Stuck in a Fairytale

Chapter Three | Snow White and Bedhead

"Sadie?" I shriek. "You're here too?"

The beautiful girl at the door is none other than my bestie, and, she looks so nice. She's wearing a flowy white dress, also vintage styled, that reaches her bare feet. The corset is extremely tight, and the dress part is light and flowy. Her aubern hair falls down in sleek waves, and on top of her head, she wears a lovely white flower crown. I guess I've just met Snow White, my 'so-called sister' in these crazy fairytales.

Sadie looks less surprised than I, but she looks surprised in a gleeful way and is grinning from ear to ear like an idiot.
"I miss you so much, Sadie! Jim and I have been looking for you for ages! How long have you been here? Did you fall down the hole too? How did you get here? Have you seen the fashion out here?" I ramble on and on, having a billion and one questions I wanted to ask my best friend.

"Okay, okay!" Sadie laughs. "Don't get ahead of yourself, now!"
Sadie opens the door and we walk into the cosy living room (of course remembering to shut the door tightly just like the clue's footnote instructed).

We laugh with each other and hug for a few more minutes, and for a while it feels as if everything's normal. I pull away from the comforting hug and look at Sadie in a serious way.

"Sadie?"
"Yeah, Callie?"
"What's happening? I mean, we're literally stuck in a fairytale and I see no way we can wver get out of it. Is there another clue? Something to get us out of here, or at least help us to find someone who can help us? I mean, it's amazing down here, but I miss real life, and I still ned to meet Jim for cookies at three!" I complain, putting my head in my hands and groaning softly.

"Don't worry, Cals. We'll find a way to get out of here, but in the meantime..." I look up. "In the meantime what?" I ask.
Sadie scrutinizes me carefully, her green eyes boring into my soul. She nods in approval at my dress, but when she takes the sight of my hair in, she grimaces, a pained expression on her clear face.
"Um..." she muses. "You hair...did you just get up?" She covers her rosy lips with a slender hand and stifles her laughter. You have to know, that when Sadie laughs, or tries to, anyway, it makes pigs sound like a Catholic choir. Her snorting is horrific.

I run to the nearest mirror and take in what I see. My hair is sticking up all over the place and my rose flower crown is officially dead. I gasp.
"Sadie!" I shriek. "Help!"
Sadie grins and lets out a little snort.

I roll my eyes.

Rose Red?

More like Bedhead.

***
Sadie is brushing my hair out and braiding a few stubborn strands while I make a new rose flower crown. We've talked about our situation the whole time, and she told me that she was the one who met the White Rabbit before I fell down here, and she gave him the envelope with the clues on it, so we shouldn't be expecting another one.

Sadly.

I thanked Sadie graciously for that kindly gesture.

"Callie, doesn't it seem strange to you that we're here in the first place? I mean, it's definitely not a dream, because we're both here, and both aware of our situation, and we can feel pain..." Sadie tugs on a piece of hair and I squeal.
"Yerp," I mumble. "We can definitely feel pain."
"So, what are we going to do about this, then?" Sadie persists. "Surely someone can help us?"
"I don't know, Sadie. Maybe we should just sleep on it?" I sigh, utterly exhausted from this chaotic day.
"Yeah," she replies.

All's calm, peaceful and well.

That is, until the cuckoo clock in the cottage strikes midnight.

***

"Cinderella! Cinderella, get up!" I hear a screeching sound ring in my poor ears. Since when did we have a parrot? I yawn and stretch out my legs in front of me. Why do I feel so stiff? I look down at the creaky, hard bed and around at the musty, dusty old attic-styled room. Or maybe it was a genuine attic. It smells like it. This uncomfortable place is probably what's making my joints ache like an old, cranky woman's.

And speaking of cranky women...

"Cinderella!" the squawking voice says, or screams, again. "Bring me my tea this instant!"

Then the memories come flooding back to me, resulting in a thumping migraine.
Right. I'm stuck in a lousy fairytale. And it seems like my next stop is Cinderella.

But, there's a happy ending, you know?

What could go wrong?

Answer: A lot.