The Cinder Girl's Slippers
I had the most magical of beginnings.
My sister and I were summoned into a strange and hard world. We are twins of clandestine creation. We have the same gracefully sloping curves and clear complexion. Despite our delicate appearance, our strength shall always support those in need of our assistance.
Who are we, this enchanted pair who shan’t be separated?
We are the glass slippers.
Our master gave us in full generosity to a lady of great heart and sooty feet. My sister and I were elated to serve this lady, and we sparkled for her to rival the stars.
She peered closely at our glimmering surface. “But they are made of glass!”
“Tsk, tsk, darling, do be polite, they can hear you.”
“How can they hear me?” our lady questioned most cautiously.
The Fairy Godmother sighed. “Of all my gifts, these slippers are of the strongest enchantment. I have saved them for a very long time. They belong to you and only you.”
“Oh, thank you! They are ever so wonderful.”
My sister and I gleamed with repressed pride. Velvety fabric swished past us as the lady rushed forward and embraced the feisty fairy.
The Fairy Godmother cleared her throat. “Now, you should be off. You mustn’t be late.”
“Of course, Fairy Godmother.”
We clicked gracefully along the path to a magically crafted carriage. The gown whispered as our new master led us into the coach.
“Now, my dear, you are ready for the ball,” the Fairy Godmother smoothed the gown with her ageless hand. “Do remember, darling, to be back before midnight lest the enchantment be broken and your stepmother discover you.”
“I will.”
“Enjoy yourself, my dear.”
The horses were urged forward, and we began our journey to the palace.
No one could rival the elegant lady in her sweeping gown and softly arranged locks. Her eyes were wide with wonder, her lips never failing to part in a genuine smile. When she lifted her gown to curtsy, the sight of my sister and I caused awed gasps from many of the noble born. My sister and I found our cinder maiden twirling in the arms of the prince himself!
We flitted away from the joyous crowd and stood on a balcony overlooking the Royal gardens. Our sweet master laughed and spoke with the prince as if they had been close friends for many years.
Until suddenly, my sister and I felt the thick magic around us begin to fade.
We had no fear of disappearing into the dark mists of nothing, but we couldn’t allow her discovery!
Our enchantment is indeed powerful, as the fairy said. My sister and I used our combined strength to turn our maiden’s body toward the door.
“Where are you going?” the prince asked.
We hurried our master through the halls, away from the prince and his ball.
“Wait!” he cried, but on we went. Our maiden ran with us now, for she had spotted the clock and dread had settled upon her delicate features.
We burst from the palace with speed no grown prince could catch. There was the carriage, glistening under the torchlight, at the bottom of the palace stairs.
We clicked down the stone steps, desperately attempting to maintain balance.
We had just reached the last few steps when I stumbled over a chip in the stone. I almost threw my master down the stairs, but I corrected her balance at the price of letting go.
Her foot slipped from my grasp, and I was shocked by paralyzing loneliness.
Our cinder girl was in the carriage and away.
“Stop in the name of the King!” a guard cried.
Soldiers rushed past, and one man stopped to gaze at me. He gestured wildly.
“Your Majesty, over here!”
A man in the distance sprinted toward us. He knelt and lifted me from the cold stone step. It was the prince.
“How did she ever move so quickly?” the prince exclaimed.
I could not even glimmer with the excitement of knowing the answer to his question. I was ever so alone.
They brought me back into the palace and placed me on a soft velvet cushion. I was aghast. They would be slipping me on feet of women to whom I did not belong!
No doubt many maidens had feet similar in size to my lady. But I would allow none of them into my grasp.
It would take all the magic I had left, for I no longer had the strength of my sister or the power from my master.
I would rather shatter than be the servant of any other but my cinder maiden.
Over the weeks that followed, I suffered through hundreds of magic-sapping fittings. I began to splinter and crack. My power dwindled, but I held on steadfastly.
Until the day we passed by my master’s home.
I sensed her presence close by, and I twinkled for the first time in many weeks.
The prince’s eye caught the glint.
“Halt!”
I was placed gently upon the feet of two more unworthy maidens. I barely kept myself from shattering completely.
But where was my cinder girl?
The prince turned his sorrowful gaze toward me, as if I had failed him.
Then I heard her voice.
“Stepmother? Who is here?”
The stern woman turned, her face white with anger. “Cinderella!”
I sparkled. The prince gazed at me in amazement.
My cinder girl entered, graceful and elegant in her rags.
She saw me and gasped.
I no longer sparkled like that fateful night. I was broken and unworthy of serving beside my sister.
The prince lifted me gently, taking my master’s foot and slipping me back home.
Power surged through me once more, and my wounded cracks sparkled as I was healed.
“It is you,” the prince whispered.
My cinder girl slipped something from behind her back and placed it on the other foot.
“It is I,” she replied.
My sister and I sparkled in joyous reunion.
We had served our master well.