Ugly: A Faerie Tale Retold

Chapter Ten: Claudette

Trigger Warning: Mentions of suicide

The carriage began to jerk and sway. One of the wheels popped off, and Ella screamed. The walls seemed to be closing in on us as the glow of the rosebud carriage began to fade.

"Jump! Jump out, quick!" I grabbed Ella and threw open the door.

She balked for a moment, but as the walls grew closer, she jumped and rolled onto the ground. I followed her, barely landing on my feet.

Ella lay on her back at the side of the road. Heart racing, I ran to her side. "Ella? Are you all right?"

But she was laughing, lying in a mud puddle in the rags of her blue dress, her blonde hair pressed into the wet ground. "I'm all right!" She sat and ran her hands through her hair. "I've never been more all right."

The horseless, driverless carriage hurtled down the path, finally crashing into a tree and fading into a pile of glowing petals. And... a shoe.

"Look!" Ella pointed. "It's my other glass slipper!"

I helped her up, and we examined it.

"How funny! Everything else changed back into what it was before." Ella held it up. It still gave off a gentle blue light.

"But this wasn't anything before. She started from scratch. Remember?" I ran my finger along the smooth heel of the shoe.

"Ohh..." She smiled. "Then that means Charles still has the other one."

Muddy, ragged, and barefoot, we followed the path back home, holding up her shoe like a lantern.

In a daze, we washed up and got ready for bed. Now that the thrill of the ball no longer distracted me, my body sagged under the weight of my exhaustion, and my head and arms throbbed where Mother hit me.

"What time do you think it is?" Ella asked as we crawled into our makeshift beds.

"Late. Too late." I didn't even have the energy to be kept awake by the wonder of it all. I tried to stay awake a little while, to ask myself if it had all really happened, but I got no further than, He could actually see my face, before I fell into the deepest sleep of my life.

I woke the following morning to absolute stillness. No screaming from Mother. No sleeptalk from Ella. Not even any morning birds singing outside. My heart leapt into my throat. Something must be wrong.

Sunlight streamed in through the attic window, but it was brighter and yellower than usual. Like midmorning sunlight, not like sunrise.

I rubbed my eyes. Had I really slept most of the morning away?

Ella still slept as I threw on my clothes, splashed a little water on my face, and trotted downstairs to see why Mother hadn't called for us. As I passed a clock in the hall, its inner workings hummed in preparation to chime nine o' clock.

The downstairs area was deserted. I wandered through the halls and found Mother's door still shut. Only then did I remember the ball. They probably didn't get home until morning. Who knows what happened there after we left? Fear crawled from my stomach to my throat. Maybe the prince found someone else he likes better than me. Maybe he chose a bride already. I kept walking through the halls, my steps quickening.

When I came to Claudette's door, it was open a crack. Unusual—she usually kept it shut. I started to continue past it, but a soft moan stopped me in my tracks. When I leaned closer to listen, I heard quiet sobbing from the other side of the door. Claudette? Could it be?

The sobs stopped. "Who's there?"

I froze, catching my breath.

"I know you're there. The floor always creaks outside the door." She sniffled.