The True Story of Cinderella

As told by Lady Tremaine

 

 

    Who would have thought that marrying the man of my dreams would have cost me so much? Everyone has heard all of the stories, I am wicked, I am evil. It still amazes me to this day!  Do you want to know the truth? Well, hold onto your hats, because you are not gonna believe it!

 

    The story starts out simple enough, I met Cindy’s dad, and immediately fell head over heels in love with him. We dated for a while. He met my girls, Anastasia and Drizella, and I met his daughter, Cinderella. We all seemed to get along famously. Cindy’s dad proposed to me. We had a lavish wedding, and following the reception, my girls and I moved into their place. We became comfortable in our daily routines, the three girls sharing their chores, with a little spat here and there like any other normal sibling rivalry.

 

    Then, one day, the police show up at our door to inform us of a grave accident that took the life of my one and only true love, Cindy’s dad. Well, naturally, we were all devastated by this horrible loss. All three girls and I found ourselves just going through the motions of daily life. I will admit, I was in a total fog.

 

    About two months after this loss, I began noticing that Cindy was talking to the animals around our house. She would talk to the birds, and the cats, and the dogs, even the mice! Of course, this behavior concerned me, and I tried very hard to get Cindy to go talk to someone about the loss of her father, but she would not hear of it.

 

    The talking to animals became more exaggerated to the point that she would actually pause for responses as if they were answering her. I asked her about this, and she just looked at me asking, “Can’t you hear them?” It was becoming very obvious to us that Cindy was in a bad place, but she would not listen to reason about seeking counseling.

 

    Cindy began hanging out with the wrong people. She was drinking and doing drugs. I really think that the alcohol and drugs were causing her to hallucinate, but I saw a glimmer of hope for her the day the invitation to the Royal Ball came. She was home the day the invitation arrived in the mail, and she actually showed interest in going, so I took her to Zinni’s of Philadelphia in Springfield to look at ball gowns. She picked one out that was absolutely stunning on her. This gave me the feeling that we were finally headed in the right direction.

 

    The night of the ball, it all went to hell in a handbasket. Cindy showed up under the influence, telling elaborate stories. When people complimented her on her dress, she made up a story about how I would not buy her one so her Fairy Godmother magically pulled one out of thin air for her. She then began telling anyone who would listen that she rode in a pumpkin to the ball and that the driver was actually a mouse! By the time I realized what was going on, she had caused such a commotion that people had gathered around her. One was the prince himself. He was so enthralled with her story telling capabilities that he asked her to dance so he could hear more. Around midnight, I noticed Cindy trotting happily down the front steps and off into the night. She stumbled briefly, but got right back up with just a little limp.

 

    Well, the next morning, Children and Youth Services show up at my door. They began asking me all sorts of questions about Cindy. It seems that someone at the ball had reported me for neglect. Can you believe it? After all I had to put up with from this girl, they were accusing me of neglect?

 

    As I stood in the foyer defending myself, Cindy stumbled in through the front door. Behind her was a man I had never seen before. He asked her if she had lost a shoe, to which she responded that she had not. He then asked if there were any other young women in the house that had been at the ball.  I told him that Anastasia and Drizella had been there, and he asked to see them. I called for the girls, and they came giggling into the room, stopping short when they saw all of the people that had converged upon our home. The gentleman showed them a shoe he had with him and asked if they knew who it belonged to. The girls immediately pointed to Cindy. They assumed with all of her antics that she was in some sort of trouble, so they were very quick to respond honestly in order to stay out of whatever havoc Cindy had wreaked this time.

 

    I happened to look out the front window at this point and noticed several news vans parked across the street with reporters setting up their cameras. I was so confused; I had no idea what was happening. Then, all of a sudden, Prince Charming was walking up our front steps. The news people went crazy! He came into the foyer with all of them clamoring to get his attention. The gentleman looking for the owner of the shoe whispered into his ear, and the prince approached Cindy. He looked her straight in the eye and told her he was very smitten with her. He acknowledged that she had some issues with addiction and offered to put her into rehab if she was willing to try. She began sobbing and agreed. The prince promised her a life of happiness and wedded bliss if she completed her program.

 

    Well, when Cindy was discharged from the clinic, the prince made good on his offer and married her. Imagine my surprise when I read about it in the newspaper along with a story about how he had saved her from a life of abuse and torture in our home. They made it seem as if the reason Cindy made such horrible choices was because she was being abused in my house by my daughters and me. She even blamed us for her psychosis and conversing with the animals. The palace felt that this explanation would make the public sympathetic to Cindy’s addiction issues. I now am scorned by all of my friends and extended family, and Cindy? She is living a pampered life in the royal palace while I try to find a new home to move to with my girls, one where the people have not heard of us.

 

And that is the true story of Cinderella!

The End.