It was a beautiful fairy tale day. The sun was shining just right. There was the spring crispness in the air. The trees were starting to bear fruits and there were beautiful spring flowers in the colors of a rainbow, spread across everywhere. Since this day was taking place in the magical fairy tale land of ‘Happily Ever After’, you could also see a perfect rainbow arc between two beautiful green mossy mountains. If you looked long enough, you would even see a Unicorn slide across the rainbow.
Sigh! Cinderella looked out at the beautiful sight of this perfect day from her window in the castle’s tower and let out a resigned sigh. Frankly, she was sick of it. It looked the same, every morning, day after day, until eternity! It wasn’t like this when she was living with her step mother and step sisters just outside of Happily Ever After. The days changed, and some days were simply awful, which made her appreciate the perfect days with a joy she just couldn’t describe earlier. And that is how she had felt in the initial years after getting married to Prince Charming and moving into his royal castle in Happily Ever After. Until the last few years. All this magical land crap was starting to get on her nerves. And all this sitting about and sighing was starting to get on her waist and thighs.
Prince Charming somehow was not impacted by the constant eternal beauty of his magical land. He simply enjoyed it day after day, being his usual charming self with everyone. At first, when he had rescued Cinderella from her dreary and hard life with her step mother, Cinderella couldn’t believe her luck! Fairy Godmother had helped her out, made her beautiful in that magical gown and those magical glass slippers, she had fallen in love with Prince Charming and Prince Charming had been besotted by her in return. Oh what a whirlwind courtship period that had been. Come to think of it, they had hardly talked or got to know about each other during those few nights that they had danced. Prince Charming had been really occupied with being besotted with this most beautiful girl in the room, and Cinderella had been alternating between nervous and feeling-lucky most of the time. Until he found her and made the shiny shoe fit. Now Fairy Godmother seemed to have gone into retirement or on a really long vacation since it seemed that all Fairy Godmother wanted to do was to get her married off! At least Stepmother would still come and visit Cinderella, even if it were to complain about the fact that they had no one to cook and clean for them anymore and that they missed Cinderella’s amazing housework skills so badly.
Now, her room had a room full of shoes. For some reason, Prince Charming seemed to continue to be besotted with fitting Cinderella into her shoes. His eyes would turn into a strange shade of dark green every time he replayed that moment of picking a shoe, and sliding it softly into Cinderella’s feet. And then he would stand up, sigh and leave with a content smile. This went on for years. Now what was that all about, Cinderella used to wonder.
She had been quite unceremoniously parted with her animal friends too, the ones who had so bravely transformed themselves into carriages and foot soldiers and what not, to help her get her dream. The mice had been exterminated.
“There can be no rodents in the royal castle”, Prince Charming had declared.
The ducks had been given to the royal chef and he prepared the most delectable roasted duck for the royal feast one night. Cinderella had gagged and turned into a vegetarian after that night, much to everyone’s confusion.
The lizard had been fed to the royal dragon.
The dog remained, but he changed his loyalties to Prince Charming when he realized that Prince Charming had a big stash of bones available for him all the time. So much for true friendship, thought Cinderella.
It had been nearly 5 years of this life and she didn’t know what to do with herself. One didn’t age or die in the magical Happily Ever After land, but she really wanted to die now. Because she thought she was going mad.
Then one day, Cinderella decided to take a horse secretly and be bold enough to defy the rules and venture out of Happily Ever After. She had the best day there and realized she had a talent for running errands and doing chores and that she loved it!
She mended some clothes for an old lady living by herself who wasn’t able to see very well.
She offered to clean up the house for a pregnant mother whose other four children were always creating a mess and she had been out of her mind trying to clean all that up.
She prepared a delicious vegetarian meal for a group of farmers, using their fresh farm produce, which made them so happy to eat after a day of hard work, that they invited her to join them for dinner.
She realized she had spent the entire day like this and was a happy tired in a way that she hadn’t been in a long time. She felt ecstatic! And now she knew what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. She couldn’t wait to go back and tell Prince Charming about her plan.
“YOU DID WHAT? AND YOU WANT TO DO WHAT?”, bellowed Prince Charming, which sounded more like a shrilly squeal to be honest.
“It is not rocket science, not that you would know what rockets or science is for that matter. But I’ve told you already, that I want to spend my days doing social service, or acts of service for the villagers outside Happily Ever After. I want to help them out, clean for them, cook for them, provide them with food or other help if needed, and I would like the kingdom’s help in providing me some more resources and men or women who would be interested in helping as well. It is a simple request. After all, you owe them for taking the efforts to paint your magical rainbow day after day, and to send you the delicious food you eat day after day amongst many other things!”, Cinderella tried to reason.
But Prince Charming had started crying by now.
“I can’t believe my fate came to this! I should have listened to mother and married your sister instead! I knew there was something wrong with you from the start! You tricked me, you conniving little witch!!”, he cried accusingly.
Cinderella took a deep breath. She didn’t seem shocked or surprised by the Prince’s outburst for some reason.
“Alright, now, there there”, she patted the Prince trying to soothe him as one would try to soothe a toddler.
“You guessed right. I am a powerful witch in disguise and I could turn you into a frog right now if I wished”, said Cinderella, looking at her fingers.
The Prince looked alarmed.
“But don’t worry, since you had been so kind to me and bought me so many shoes over the last five years, I’ll let you keep yourself and your shoes, if you give me a 1000 gold coins, your horse and let me leave this place. You will never see me again, unless you wish to, and you can marry my sister with my blessings”, said Cinderella with the business like tone that would have put the best lawyers to shame.
The Prince instantly cheered up, “That’s a great idea! I knew I could defeat witches like you! After all I am Prince Charming!”
Cinderella smiled.
The next day, Cinderella rode out of the palace secretly, with her bounty, into the real sunshine, feeling like a free bird. Somewhere in the background, Lynrd Skynrd’s Free Bird was playing on someone’s guitar. Cinderella couldn’t stop smiling.
The Prince married Cinderella’s step sister.
And they all lived happily ever after.
Until the next 5 years.
THE END.
NB:Readers!! I’d love some feedback! Did this story make you laugh? 😊
@Prachi wrote this one morning dreaming as she always does
Starry Eyed Enigma 