Suggested by universe-queen-melissa on Tumblr! Strangely picking the fairy tale for Act 2 was tougher. Especially because I needed one that had a female in the main role, but not the kind who chopped off guys' heads because they didn't answer a riddle correctly or something. Picking the tale for Act 3 was much easier.


Lydia changed quickly, swapping her regular outfit for a ragged gray dress and wooden shoes. She could hear Amanda summarizing Zack and Bradley's tasks backstage, telling them to keep everything structured so everything ran smoothly.

"Can I dry off now?" Bradley asked.

Lydia stifled a laugh. One day she would have to ask Melissa about those doe eyes. They could easily come in useful whenever she had to convince the drama club to follow her lead.

"Go ahead," Amanda replied. "And please refrain from starting musical numbers."

There was a knock on the door. "Just a minute!" Lydia called, stumbling over her wooden shoes. "Dumb shoes." She hated how they threw off her center of gravity, making her stumble on even the tiniest steps.

"Lydia, can I come in? I think I left my hat in here," Chad asked.

Lydia opened the door, almost tripping on a mannequin stand behind her. "Is it the one for the prince costume?" she asked, stepping aside to let him pass.

Chad ruffled through a large cabinet. "Yes, I have no idea where it went." Now that his back was turned to her, she could see the red sash for his prince costume was twisted in the middle.

"Hold still, Chad. Your sash is crooked." Lydia almost fell twice as she made her way towards him. She examined the twist for a few seconds before flipping it to the right, carefully smoothing out the wrinkles.

"Thanks! I found the hat. It was behind the trench coat," Chad moved back, directly into Lydia. She couldn't avoid him in time, and grabbed hold of the nearest object to break her fall. Unfortunately, the nearest object happened to be his sash and she accidentally pulled Chad down with her too.

"Please get off," Lydia wheezed. Chad scrambled off her stomach, reaching down to help her up. He blushed, hiding his face in his hat to cover it.

She was about to ask if there was something wrong, but the door suddenly slammed open. "Lydia, we're starting!" Amanda burst in, grabbing her hand and dragging her to the stage. "The intermission's over!" Lydia mouthed a quick apology to Chad, who shyly smiled back.

Lydia knelt in front of a female mannequin, giving a thumbs-up to signal that she was ready. The curtain rose, revealing the young audience's eager face. She took a deep breath. She could do this.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and-" a tan dog with brown spots sat next to Milo, his tongue hanging out. "Diogee? You're not supposed to be in this play. Go home!" Diogee whined, miserably trudging backstage with his tail in between his legs. "As I was saying, we present Fairy Tale Act 2 to all of you!"

Clearing his throat, Milo began the story. "Once upon a time, a rich man's wife became ill. She called her only daughter to be by her side, wishing for her to remember all she had taught her."

Lydia took out a handkerchief and sobbed. Good thing she could cry on command.

"Then she died," Milo said in a near whisper. He wiped his face on his own shirt. "Sorry. I always get choked up when a parent dies in these kinds of stories. Anyway, one day the girl planted a sapling on her mother's grave. She visited every day even through the bitterly dark, cold winter." He sniffed, wiping a tear from his eye. "It's-it's kinda sweet when you think about it."

Lydia knelt in front of a tombstone, continuing to weep. She threw herself on the tombstone desperately, tightly hugging the cold surface.

"One day, the rich man remarried a widow, and she brought two daughters into their new home," Milo said.

Mort led Crystal out by the hand. They were followed by Melissa and Amanda, who both wore ridiculously large wigs. Mort knelt in front of Crystal, who smirked as he put a ring on her finger.

"Though they were beautiful, their hearts were filled with greed and jealousy," Milo announced.

Melissa gently pushed Lydia, who toppled over as if she'd been forcibly shoved. "Hey, maid girl!" she said tauntingly, thrusting a basket of dirty clothes at her. "Wash this basket and have them ready by evening!" She ducked her head, whispering. "Sorry, Lydia!"

Lydia paused in her crying, glaring at her. "Don't apologize! Chase, if I have to tell you to stick to the script one more time I swear-"

"But we're being really rude," Amanda noted.

"You're the evil stepsisters! Of course you're supposed to be rude! It's just a play, continue!"

Nodding, Amanda jabbed a finger at Lydia. "Maid girl, dust the mantle and ready supper."

As Lydia set the table with wooden bowls, Milo narrated. "Life became difficult by the day. She did all the chores without a kind soul to talk to, washing, cooking, and cleaning without complaint."

Melissa and Amanda tossed peas into the fireplace, then jeered and taunted Lydia as she crawled in and picked them out from the ashes. Lydia cupped ten peas in her palm and threw them in a small wastebasket.

"There was no bed for her," Milo said, his voice soft. "She had to sleep by the hearth by the cinders. Because of this, she was given the name Cinderella."

Lydia coughed, stirring up the cinders. She regretted rejecting Amanda's suggestion of using cotton balls rather than real dust. It clung to her face, staining her skin and leaving gray smudges.

"I'm going to the fair," Mort announced. "What do you wish me to bring back for you?"

"Beautiful dresses and precious jewels," Melissa and Amanda chorused.

Lydia shrugged. "The first twig that brushes your hat on the way home."

"Their father kept his word," Milo said. "He bought dresses and jewels at the fair, and as he rode home a twig knocked his hat off."

"Give that branch back!" A goose fluttered on stage, carrying the prop twig in its bill. It let out a muffled honk, flapping straight towards Amanda. Zack ran on stage with a net, attempting to catch the troublesome bird. Milo pulled Amanda out of the way, getting hit in the face by a webbed foot.

Zack swung wildly, knocking over a table and almost stirring up the ashes in the fireplace. "Guess it's a waterFOWL," Milo joked.

"Jar." Melissa held out a container labelled "Bad Puns", and Milo dropped a dollar into it.

"Zack! Watch where you're swinging that thing!" Lydia ducked, barely avoiding the net.

"I caught it! I caught…Milo?" Milo tried to cut the mesh with scissors, repeatedly snipping at the same spot, and finally cut off one strand.

"Does anybody have a sharper pair? These are safety scissors," Milo asked.

Growing frustrated, Zack yanked the mesh of Milo's head. "This is useless now," he said, dropping the broken net. "Where's the goose?"

"NOT AGAIN! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, MURPHY!" Elliot screamed from the audience, once again exiting the auditorium with an angry waterfowl chasing him.

"I'll refund his ticket," Lydia said once she processed everything. "Later. Let's just get this done."

Zack walked backstage, taking the net with him. Mort, who'd been hiding backstage the entire time the goose was terrorizing everyone, gave the branch to Lydia.

On her knees, Lydia planted the branch in front of the gravestone, silently bowing her head.

"Cinderella wept so much, that her tears watered the ground and soon the branch sprung into a beautiful tree," Milo sniffed, wiping a tear. "I don't know how that works, but it's actually kind of sweet."

Crystal dropped a basket full of dresses in front of Lydia. "A proclamation from the palace, girls," she announced. "There shall be a festival in honor of the Prince. The celebration shall last three days, and in that time he shall seek a bride. All young maidens are invited."

Melissa and Amanda squealed in glee, immediately heaping demand on demand on Lydia. "Mother, may I go too?" she begged.

"You are nothing but a filthy maidservant. The Prince has much more suitable prospects attending," Crystal sneered, crossing her arms.

Not letting up, Lydia continued to plead over the ruckus Melissa and Amanda were causing. Finally, Crystal relented. "You may go on one condition. I have scattered a bowl of lentils among the ashes. If you can pick them all out in two hours, then I shall allow it."

"Pigeons and doves and birds of the sky, help me with this task before I cry," Lydia declared.

Nothing happened.

She cleared her throat. "I said, pigeons and doves and birds of the sky, help me with this task before I cry and COME BACKSTAGE MYSELF."

"The puppets are all tangled," Bradley protested. "They're unusable now."

"So who's gonna help me out with this?" Lydia hissed.

Bradley shrugged. "You could do it yourself and not be lazy about it."

Lydia pouted. Then Diogee emerged from backstage with cardboard wings loosely taped to his sides, barking. He started pawing through the ashes, flicking out the lentils with his long snout. Lydia carefully cupped them in her palms and placed them into a bowl.

Two minutes later, she had an entire bowl of lentils, which she displayed proudly to Crystal. Diogee remained in the fireplace, happily rolling through the ashes. "Mother!" Lydia cried. "I've done what you have asked of me. May I please go the celebration?"

Crystal scoffed. "But you have no suitable clothes, nor have you ever danced. You would embarrass yourself."

"Please?" Lydia begged.

Crystal grabbed two bowls of lentils and threw them into the fireplace. Diogee whined as a few seeds hit his face. "If you can pick all that out in an hour, then I shall allow you to go." As she walked away, she smirked. "You will never be able to do that."

"The good ones go into the pot, the bad ones go into your crop," Lydia recited as Diogee flicked all the lentils out of the fireplace. Once the bowls were filled, she showed them to Crystal once again.

But Crystal only hurried Amanda and Melissa out the door, all decked out in the finest dresses and jewelry. "We would be a laughingstock if we allowed you to come," they said.

Diogee shook himself off, following Lydia to the magnificent tree planted on the tombstone. Well, 'magnificent' was too strong a word. It was just a messy drawing of a tree on cardboard with a chocolate milk stain in the leaves.

"Shake and quiver, little tree. Throw silver and gold down to me," Lydia cried out. She glanced up, watching Bradley carefully make his way across the rafters above her. He hefted a golden dress over the railing and dropped it.

Lydia slipped it on over her clothing, also changing her uncomfortable wooden shoes to a pair of sequined slippers.

"At the festival, the wicked stepsisters and their mother were baffled to see a strange girl dancing with the prince," Milo narrated as Chad bowed. Lydia curtsied back. "But neither the prince nor Cinderella cared."

"SO SHE SAID WHAT'S THE PROBLEM, BABY?"

Chad, who was shaking as he took Lydia's hand, jumped back in shock at the sound of loud pop music being blasted from the speakers. Lydia glared at Zack, who quickly switched off the music. "It's not mine," he laughed nervously as he inserted the classical CD he was supposed to use. "Definitely have no idea who owns that."

"So I put my hand here?" Chad chewed his lip, placing his right hand on her shoulder. "I don't dance that well."

"I can lead if you'd like," Lydia whispered. Silently agreeing, Chad looked down to imitate her steps.

"You okay? You were crying a lot," Chad asked.

Lydia swayed from side to side, almost tripping over herself. "Aside from my nerves being fried, I'm fine. I can cry on command."

"I didn't know you could do that. I thought it was real. You're a better actress than people think," Chad said in awe.

She blushed. "Um, thanks? I guess."

"The prince would dance with no other," Milo said. "He refused to let go of her hand the entire time. They danced until evening."

"May I escort you home?" Chad asked.

"No, s-sorry," Lydia stammered, rushing off. She threw off her beautiful dress and switched her shoes so that she looked like nothing more than a simple maid. Then she laid down in the hearth as her family opened the door.

"Similar events transpired during the second day of the festival," Milo said. "No one could recognize Cinderella. The prince grew more curious every minute he spent with her."

When evening fell as Lydia and Chad danced on the third day, she hurried away from the festival. In her haste, she left behind a golden slipper.

"I shall marry the one who can fit into this dainty, golden shoe," Chad declared, holding it up for the audience to see.

"The stepsisters were pleased to hear this, and their mother encouraged them to do whatever it took to fit in the shoe," Milo said.

"This is kind of ironic considering you actually have the largest shoe size out of all of us," Amanda muttered.

"Hey. You two aren't chopping off your body parts," Lydia retorted.

"You are not the true bride!" Chad gasped.

Melissa smirked. "You said the shoe had to fit. You never said it had to be perfect."

"Can I rephrase that statement?" Chad asked.

"Once a prince makes a proclamation, it is law. You must take her for your bride," Crystal said coolly.

"Sorry, Cindy!" Melissa laughed as she led Chad away.

Taken aback by the ending, Milo fumbled with the script as he hastily improvised a closing statement. "Right, so the prince married one of the wicked stepsisters and, um, I guess Cinderella was still stuck in an abusive household. The end."

"There'll be another ten minute break before Act 3, the finale! Don't miss out!" Lydia called as the curtain closed. "Do you think they liked that ending?"

"It was a pretty unique spin on the whole shoe thing. Though I don't think it would be a very happy marriage…." Chad suggested.

"Speculate later," Amanda said. "Let's just try to survive through the next act."