Sinderella

Chapter One: Welcome to the Family, Cinderella

It was a dark and cold night in the kingdom of Everglade. The village was quiet as if no person or animal remained there. Not even the pip-squeak from a mouse could be heard. The village was dark, all of the streetlights had burnt out since there was no lamplighter out to keep them lit. The cobblestone streets glistened by the only light that shone on the kingdom, the moonlight.

All the villagers had turned in for the night, but there was one person who was out and about late that night. It was a younger woman dressed in a black cloak, as though she wanted to conceal her identity. She strode through the streets carrying a large basket in her arms. The basket had a white cloth draped over the top to conceal its contents and the woman made sure that she kept it as level as possible. Every now and then, she would stop to check on the basket's contents to make sure that they had not been disturbed on the journey.

The woman strode quickly across the cobblestone streets but she did so as silently as she could. She wanted to get to her destination as quickly as possible, and she did not want anyone to see her while she was out on her late night errand. Although no one was out at night, the woman moved through the streets with stealth. She was heading for a particular house on the opposite side of the village from where she used to live. She knew a good man who lived there, and she believed that the man could help her with a problem she was facing. She had only met this man once, but had gotten to know him enough to trust him with something that is very dear to her.

Soon, the man's house came into view. It was on a long street that connected to the town square and was a route to exit the kingdom. From the man's house, you could see the Heart of Town, a monument erected in the center of the kingdom in front of the palace. Anyone in the kingdom would never get lost by simply finding the Heart of Town over the buildings of the village.

The woman made her way to the front door. She walked up to the house and stepped onto the front porch. There, she pulled out a folded piece of parchment from her cloak and placed it in front of the door and set the basket on top of it. She then removed the white cloth that covered the basket to reveal her precious cargo. Her sleeping baby girl.

She had become pregnant at a younger age than most women did in Everglade. She was involved in a teenage romance that had become very active. Her relationship consisted of not only more-than-just-romantic activities, but also illegal activities. She and her boyfriend would steal from local stores, and vandalize public property such as the Heart of Town among other buildings. At the age of seventeen, she had become pregnant and her boyfriend had abandoned her when he heard the news. Determined to give her baby a chance at a happy and healthy life, she gave decided to give birth to the baby, and nine months later she delivered a healthy baby girl.

When the child was born, the mother's parents had died and she had no place to live. Her parents owed lots of money on the house and when they died, the bank repossessed the home. The woman could not afford to purchase the house for herself much less pay off the debt that was owed. If she kept the baby, both of them would live a life of hardship and misery. They would be homeless and at best would have to live in the streets potentially under a bridge somewhere. Not to mention, she was wanted for a number of crimes she had committed in the kingdom. She had to turn herself in and face justice for the crimes that she had committed. However, if she did that with her daughter, then the baby would likely be sent to an orphanage in another kingdom. The orphanages were notoriously cruel to the children who were placed into their care. She made an unimaginably difficult decision, the decision to leave her child with someone she could trust. So, late that night she took her child in a basket to drop her off with a man she had keeping her eye on.

After placing the basket on the man's front porch, the woman bent down to pick up the baby out of the basket. She cradled the infant in her arms and began to cry, already remorseful for what she was about to do. Although her decision was the right decision, she knew that her daughter would have to grow up potentially without knowing her birth mother.