Once Upon a Nightmare

Title

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful orphaned girl named Cinderella. She had golden blonde hair which was tied up in a tight little bun at the nape of her neck. Her eyes were the color of the sky on a cloudless summer day. She lived in a lovely home, complete with ornate rugs, and small trinkets littering shelves, with her step-family.

Cinderella's father had died from the curse of a dark fairy when she was very young, yet she could still envision his light brown hair, and honey colored skin, slowly decaying into a dull green as the curse took effect. The people of the kingdom, at that point, had drug him out into the woods and shot him before he could pass the curse on.

Her step-mother was a vain woman, stopping to look at herself in the various mirrors placed strategically around the house. Her lipstick was always too red, and her eyebrows were thin and sharp. Although she may have been very beautiful once, it had been lost to age. She never admitted this openly, but the bitterness grabbed hold of her heart, turning her into a cruel and evil woman.

Cinderella also had two twin step sisters, who inherited all of the negitive traits of their mother. The girls strutted around like peacocks, yet had the looks of turkeys ready to go to the slaughter house. Cinderella had sighted, many a time, a disgusted look pasted on a man's face as the two sisters walked by.

While her step-mother and step-sisters went to grand parties in gorgeous gowns nearly every night, often not arriving back home until the early hours of the next day, Cinderella was forced to stay at home. She dressed in rags which were so thin and worn they barely benefited her at all. She cooked, she mopped, she dusted, she swept, she ironed, she hemmed. Cinderella did the work of 20 servants each and every day, to the point of exhaustion. She would collapse in her small room, tucked away in the attic, whenever she had a glimpse of a spare moment, to sleep.

One night, there was a sharp knock on the doors, and Cinderella was sent to greet whomever was there. To her surprise, as she opened the door, there was a man dressed in royal clothing, with his short arm outstretched, presenting several letters. Cinderella gingerly took the three envelopes, which were encrusted with scarlet red seals, and dismissed the man with a quick curtsy.

She ran hastily up the stairs, interrupting her step-mother's embroidery to present to her two of the three letters. Cinderella kept the third pressed to her chest. Cinderella's step mother looked up with beady, sharp eyes and demanded the third letter. Cinderella began to protest, but was silenced with a quick slap across her face. Her step-mother began reading the invitation to the step-sisters, who had entered the room, hearing all the commotion.

"All of the maidens in the kingdom have been invited to the Royal Ball on December the First, where Prince Charles will choose a wife. All ladies must attend."

The two stepsisters squealed with delight, jumping around the room in joy at the thought one of them may be chosen as princess on the following eve.

A quiet voice asked, "May I attend? It says all the ladies who live in the land must." Cinderella's step-mother looked upon her in disgust, much like how one would look at a filthy animal.

"You have nothing to wear," her step-mother retorted, finding an excuse for Cinderella to stay home and tend the house, "But if you can find something, then I suppose I will consider it." Her step-mother sneered, and walked out of the room with quick hurried taps from her shoes. The step-sisters hustled after her, talking loudly about gowns and adornments.

When Cinderella was positive they had gone downstairs to compare dresses, she let a small smile escape her lips at the prospect of attending the prince's ball. She ran up the creaking staircase to the attic and into her room. She locked the door, and fell on her bed, laughing into her thin pillow. She laid there for a few moments, smiling, and glancing around at the dust illuminated by the mid-day sun. The light settled over her, and Cinderella felt her eyes get heavy with sleep.