Cinderbee, or, The Little Glass Cyberslipper

THERE once was a young medabot named Cinderbee, who lived in a faraway land with his stepfather and two stepbrothers. Cinderbee was a kind and gentle medabot, but his stepbrothers were selfish and vain. Cinderbee did all the chores. He even had to pick up after his stepbrothers, while they never had to do a thing.

The brothers wore the finest of clothes and slept in large, cozy beds with silk sheets and fluffy pillows.

Poor Cinderbee wore nothing but smelly worn-out tatters and slept in the cold, stone cellar, up on a small shelf beside some old tin plates.

One day it was announced that Princess Brass was giving a costume ball. The stepbrothers and their father received an invitation. Cinderbee wanted to go, too, but they just laughed at him.

"The princess would never want to meet a stinkin' and shabby cinderblock like you!"

For weeks the house was filled with talk of the ball. The brothers had costumes made from the finest fabrics. They ate only the tiniest meals so they could have the tiniest waists, and they were always in front of the mirror, posing and practicing their curtsies.

Finally the night of the ball arrived. Cinderbee rushed about, ironing his stepbrothers' costumes and helping them dress. Then, without a thank you or goodbye, the carriage swept the stepfather and stepbrothers off to the ball.

Cinderbee burst into tears; he felt so alone and unhappy.

Suddenly, in a glow of blue light, the Great Fairy Rokusho appeared before him.

"Why are you crying, Cinderbee? Do you want to go to the ball?" he asked.

Cinderbee blinked back his tears. "Oh yes, more than anything!"

"Then you shall!"

"First," said the Fairy Rokusho, "you must fetch me a pumpkin from the garden."

Cinderbee didn't know how a pumpkin could help him get to the ball, but he quickly brought him the best one he could find.

The Fairy gave it a firm tap with his wand, and it magically turned into a beautiful golden carriage.

Then went into the kitchen and found six mice carrying a huge chuck of cheese. With a tap of his wand, they turned into a handsome team of six horse.

He turned the cheese into a fat coachman in uniform. They all marched out the door and took their places, as if it were the most natural thing to do.

"Now you can go to the ball! Are you happy, Cinderbee?" asked the fairy.

"Oh, yes," said Cinderbee. But then he looked sadly down at his smelly ragged clothes.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" said the Fairy.
And with a tap of his wand, Cinderbee's rags became a beautiful torero suit with gold chaquetilla and a real glittering montera. On his feet were a pair of glass cyberslippers, the prettiest and most delicate that Cinderbee had ever seen.

"Now, one last thing," said the Great Fairy Rokusho. "The magic spell ends at the stroke of midnight. The carriage will turn back into a pumpkin, the horses back into mice, the coachman into cheese, and you'll again be dressed in rags. So you must leave the ball before midnight."

Cinderbee promised to remember. Then, waving goodbye, he stepped into the carriage and rode off, his heart filled with joy.

When Cinderbee arrived at the palace, the ball was in full swing. He was welcomed with a fanfare of trumpets and he marvelled to see so many fine medabots wearing such magnificent costumes.

His stepfather and stepbrothers didn't notice him. They were too busy gobbling down snacks and party cans of motor oil at buffet tables.

But Princess Brass noticed Cinderbee at once.

"Who is he?" she asked her courtiers. "He is the most handsome medabot I have ever seen."

Cinderbee had never met as beautiful and charming a medabot as Princess Brass. From their first dance together she never left her side. They whirled and twirled around the dance floor to the applause of the admiring crowd.

"Who is the handsome young medabot who has captured the Princess's attention so completely?" everyone whispered.

"What a handsome couple! How well they dance together!" they sighed.

Cinderbee had never been so happy. He wished the night could last forever.

Then, suddenly, he glanced up at the clock. In all the excitement, he had completely forgotten the Fairy's warning.

"Oh!" he cried. "It's almost midnight. I have to go!"

And he ran from the palace in such a hurry that one of his glass cyberslippers fell off and was left lying on the steps.

As Cinderbee rode away in his carriage, Princess Brass called out, "Oh, please don't go!"

But he was gone.

She picked up his glass cyberslipper and said sadly, "Who was he? I don't even know his name."

The next day it was announced that Princess Brass would marry the penguin whose foot fit the little glass cyberslipper. There was great excitement throughout the land. First, all the princes tried it on and then all the medabots of the court, but the cyberslipper was always tool small.

The royal footmen were commanded to take the from house to house.

The stepbrothers spent the whole day perfuming and powdering their feet.

"Cinderbee," said the stepfather. "Your clothes are too ragged that smell like a dog to be seen by the royal footmen. Go downstairs and polish the silver until they leave."

"Oh, please, I would like to try on the cyberslipper, too!" said Cinderbee, knowing it would fit him perfectly.

The stepbrothers laughed, but then they looked down at Cinderbee's chrome feet. For the first time they noticed how delicate they were.

A knock came at the front door.

"Quick! Hide him!" said the stepbrothers.

They grabbed Cinderbee, threw him down the cellar steps and slammed the door.

Poor Cinderbee. He lay upside down with his foot caught tight in the door, unable to get free.

When the footmen came in, the stepbrothers pushed and shoved to be first to try on the cyberslipper. They were so intent on snatching the cyberslipper from each other that it slipped from their grasp, flipped high in the air, and landed squarely on Cinderbee's foot!

Everyone stared. It was a perfect fit.

As the footmen opened the door and helped Cinderbee up, the Great Fairy Rokusho appeared. With a tap of his magic wand, he transformed Cinderbee's smelly tattered rags into the magnificent clothes he had worn to the ball.

Cinderbee was overjoyed. "Oh thank you, Fairy Rokusho! I thank you with all my heart!"

The stepfather and stepbrothers were very surprised in a shock. They stared at Cinderbee, spluttering with amazement.

"Look! Oh my!"

"It's him! Oh no!"

"Oh dear! We've really put our foot in it!"

Princess Brass and Cinderbee were married the very next day, and the wedding bells rang throughout the land. Never before could anyone remember such a joyous and happy wedding.

Cinderbee and the Princess truly loved each other and they lived happily together ever after.

—The End—