Week 14 Story: Not Another Cinderella Story


Updated story!


Dear Diary,

It all started when my dad met her. We were doing just fine on our own. Sure, we missed mom, but we had each other. He was all I needed, but I guess I wasn't enough for him. Heather, my step-mother (but I like to call her my step-monster) came with suitcase upon suitcase of useless crap, as well as two daughters just as awful as herself. Gabriella and Amanda would kiss a literal frog before ever showing me an ounce of mutual respect, even though I've been nothing but pleasant (okay, maybe neutral) towards them. The three-headed monster has been around for ten years now, and it only got meaner after dad died. I'm still mad at him for driving after drinking when he knows a drunk driver is what killed mom. And I'm even more mad that he didn't leave a will and now I'm stuck with Heather and her disciples treating me like a maid. 

"Ella, do the dishes!"

"Ella, clean out the gutters!"

"Ella, condition my wigs!"

"Ella do my homework!"

They treat me like dirt and I'm sick of it. Today Heather told us that she's sending me to Saint Ursula- a Catholic boarding school. I know that I should be upset that she's just trying to get rid of me, but I actually can't wait to get away from here and finally have some freedom. I start next week and need a whole new wardrobe of uniforms. I have to make them, of course, but it should be pretty easy. Gabriella and Amanda are much taller than I am, and a little thicker (because Heather consistently gives me exactly half of whatever all of them eat), and they both have a couple of old uniforms from when they went to boarding school in elementary school. Heather has really never been the doting mother type, obviously. I should be able to scrape some pretty decent outfits together from their hand-me-downs. I can't wait to get out of here and start over! I swear it feels like the fairy godmother dad always told me I had watching over me is finally doing her job. 

Well Heather is screaming at me to do dishes again (god forbid she or her daughters ever touch a dirty plate) so I'll write later.

-Ella


Cinderella by Elena Ringo

Author's Note: For this storytelling, I retold the story of Cinderella, or Aschenputtel, in a more modern way. I based it off of the Brothers Grimm story Aschenputtel, translated by Lucy Crane. I chose to have the wicked step-mother send the Cinderella character away to boarding school as a way to free her, even thought the step-mother thinks that she is keeping tight control.



Comments

  1. RachelDecember 7, 2020 at 12:33 AM

    Hey Natalie! I loved this modernization of the original fairytale. I must admit that it reminded me so much of A Cinderella Story (the one with Hillary Duff in it) that I honestly thought that's what you were going for at first to be honest! I also really enjoyed the addition of the diary. I too chose to implement that into this week's story and it is such a fun touch. Overall, you did a great job!

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