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A Cinderella Story

A few weeks ago we got an English assignment that was to tell the story of Cinderella from a different point of view. I finished my story, and our English teacher liked it quite much, so i decided to share it. It's a short one-post thing, so it won't continue or anything ^^

A Cinderella Story

This is the story of Cinderella told from another point of view. My point of view. My name is Elsa. I’m a shoe.

I wasn’t always a nice shoe. A long time ago I used to be a filthy rag wrapped around the foot of Cinderella. Hardly a shoe at all. I was a very lonely rag, as the other shoe on Cinderella’s left foot kept changing while I didn’t for whatever reason. Sometimes Cinderella would go weeks with only one shoe, and the shoes that appeared on her left foot could be a bit weird sometimes. Sometimes they didn’t know they were supposed to be ladies shoes. Sometimes they thought they weren’t shoes at all.

During the time of my story Cinderella was wearing another shoe, a sad little rag named Emma. Emma was all right, at least she was sane. But she was very depressed, she was extremely worn out. In the beginning I took pity on her and did my best to comfort her, but after a few days I realized she was just trying to get attention, and so I started to ignore her instead. Time passed and I felt miserable. I was being worn out as well, and Emma was the worst company one could ask for. I felt as miserable as Cinderella did, although no one was stepping on HER all the time.

Cinderella’s stepsisters had very mean shoes, but I can’t for the love of God remember what their names were. They kept yelling mean things at me, but at least I was more confident than Cinderella was, poor girl was taking everything they said to her. At least I yelled stuff back at them, but it’s not as if they cared. Emma was, just like Cinderella, taking everything really harshly. It made her whine even more about her miserable life, and I hated those shoes for bringing such misery down upon me.

So, as you’ve probably noticed, life was very happy back then. It was the same old routine, every day. But that would change, because Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother arrived. Now, I think it had to do with something I heard that day, about a ball and whatnot, but I couldn’t hear properly because the stepsister’s shoes were making too much of a racket. Emma’s crying wasn’t exactly making me hear any better either. The discussion ended when Cinderella ran away, crying. She sat down in a corner and wept so loud even Emma shut up for a moment.

That was when her Fairy Godmother arrived. She seemed like a nice and kind person, but her shoes were horrible. They were so posh; they didn’t even speak to me. Emma was breaking down into sobbing fits. It was absolutely horrible to think that a person with so snobby shoes was supposed to help. Or was she? I hadn’t been concentrating on the conversation going on up above.

But by then the Fairy Godmother had turned around and was walking away small steps. “Come outside,” she said with a smile. Cinderella followed her. Emma was sobbing nervously now. Something was going to happen, we both felt it.
Cinderella stepped out into the cool evening, out on the grass in the garden. The Fairy Godmother was mumbling something that made me shiver, I was sure it was magic. Then she turned to face Cinderella and waved a wand at her. A flash of light erupted from its tip. The magic spread into tendrils, one was speeding towards me. I briefly saw the same thing happen to Emma, who was screaming in terror.

The magic was working its way in between my fibers, and I felt how I was changing. I changed from organic to become glass. My heel stretched out. And then it was done. I looked up. Cinderella’s rag which she called clothes had turned into the most beautiful dress ever. I looked over at Emma. She was now a high-heeled, semi-transparent slipper, and oh my, was she good looking. And I, of course, must be just as good looking as her (After all, what would be the point of creating an uneven set of shoes?).

Cinderella and the Fairy Godmother talked briefly, it sounded as if Cinderella was thanking her with all of her heart. The Fairy Godmother turned around, and before our eyes magic transformed a pumpkin into a carriage and a dozen mice into horses. The Fairy Godmother smiled and opened the door for Cinderella. As she stepped in I got a quick glimpse of the Godmother’s shoes. I threw them a quick “thank you” before I too went into the carriage.

Emma was worse than ever during that trip. She wasn’t crying anymore, but she couldn’t stop going on about how gorgeous she was. She didn’t even seem to have noticed that I too had transformed. When I asked her how she thought I looked she just replied; “You’re pretty”. Then she continued ranting about herself. It was the longest ride of my life.

The carriage jerked to a stop. Cinderella opened the door and stepped out onto the stone pavement. In front of us was a set of huge stone steps that led to a huge castle. Cinderella started running towards it. Tunes of music drifted towards us, and many voices. I could see the light of the place. This was obviously the ball I had heard about earlier. I was excited. There were going to be many fine shoes in there.

Finally we reached the top step. I looked inside. I had never seen so many people before. And better yet, all of them were wearing a pair of shoes. Most of them were leather, but they came in all kinds of shapes, sizes and colors. Cinderella took a few steps down into the ballroom. The crowd gasped. Everyone’s eyes were on her, Emma and me. I could hear the approving mumble of people and shoes alike.

“What a gorgeous pair of high heels,” I heard an old man’s leather shoe whisper. I beamed. I was the star of the show, and so was Emma. We mingled with the other fine shoes and I had a really good time. I heard the nice comments of the ladies shoes and noticed the excited murmuring of the men’s shoes. I was enjoying myself to the fullest, and even achieved a personal victory when I won over some of the shoes talking to Emma. She was still going on about herself, and no one cared about that, so everyone turned to me instead.

And then I saw the most beautiful pair of men’s shoes ever. It was love at first sight, for Cinderella too. She went for the man with the gorgeous shoes, and they seemed extremely happy that she did. The shoes introduced themselves as John and Edward. When John asked me what my name was, I giggled. “Elsa,” I said shyly. “Elsa,” he repeated with such care that would’ve there been any blood in me I would’ve blushed.

And so we danced. Not once did neither John nor Edward step on me, or on Emma for that matter. And we talked and laughed and had a really good time. The evening passed and Cinderella did not dance with anyone else than the prince, as John had told me he was. In the distance I could hear a bell strike twelve. Suddenly Cinderella stepped away from the prince. “Elsa, what…?” I heard John say. But I knew what was going to happen. The magic was going to disappear at twelve. Cinderella ran out of the ballroom, and I was following helplessly along. I was crying.

Cinderella dashed down the stone steps, but she was going to fast. Halfway down the steps I slipped off of her foot. She must’ve noticed, but she was in such a hurry that she had no time to stop and put me back on. So I lay there, alone on the stone steps, weeping.

I wasn’t alone for very long. The prince came right after Cinderella. John was calling my name, worried. “John!” I called him back. John noticed me, and he gave a brief, gentle squeeze of the prince’s foot. The prince bent over to check what had touched his foot, and so he noticed me. He picked me up and turned me around, checking me from all directions. It was as if he noticed my beauty, even though I was a shoe and he a human. Then again I also saw why Cinderella had gone to him in the first place. Then he muttered, silently and under his breath, so I could barely hear him even though I was right in front of his face: “The woman whom this shoe fits shall be my wife.”

So the prince took me into his keeping. I didn’t see very much of John during this time. For whatever reason I didn’t go back to being a rag slipper, but stayed in my magical body. The next day the prince took me with him to a marketplace, where he stood on a wooden box and declared out loud what he had muttered the night before. That the woman whom the shoe fit was going to be his wife.

The next days were absolutely horrid for me. The prince was traveling far and wide with me, and women of all sizes and shapes tried me on. Not one foot fit as well as Cinderella’s did. There were small feet trying desperately to be bigger, big feet trying to squeeze in, wide and long feet wishing they were better proportioned. I was growing sick, literally. All of these differently shaped and sized were gnawing away on my health. I saw so little of John during this time, and it was just as well, I wouldn’t have wanted him to see me in this state. The prince was treating me well; it was not his fault, only no one else was.

One day we finally came to Cinderella’s home. The prince entered with me in hand, and there Cinderella’s evil stepmother and stepsisters stood, waiting for us. The stepsister’s shoes looked worried. If one of the stepsister’s feet fit, they wouldn’t need their old shoes. I was not worried that one of the stepsisters would steal me away, however, as I knew their feet were much too big.

The stepmother beckoned for one of the stepsisters to come into the kitchen. After a while the stepmother reappeared and asked for the prince to hand me to her. I was worried, but the prince still gave me to the stepmother, who took me with her into the kitchen.

I was met by a gruesome sight. On the floor lay a knife and a flesh-colored lump. A puddle of blood completed the scene. When the stepsister put me on, I noticed her big toe was missing. It was lying on the floor. Blood colored my inside. The stepsister limped back into the hall where the prince, his pages and the other stepsister waited for her. She tried to show how I had fit her perfectly, but it didn’t work as I still was semi-transparent, and the red shone through. The prince expressed his disgust and ordered his page to wash me out so that someone else could try me on.

I was taken outside and washed. It felt so good to be scrubbed and cleansed and to get rid of all that icky blood. But I was worried, as I noticed that the other stepsister was taken into the kitchen before I was brought outside.

And right I was, when we came back in the stepmother was waiting. She took me into the kitchen again, to an equally morbid scene as last time. This time it wasn’t a toe on the floor, but a heel. It was even worse, because I wouldn’t have known that it was a heel if I hadn’t noticed the stepsister’s heel was missing. They were so subtle. The stepsister put me on, and followed her sister’s example by limping into the hall. This one was smarter than her sister though, she tried to hide the fact that the back half of me was completely red. But to no use, the prince noticed it anyway. I was removed from the stepsister’s foot.

The prince sighed and was about to leave, but then one of the pages noticed Cinderella sitting in a corner. He suggested she try me on as well, and she came over. I one grace motion she slipped her foot into me, and I fit her like a glove, of course. I felt myself vibrate as magic came to life again, and Cinderella’s rags turned back into the wonderful dress she had worn at the ball. Emma was not forgotten (she had probably been crying herself half-dead) and she too turned into a wonderful glass shoe.

What happened then? The prince married Cinderella, as he had promised, and they lived together forever after. They couldn’t stay away from each other for long, meaning me and Emma saw John and Edward constantly. And at night we were in the same closet. So this is my story. A true Cinderella story.
 
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This is a nice story^^

I like how you told it from the shoe's point of view, something I never thought of.

I like how you described the whole thing and how the stepsisters cheated, and everything.

Maybe you should try some more of these, with different fairy tales? Just a suggestion, I just want to see more of these^^
 
Re: The Birthday Thread

Thanks for your comment ^^ I honestly never thought about making more of these, but it does sound pretty fun. I may try making some more :)
 
A shoe. With a name. And personality.

May I say awesome?

I rather like this short story, as often the perspective in 'twisted fairy tales' are other people, not inanimate objects. I quite like how you made Cinderella more human and less perfect. It seems a lot more realistic.

As for the quick amputation of the toe and heel, I love that you included that scene. In many versions, it is cut.
 
The scene was cut. How ironic xD

I actually didn't know about that scene before we went through the story in class. I still thought it was important as the story was from the shoe's point of view. There's another scene that's also left out very often, which I left out on purpose as well. At Cinderella's wedding, two birds come and pick out the eyes of the stepsisters. I found it very hard to make this scene relevant for a shoe, or in fact for the shoe to notice the entire situation.

If you found this story interesting, you should've seen some of the stories my classmates wrote. Someone did it from the point of view of a bird, someone did a doormat and someone did an iPhone. My friend even did it from the point me view of a parasitic flukeworm. O.o

Still, thanks for your comment! Feedback is a writer's bread after all. :)
 
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