Fairytale Visit
Cinderella
Okay, so this was going to be a one-shot, but I got a request from Cool22hd asking for me to do another story. So here it is! I wanted to thank everyone for their support with this. Also thanks to everyone who reviewed/read or subscribed. :) I would do review replies, but it's just be a bunch of 'Thank you's.
Another quick note: If you want to see any fairytale in particular, then leave a note and I'll try to get to it! Thanks and enjoy!
True to her word, Natara once again forced Mal to go back to the children's shelter the next week, on their day off. The kids were overjoyed at their arrival and once again asked for Mal to tell them a story. He thought long and hard about the perfect story and when one sprang to mind, he couldn't help but smirk. Settling the children down in front of him and Natara, who sat at Mal's side, he began to tell a familiar tale of Cinderella, but with his own little twist of course.
Once upon a time there lived an unhappy young woman. Unhappy she was, for her mother was dead, her father had married another woman, a widow with two daughters, and her stepmother despised her. All the nice things, kind thoughts and loving touches were for her own daughters, but never for her. And not just the kind thoughts and love, but also dresses, shoes, delicious food, comfy beds, as well as every home comfort. All this was laid on for her daughters. But, for the poor unhappy woman, there was nothing at all. No dresses, only her stepsisters' hand-me-downs. No lovely dishes, nothing but scraps. No nice resting places or comfort. For she had to work hard all day, and only when evening came was she allowed to sit for a while by the fire, near the cinders. Although she had a nickname, everybody called her by her given name, Natara.
"Wait, wait, wait! Me?"
"Yeah, why not?"
"Because... um..."
"Exactly, don't worry you'll have a happy ending, well, unless you want me to make you one of the ugly stepsisters."
"No way, Malachi."
"Then be quiet."
Natara groaned and hung her head, so that her hair shielded her face. Mal and the children laughed lightly, but settled down and begged Mal to continue the story, which he did happily.
Natara used to spend long hours all alone talking to a little stray dog that she had taken in. The dog barked,
"Woof", which really meant, "Cheer up! You have something neither of your stepsisters have and that is beauty."
And it was quite true. Natara, even dressed in rags with a dusty grey face from the cinders, was an attractive woman. She was thin, had long, flowing coffee-coloured hair and perfect olive toned skin. But the most beautiful thing about Natara was her eyes; sparkling hazel that brightened up any room, even if it was dark. Whereas her stepsisters, no matter how splendid and elegant their clothes, were still clumsy, pudgy and ugly and they always would be.
"Mal!" Natara scolded, a light blush forming on her cheeks.
"Wait, so when I compliment you, you get mad but if I called you unattractive, you'd still get mad? Women..."
The boys of the group chuckled while the girls sighed and rolled their eyes. Natara turned away, trying to hide her rapidly increasing blush with her hair, but it was no use. Mal smirked at her, enjoying the rare embarrassment that Natara shown. He decided to torment her further and reached over, taking her hand in his. Natara lifted her head and met Mal's gaze, wide-eyed. The children tried to stifle their laughter, while some of the girl sighed dreamily. Natara cleared her throat and tried to regain her composure, slipping her hand out of Mal's and placing them elegantly in her lap.
"Just continue."
"Yes, your highness."
One day, stunning new dresses arrived at the house. A ball was to be held at the king's castle and the stepsisters were getting ready to go to it. Natara plucked up the courage to ask her stepmother,
"What about me?"
"You?" Her wicked stepmother scoffed. "Oh, you can come, if you finish your chores before we leave. You must wash the dishes, scrub the floors and turn down the beds for your stepsisters. They will come home tired and very sleepy." Natara sighed, but accepted the offer, anything to give her a glimmer of hope for going to the ball.
Natara worked faster and harder than she had ever done before, determined to prove her evil stepmother wrong and go to the ball. Once she had finished, Natara rushed down the stairs to where her 'family' resigned.
"Stepmother! I've finished!" Natara called as she neared.
"Have you, my dear?" Her stepmother said doubtfully.
"Yes, everything. May I go, oh please may I go?"
"Well, did you wash the dishes, scrub the floors and turn down the beds for your stepsisters?"
"Yes ma'am."
"And did you tidy the bedrooms and do the laundry?"
"Um... you never said-"
"Oh, tut tut Natara!" Her stepmother wore an evil grin. "Our deal was to finish all your chores I'm afraid you must stay, come along my angels!"
Without another word, Natara's stepmother and stepsisters left their home, getting in a horse drawn carriage and riding off into the night. Natara gently pushed the door shut, and ran to the kitchen. She collapsed onto the floor and wept, wishing desperately that she may have a chance of going to the ball.
Suddenly something amazing happened. In the kitchen, where Natara was sitting all by herself, there was a burst of light and an elderly fairy appeared.
"Do not be alarmed, Natara," said the fairy. "I am your fairy godmother, and I have heard your wish. You shall go to the ball!"
"How can I, dressed in rags?" Natara replied, staring in disbelief at the figure before her. "And my stepmother forbids it."
The fairy godmother just smiled. With a flick of her magic wand... Natara found herself wearing the most elegant, beautiful dress, the loveliest ever seen in all the land. Wiping away her tears, Natara looked down at the dress and smiled, feeling the silky fabric between her fingers.
"Now that we have settled the matter of the dress," said the fairy godmother, "we'll need to get you a coach. A real lady would never go to a ball on foot! Quick! Get me a pumpkin!" she ordered.
"Oh of course," said Natara, rushing away. Then the fairy godmother turned to the dog.
"You, bring me seven mice!"
"Seven mice!" barked the dog. "I didn't know fairies ate mice too!"
"They're not for eating, silly! Do as you are told... and, remember they must be alive!"
Natara soon returned with a fine pumpkin and the dog with seven mice he had caught in the cellar.
"Good!" exclaimed the fairy. With a flick of her magic wand, the pumpkin transformed into a sparkling carriage and the mice became six large white horses, while the seventh mouse turned into a coachman, in a smart uniform and carrying a whip. Natara could hardly believe her eyes and placed her hand over her mouth.
"Um..."
"What's wrong Mal?" Natara asked, seeing the kids' confused faces.
"I haven't thought of who the prince will be... Oscar?"
"No!" The kids yelled in unison, causing both Natara and Mal to jump. "We want you to be the pwince!" Brea said softly.
"Oh... Kids, I don't th-"
"Mal, its fine, just go with it." Natara said gently, smiling.
"Oh, alright then." Mal said, blushing lightly.
"They will take you to the castle. You will soon see that Mal, the prince, in whose honour the ball is being held, will be enchanted by your loveliness. But remember my dear! You must leave the ball at midnight and come home. For that is when the spell ends. Your coach will turn back into a pumpkin, the horses will become mice again and the coachman will turn back into a mouse... and you will be dressed again in rags and wearing shoes instead of these dainty little glass slippers! Do you understand?"
Natara beamed and said, "Yes, I understand! Thank you!"
The horse drawn carriage rode off, taking Natara with it. When Natara entered the ballroom at the palace, a hush fell. Everyone stopped in mid-sentence to admire her elegance, beauty and grace.
"Who is that?" people asked each other in hushed tones.
The two stepsisters also wondered who the newcomer was, for never in a month of Sundays, would they ever have guessed that the beautiful woman was really poor Natara. When Mal set eyes on Natara, he was struck by her beauty. Walking over to her, he bowed deeply and asked her to dance. And to the great disappointment of all the young ladies, he danced with Natara all evening.
"Who are you, fair maiden?" Mal kept asking her, but Natara only replied,
"What does it matter who I am? You will never see me again anyway."
"Oh, but I shall, I'm quite certain!" he replied, smiling charmingly at her.
Natara had a wonderful time at the ball, dancing with the prince... But, all of a sudden, she heard the sound of a clock: the first stroke of midnight! She remembered what her fairy godmother had said, and without another word she slipped from Mal's arms and ran down the steps out of the castle. As she ran she lost one of her glass slippers, but not for a moment did she dream of stopping to pick it up! If the last stroke of midnight were to sound... oh... what a disaster that would be! Out she fled and vanished into the night. Mal had chased her, calling to her and begging her to stop. He jogged down the stairs when he noticed a small glass slipper lying upon the stone steps. Mal, who had realised he was madly in love with her, picked up her slipper and said to his servants,
"Go and search everywhere for the woman whose foot this slipper fits. I must find her!"
His servants did as he wished and tried the slipper on the foot of all the women in the land. They came to Natara's house and knocked on the door, asking if they may try the slipper on the women's feet. The stepmother gladly accepted, hoping that one of her daughter's feet may fit the slipper. Natara stood in the background, overhearing everything. She peeked her head out of the kitchen and noticed the glass slipper in the servant's hands. She gasped, knowing that it was hers. Despite the consequences her stepmother could give her, she rushed out of the kitchen and asked if they could try her foot. Slipping her foot into the glass slipper, to see it fit perfectly, everyone gasped.
"That awful untidy woman simply cannot have been at the ball," snapped the stepmother. "Tell Mal he ought to marry one of my two daughters! Can't you see how ugly Natara is! Can't you see?"
Suddenly she broke off, for the fairy godmother appeared before them.
"That's enough!" she exclaimed, raising her magic wand. In a flash, Natara appeared in a splendid dress, shining with youth and beauty. Her stepmother and stepsisters gaped at her in amazement, and the servants said,
"Come with us, fair maiden! Mal waits to present you with his engagement ring!"
Natara joyfully went with them and was reunited with her prince. They were married the next day and lived happily ever after. And as for the dog, he just said "Woof!".
"The End."
"Yay! Tell another!" The kids implored.
Mal sighed and stretched, noticing that half an hour had passed. He looked to Natara, who shrugged, while smiling.
"Do I have to?" He whispered to her.
"Well, no one is going to force you, Mal. But it would make them happy..."
Mal thought about it for a while, unsure whether or not to tell them another story. What would he tell? He didn't know that many fairytales. Looking back at Natara and then to the children's pleading faces, he still couldn't decide. It was an unusually hard decision for him to make...