Once Upon A Time ~ Book 1

Chapter 22 - The Fairy Godmother

Three women dressed in colourful, fancy ball cloths walked from the beautiful, evey cover house, through the bright garden towards a carraige.
They stepped in one by one.
Near by, in the yard a beautiful maid, with blond hair and a kind face, wearing filthy rags sweaped the dust from the cobbled courtyard. She looked up as the the horses pulled the carraige along the road, while the women laughed and giggled.
She then turned to look up, beyond the garden to where a huge, magnificent castle stood in the hill. Fireworks blasted from the castle, celebration was at hand.
"Do not despair, my dear. You will attend that ball." said a voice from behind her. She turned to see a beautiful fairy fly towards her.
"Who are you?" asked the maid.
Suddenly the fairy became life size. She wore a golden dress, she had dark skin and black hair with matching eyes. "I'm your fairy godmother and I'm here to change your life, Cinderella."
"But my stepmother told me that I couldn't go. She forbade me to leave."
"Your stepmother doesn't have this." she held up on wand. "This wand has the power to take you to your ball, to your Prince, and to a life........."
Suddenly the fairy disappeared in a explosion of golden dust. Cinderella stumbled backwards "What?" she panicked. The wand that the fairy held fell onto the cobbled yard.
A man appeared in the yard, in the place where the fairy had stood. He had brown, uncut hair, his eyes were bulging and he smiled, showing his dirty yellow teeth. He bend down and picked up the wand.
"What did you do?" said Cinderella.
"Now, now, I got what I wanted." he held up the wand. "There's no need to be frightened."
"No need?" she said. "You just killed my fairy godmother. She was trying to help me."
"Was she?" he had a high pitched voice. "Do you know what this is?" he chanted waving the wand in his hand.
Cinderella chuckled. "Pure magic."
"Pure evil." he corrected. "Trust me. I've done you a favour. All magic comes with a price. Go on back to your life, and thank your lucky stars you still got something to go back to."
"My life is wretched." she shook her head.
"Then change it. You can't handle this." he held up the wand. He turned and began to walk away.
"Wait, please wait." she ran in front of him. "I can handle it. Please, I will do anything to get out of here, anything."
"Anything?"
"Do you know how to use that wand, Mr......."
"Rumpelstiltskin." he took a bow. "And yes of course I do."
"Then help me."
"he stood up. "Well, if I do, and you can indeed shoulder the...... consequences, then you'll owe me a favour."
"Name it. What do you want?"
He leaned close to her. "Something precious."
"I have nothing."
"Oh, but you will. With this wish will come riches more than you know."
"I care nothing for riches. I'll give you anything you want just get me out of here."
"Now we're talking."
"How does it work?"
"Fear not. My needs are small. And all you have to do is sign on the dotted line." A scroll appeared in his hand and he let it unroll. It was a long sheet of parchment, with writing along it. "Do we have a deal?"
"Yes." she took the quill in Rumpelstiltskin's other hand. "Yes, thank you."
He swung the scroll over his head and bent down, allowing the parchment to lay on hi s back.
Cinderella went to the bottom of the parchment and scribbled her name down next to the signature.
He then brought the scroll in front of him and looked at her signature.
Cinderella smiled happily.
Then so did Rumpelstiltskin, he gave the wand a wave. Cinderella was surrounded by a dark pink swirl of smoke and once it faded away, her filthy rags were gone and she wore a beautiful blue gown and her hair was pined up.
She smiled broadly at Rumpelstiltskin and he chuckled evily.
Cinderella looked down to see a pair of glass slippers on the pavement next to her. "Glass?" she said confused.
"Every story needs a memorable detail. Let's see how they fit, shall we?"
She stepped into the glass slippers.
"Now, you have a good time. But be sure to watch the clock."
She smiled happily.

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The bell of the clock tower rang, as the hand stricked eight o'clock.
Emma and Henry walked past the clock tower.
"You sure we can be out in the open?" asked Henry.
"Enough sneaking around. If your mom has a problem with ne walking you to a school bus, I am more than happy to have that chat." Emma replyed.
"You're brave. We'll need that for operation cobra. Speaking of, do you think we need code names?"
Emma looked at him. "Isn't 'Cobra' our code name?"
"Thays the mission. I mean us. I need something to call you."
Emma hesitated. "Oh......you could just call me Emma for now."
"Okay. Well, then, I'll see you later, Emma." he stopped then turned and chewed by the bus.
Emma watched him go, then the school bus left.
Emma began to walk away, but before she crossed the road the sherif drove past, with his siren. He stopped in front of Emma and got out.
"What's with the siren?" she asked.
"It's so hard to get your attention." said Graham.
"Well, you got it. Are you arresting me again?"
He shook his head and stood in front if her. "I'm thanking you. For your help finding that coma pacient. We all owe you a debt of gratitude."
"Well, what do I get? A commendation? A key to the city?"
"How about a job? I could use a deputy."
"Thank you, but I have a job."
"As a bail bondsperson? There's not much of that going on here." he said looking around.
"I don't see a lot of sherifing going on around here either."
"Well, here's your chance to see it up close. There's dental."
Emma chuckled.
"Why don't you think about it?" he handed her a card. "And stay awhile."
Emma took the card and looked at him, and he did the same.

Emma sat in Granny's Diner, reading the Storybrook paper. The waitress walked over to her and placed a mug of hot cocoa on the table in front of her.
"Thank you." said Emma and the waitress walked away.
Emma took a bit of the cream from the mug and licked it off her finger.
"How was your walk with Henry?" asked Regina, smiling, who had walked in and over to Emma.
Emma looked up at her, and she sat down opposite her.
"That's right, I know everything." Regina went on. "But relax I don't mind."
"You don't?"
"No." she continued smiling. "Because you no longer worry me, Miss. Swan. You see, I did a little digging into who you are, and what I found out was quite soothing. It all comes down to the number seven."
Her smile wad beginning to fade away now.
"Seven?"
"It's the number of addresses you've had in the last decade. Your longest stint anywhere was two years. Really, what did you enjoy so much about Tallahassee?"
"If you're wondering, I did find a place here in town."
"I know with Miss. Blanchard. How long is your lease? Wait you don't have one. You see my point?"
Emma looked at her inquringly.
"In order for something to grow, Miss. Swan, it needs roots." she explained. "And you don't have any. People don't change. They only fool themselves into believing they can."
"You don't know me."
"No, I think I do. All I ask is as you carry on your transient life, you think of Henry and what's best for him. Perhaps consider a clean break. It's going to happen anyway."
Emma raised her eyebrows.
"Enjoy your cocoa." she stood up and walked out the door.
Emma thought for a moment and stood up spilling her hot cocoa on herself as she did so. "Oh..... Really?" she said.
The waitress ran over and handed her a towel. "Esh....." she said.
"Do you have a laundry room I can use?" Emma asked her.
"Aha." said smiled.

Emma walked into the laundry room, briskly. She threw her coat on the table, and opened a washing-mashine, she pulled off her t-shirt and threw it in, slamming it shut. She was tense. She ripped a shirt from the washing line above her and put it on.
A girl in the room, next to another washing-mashine, panicking. "No, no, no, no, no." she took a sheet from it and looked at it.
"You okay?" Emma asked.
"The sheets, they're pink."
"Have you tried bleach?"
She placed the sheets on top of the washing-mashine.
"Oh." said Emma, when she saw the huge stomach.
"Last night, I felt contractions and the doctor said that the baby could come any day now." she felt her stomach.
"So, that's great."
"It's just that when the baby comes, no one thinks that I can do this."
Emma sighed.
Her voice cracked. "No one thinks I can do anything. Maybe they're right."
"Screw them."
"What." she said folding the sheets.
"Screw them. How old are you?"
"Nineteen."
"I was eighteen."
"When you had a kid?"
"Yeah. I know what it's like. Everyone loves to tell you what you can and can't do, especially with a kid. But ultimately, whatever you're considering doing, or giving up, the choice is yours."
"It's not exactly what you might think it is." she put the sheets down.
"It never is. People are gonna tell you who you are your whole life. You just gotta punch back and say, 'No, this is who I am.' You want people to look at you differently? Make them. You want touching things? You're gonna have to go out there and change them yourself because there are no fairy godmothers in this world."

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The girl in the laundry room (Ashley Boyd) ~ Cinderella