writing to you?" Lady Dolce sneered. But, as she read and re-read the letter, her face turned a violent shade of red as she found that it was indeed, Polka's.
"Well, this is unacceptable" Lady Dolce muttered and before Polka had a chance to react, she rushed back upstairs to her room.
Polka avoided her stepmother for the rest of the day, giving only a subtle knock at the door when lunch was ready. Polka finished her chores extra early, but instead of having time to get ready herself, Rondo and Rumba made her help them instead. By the time they were both ready, it was almost time to go so Polka began to rush down the stairs to her basement to find an old dress of her Solfege's, but her stepmother stopped her.
"where do you think you're going?" Lady Dolce asked.
"T-to get ready for the ball" stammered Polka.
"but your chores aren't finished!"
"I finished all of them!"
"oh? Perhaps I forgot to mention? I made a new list of chores, just for today. I decided that everything's getting a little damp and musty in here, wouldn't you agree?" Lady Dolce crooned. The twins nodded their heads furiously, not wanting Polka to have any fun.
Polka looked through the new list from lady Dolce: beat all the carpets, wash all the windows, re-organize the attic, sew a whole new wardrobe for the three of them, polish all the silverware, plant a herb garden, the list went on and on.
Now Polka would never be able to go to the ball! She sighed miserably and went off to find the carpet beater.
The twins laughed mockingly, paraded down the hallway and got into the carriage. Polka could distinctly hear the twins arguing the whole way down the hall; "he's going to marry me."
As Polka started gathering and beating the carpets, silent tears streaked her face. She was about to start on her second carpet, when she heard a voice saying "now now, we'll have none of that." Polka looked up to see an old woman with long grey hair, a large wooden staff and odd brown-ish clothes.
"so" the mysterious lady started "what's the evil stepmother got you doing this time?" Polka shook her head to get rid of the shock "I-um-well-she" Polka stuttered.
The mysterious lady walked twice around Polka, "you want to go to the ball right?" the mysterious lady asked. Polka only nodded and looked down at her shoes.
"ok, well then… I'll need six spoons, two forks and a pumpkin." The mysterious lady exclaimed. Polka looked up. What she could possibly do with a few pieces of silverware and a vegetable?
"Why do you want these things?" asked Polka nervously, if this lady could float above her head, she didn't want to know what else she could do…
"you want to go to the ball, don't you?" the old woman asked her. Polka blushed and nodded. "well then, I'm your fairy godmother and we need to get you a carriage!"
Not long after those words were spoken, a variety of mismatched forks, spoons and of course the pumpkin were laid out on the ground just outside the mansion.
"yes, yes, this will do just fine" the fairy godmother muttered. With a wave of her staff and a few strange words, the pumpkin had transformed into a carriage and the silverware had been turned into the footmen and the horses.
"right now, hurry up, in you get!" the fairy godmother ushered. Polka was so taken by all the wondrous magic that she almost forgot to look down.
"but surely Fairy godmother, I cannot go to the prince's palace dressed like this" Polka said. The fairy godmother looked up and, quickly realizing her mistake, waved her staff once again and suddenly the rags Polka was wearing disappeared, but in their place was a pure white gown.
Polka was so overjoyed that she began to dance, until the fairy godmother stopped her. "Yes, yes, it's all very nice but the magic only lasts until midnight, so you must return here before then!" she chided the young girl.
Polka nodded and quickly stepped into the pumpkin carriage. At least I'll be able to have one enjoyable night before I die she thought. Apparently, the longest she was ever going to be able to live was until she reached the age of 20, but with all the strain taking care of the entire mansion, she could feel that she didn't have much longer left to live.
"but you must choose a bride tonight Prince Allegretto!" Falsetto urged, marrying age was 17 and it doesn't look very good when the prince of the country is 19 and still unmarried.
"But all the girls that I have met before are trying to get the crown or trying to get money" the prince reasoned.
"yes I know but you must choose a girl at the ball or I don't know what king and queen will do!" she argued.
Allegretto sighed, knowing that he would never win this battle so instead he started walking out to the grand hall, where all the women in the kingdom aged 17-19 were waiting for him.
When he arrived in the grand hall, the whispering immediately increased. He sat down on his thrown, scanning the crowd of women. He didn't like his choices.
Most of them wore to much make up and had really expensive dresses on and some of them were just annoying.
As the music started up, the crowd dispersed and the prince headed over to the buffet table. As he was quietly sipping his drink, he felt something tap him on the shoulder. Turning around, he saw a lady about 50 who was wearing an unnecessary amount of make up and a very frilly, very expensive dress.
"please to make your acquaintance your majesty, I am lady Dolce and these are my two children Ronda and Rumba" she greeted, her daughters were dressed up exactly the same. Allegretto nodded to her in greeting, not really liking the idea of marrying either one of the twins.
After making small talk with the Dolce family for a while, the Prince excused himself to sit down where hopefully no more women who wanted to marry into royalty could recognize him.
In a few minutes, the prince had nearly finished his second drink, when he saw Polka come in through the elaborate double doors of the palace. Now, poor Polka wanted to try and avoid as many stares as she could, for it was considered a great embarrassment to turn up late to any ball.
Unfortunately, she cought the attention of everyone in the room, especially the prince. To him, she was the most beautiful lady he had ever seen. She gaveoff the impression of an angel – with her soft blonde hair carefully braided down her back, her dress that seemed to be made out of moonlight, and no woman could compare to her beauty.
As Polka approached the buffet table, many men asked her to dance, but she refused all of them. When she got nearer to Allegretto, he stood up and went to the buffet table. She began putting a few things on a plate when suddenly, Polka bumped into prince Allegretto.
"m-my apologies, your highness" she stuttered when she saw who she had bumped into. Allegretto just smiled, she really wasn't like the other girls in the grand hall. "no, it's okay. I believe it was me who bumped into you" He assured the stuttering young lady.
Polka looked up and blushed. The prince was definitely very handsome and Polka was simply mortified to have bumped him. The prince smiled warmly at her "would you care for a dance?" he asked. Polka thought for a moment, if I dance to much around this loud place, my disease will probably accelerate….. but if I am to die young, I will at least spend a night doing what I love.
She nodded and placed her hand in his "I would be honored, Prince Allegretto." And so, ignoring the collective whispers from all the other women in the hall, the two danced and danced and danced.
Polka learnt more and more about the prince with each dance, and he in turn, found out more about her. The one thing that prince Allegretto didn't learn, was her name or her address.
But the prince didn't think very much about it at the time. They were both falling for each other with every minute spent together.
So when Polka heard the clock striking twelve, she panicked. She couldn't let the prince see her with those rags on.
"I'm sorry, I have to go" she said hurriedly to the prince and she began running towards the front doors of the palace.
Prince Allegretto ran after her "wait! Please!" he called, she still didn't stop "I don't even know your name!"
But Polka didn't stop, and in her haste, she left a single glass slipper on the castle steps. Prince Allegretto called after her, but she didn't stop even though she could feel her heart getting worse and worse.
When she finally reached the old manor, all that was left of the wonderful night was a single glass slipper. Smiling, Polka tucked it away under the loose floorboard in the corner of the room, and fell asleep on her mattress, her heart still racing.
The next day, Polka woke up to begin the morning chores except, everything was a lot harder to do and she kept getting tired at the simplest of things.
After she made breakfast and put it on her step-family's beds, she went back to her basement, puffing the whole way, and slowly, she pried the loose floorboard up. There, glinting in the darkness, was a lone glass slipper. Polka smiled so it wasn't just a dream.
Sometime after lunch, when Polka could hardly walk without wanting to collapse, there was a knock at the door. When she reached the handle, if took so much effort to open the door that she nearly passed out. My heart's slowing down she thought I'm going to die tonight.
"by degree of prince Allegretto, all ladies between the ages of 17 and 19 must try this slipper on, the lady who fits the slipper shall be chosen as price Allegretto's bride" drawled Falsetto, clearly been to so many houses that she was thankful this was the last one.
"y-yes… ma'am" Polka huffed, and proceeded to show Falsetto into the lounge. Falsetto looked at the girl with concern, it looked to her as if she was on her deathbed.
"Rondo and…. Rumba will be down any….. minute" Polka told the prince's guard as she struggled down the stairs "just…..getting ready…."
"you look awful, why don't you sit down?" Falsetto asked the young girl dressed in rags, but she only shook her head.
A few minutes later, Lady Dolce, Rondo and Rumba in their frilliest attires yet, all joined a very concerned Falsetto and a dying Polka in the lounge. "now, what's this about marrying the prince?" Lady Dolce asked as she flashed the guard a honey-sweet smile.
"the prince wants to find his mystery lady who was at the ball last night, but all he has is this shoe, so whoever's foot fits in the shoe can marry the prince" Falsetto said bluntly, not being overly fond of them. Lady Dolce's eyes flashed with hunger. "you heard the guard, put on your shoe!" ordered Lady Dolce.
Rumba went first, but everyone saw that trying to fit her large foot into the tiny glass slipper was futile so Falsetto moved to Rondo. But unlike her sister, the slipper was too big for her tiny feet.
Falsetto frowned in confusion, this was the last house. She had gone to all the others but none of them fit! So who… she looked at Polka, who was now leaning against the wall.
"you insolent brats!" yelled Lady Dolce "you can't even fit your foot into one little slipper!" Falsetto stood up and began walking over to Polka with the glass slipper. Lady Dolce's eyes widened in realization.
Of course it would be the desperate man's brat. Lady Dolce put her cane out ever so slightly, just enough so that falsetto would trip.
And when she did, the glass slipper fell on the floor and broke into millions of tiny little pieces. Falsetto's eyes widened. What was she going to do?! That was the only glass slipper! What is the prince going to say?!
"it's okay" Polka said gently, sliding to the floor "I have the matching one." Polka pulled out the petite glass slipper from the folds of fabric she was carrying, and put it in front of the anxious guard.
Falsetto carefully slid the slipper onto Polka's foot. It fit perfectly! Falsetto helped Polka stand up, and then she helped her to the awaiting carriage, ignoring the outraged cries from Lady Dolce.
On the ride to the castle, Polka could feel herself slipping away. Oh well, she thought if I am to die, I will at least see Prince Allegretto one last time.
When they arrived at the palace, Polka changed into clothing more suitable for meeting a prince. As she sat in one of the many lounges, she could feel her heartbeat slowing down more and more every minute.
As the prince arrived, she could feel herself dying. She lied down on one of the pillows and waited for the inevitable.
When she woke up, the first thing she registered was that her chest didn't hurt anymore. She opened her eyes and she heard someone shout "she's awake!" immediately, people surrounded her bed and started poking her with cold metal objects.
"she's fine leave her" ordered a familiar voice. Polka sat up "Dr. Agogo!" she said happily, then she was confused "how am I still alive?" she asked.
"We have recently developed a medicine called floral powder, and it got your heart back up to speed" Dr. Agogo smiled.
Just then, Prince Allegretto burst through the doors "I heard she woke up?" he half-yelled. When he saw her sitting upright, he rushed over to the bed and blushed "a-are you okay?" he stuttered.
Polka nodded, got out of bed and curtsied "pleased to make your acquaintance, my name is Polka Cinders" she said, smiling happily, she was alive!. "it is an honor to meet you Miss Cinders, my name is Allegretto Charming" he replied bowing and smirking all the same. After that, Polka continued to live in the palace for a while.
She found out that Allegretto had a younger brother, who would be sweet most of the time unless he was playing his new favourite game – to tease Allegretto and his new found lover about marriage. Less than a month later, Allegretto did in fact propose to Polka and they were wed two months later.
After two years of being happily married, Princess Polka traded her title for an even more prestigious one – Queen of the lands of Sonatras.
And you know what? They lived
Happily
Ever
After.
The End.