Once upon a time, there lived a rich merchant and his daughter Ella. His wife died when Ella was just 2 years old, but Ella grew to be as beautiful as her mother, and he loved her dearly.
One day, the merchant came home from one of his business trips along with a noble woman and her 2 daughters. Apparently they've met during his business trip and somehow gotten married soon after that. Ella, being the kind-hearted girl like her late mother, welcomed her new stepmother with open arms and tried to be friends with her 2 new stepsisters, but they were cold and distant to her, for they knew the merchant favored Ella more than them and did not like the attention she was getting.
Sadly, shortly after the stepmother and her daughters came into their lives, the merchant was suddenly struck by a serious illness and died a month later. Poor Ella's life was turned upside down as the stepmother seized control of the family fortune and stripped Ella of everything she owned. She was made into a servant girl and forced to join the hired help in doing all the chores in the big mansion they stayed. Sometimes Ella would be so tired from her day's work that she would be found sleeping against the fireplace, covered in cinders, so her stepsisters cruelly nicknamed her 'Cinder-Ella'.
One day, a joyous air flew about the household as they received an invitation from the royal castle. It turns out that the Prince was of age and the Royal Couple had decided to hold a grand ball for a week in order to find suitors for their young Prince. The stepmother wasted no time in telling Cinderella to help her stepsisters prepare for the ball. Cinderella tried her luck in asking permission to go to the ball, but the stepmother scoffed at her.
"You? Why would the Prince be interested in a plain girl like you when your sisters are far more beautiful?"
"Please, stepmother. I will not be a bother. I just want to go to the ball to have a little fun. I deserve the break, and after all, I am family."
"Well, if you are able to find yourself a dress fit to be worn for the ball and finish all your chores, I suppose you could. But until then, run along with you. You have a busy day ahead."
Taking her stepmother's word for it, Cinderella quickly and eagerly went about her day helping her stepsisters to get ready for the ball. In truth, she already had a dress in mind to wear for the ball, which was the beautiful midnight diamond ballroom dress that her late mother wore when her parents first met. She finished her chores in record time and soon got herself washed and cleaned thoroughly, and once she put on her mother's dress and showed up in time to join her family to leave for the ball, she was more beautiful than her 2 stepsisters combined.
Her stepmother and stepsisters were, of course, not thrilled when they saw her in that dress and the thought of her out-shining them drove them into a jealous rage. The stepmother accused her of theft and the stepsisters were only to eager to destroy the dress with their bare hands. By the time they were done, Cinderella's dress was in rags and she was no longer fit to join them for the ball.
Cinderella's heart broke as she watched tearfully at the carriage taking the stepmother and stepsisters towards the royal castle. All she wanted was to have a good time, just this once, and yet she was not even allowed that. As she ran to her usual resting spot at the fireplace and cried her eyes out, a sudden shimmer of light illuminated the room and a lady in white stood before her.
"Who are you?" Cinderella asked, still sobbing.
"Do not fear, little lamb," the lady in white replied. "I am your fairy godmother. I have watched over you since you were a baby, and now I am here to help you. What is it you wish for?"
Cinderella opened her mouth to speak, but somehow her heart told her that was not what she truly wish. The lady in white smiled at her knowingly.
"Ah, I see. A day to yourself is probably not good enough for you, is it not?"
Cinderella nodded, knowing that a night at the ball would not be enough to satisfy her. She needed her stepmother and stepsisters to pay for what they did to her mother's dress, and for what they have done to her all these years.
"Then, my little lamb, fetch me the best pumpkin you have in your kitchen, and get me the biggest rat and lizard you caught in your trap. Oh, and fetch me the rags you used today to clean your stepsisters' best ballroom shoes with."
Cinderella obeyed, going off to get the things her fairy godmother needed. The lady in white instructed her to put all the things in a row, in which she did, and chanted a few spells over them.
"It is done," the lady in white said as she returned the things to Cinderella. "Starting tomorrow, you must feed your stepsisters the rat and the lizard in portions, and let your stepmother drink the pumpkin juice, but do not let them know what they are having, and you must cook it with your own hands."
Cinderella nodded. That was an easy task; she made their meals everyday.
"And every evening before they leave for the ball, you must shine their shoes with those rags until they glimmer like glass. Things may happen that might not seem like it is to your favor, but it will all be right in the end."
"I do not understand, Fairy Godmother. What things?"
"You will. All you have to do is hold your tongue and bear with it till the end. Trust me, you will get what you deserve."
With that the lady in white disappeared before Cinderella could ask more, leaving her wondering whether or not she could really trust her.
Nevertheless Cinderella did as she was told. Everyday, for lunch, she would mix a bit of the meat of the rat and the lizard the lady in white charmed into the stepsisters' food, and would make pumpkin juice for her stepmother to drink. She also made sure that she would use the charmed rags she kept in her pocket to shine her stepsister' shoes till they shone like glass. They did not suspect a thing as they were too pre-occupied with the charming Prince to care about her and continued attending the week-long ball.
All the while Cinderella took in anything that was thrown at her and watching longingly at the royal castle for the day she would set foot within it, and would wonder about what her Fairy Godmother had told her.
Finally, after the ball ended, it was time for the Prince to choose his bride. Somehow, during the last day of the ball, one of the stepsisters have left behind one of her shoes at the throne room, and the Prince, who was somehow smitten with at least one of them but could not remember the name or face, have decided to marry whoever would fit that shoe.
Many women had been sought after to try on the shoe, but apparently the stepsisters have exceptionally big feet, and no one was able to fit it. When the Prince finally came to their residence, the eldest sister was the one who fit the shoe and was ceremoniously proposed to and carted off to the royal castle with the Prince.
Cinderella, who watched everything unfold, realized this was what the lady in white was talking about, but remembered her words and held her tongue, allowing everything to happen at its pace. She was promptly forgotten like the rest of the hired help and was left to her devices to sort out her family mansion, as her stepmother and stepsisters went forth to sought the riches of the castle. She took comfort in the fact that finally she was able to actually live in her own home again.
Later that night, at 12 midnight, Cinderella was suddenly awakened by a strong urge to go out for a ride. Donning her best riding outfit once owned by her mother, she got on her horse and rode on into the night, somehow following the trail of the royal carriage her stepmother and stepsisters rode with the Prince. The trail led her towards a steep hill and a shocking sight beheld her.
Apparently the carriage never made it to the castle. The horsemen were either dead or mortally injured. The escorts, foots men and the Prince's personal butler were torn to shreds. When she inspected the carriage, she saw her stepmother inside, her body stretched and twisted like the vines of a pumpkin and melded into the walls of the carriage, leaves sprouting out of every crevice of her pumpkin-colored skin and her face twisted into a frozen scream of horror. Next to the mangled up carriage was the Prince, severely injured and barely alive, and a few yards away from him were her stepsisters, or what used to be them, as she recognized the torn remains of the dresses they wore.
Her stepsisters looked wretched--the elder had turned into a giant rat, drooling and slobbering everywhere and was on all fours, barely even able to make a human sound save a long list of grunts and growls; the younger had turned into a huge lizard, crawling on her belly and making a mess of herself, making loud, grotesque hissing and spitting sounds. They were covered with injuries that seemed to have been inflicted on each other and their eyes were gouged out. It seemed that what happened to them had driven them insane and destroyed everything in their paths before turning on each other, losing their humanity in the process.
Cinderella, with her hired help, brought the Prince home and nursed him to health, sending word for the castle to inform them of his safety. As the Prince got better, so did his love for Cinderella grew, and when he asked for her hand in marriage, Cinderella was only too happy to accept.
Cinderella had finally received her dues, and her evil stepsisters, becoming the monstrous incarnation of themselves, were never heard from again.
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