My Coverpage Introduction
"All
right, girls, quiet down."
"Okay,
Daddy! Read us the story about Cinderella," said Ally and Sarah
to their father, Albert.
Albert was very tired that night, and could not get his restless
daughters to bed. So, he decided to put down the traditional
storybook he had picked up and create his own version of "Cinderella"
from an old book that he remembered reading when he was a child.
In order to make the story more interesting, he decided to tell the
story from the point of view of a little bird named Chipper.
"Once
upon a time," began Albert.
Once upon a time? Why
do all these stories start with once upon a time? Forget about
the once upon a time and let me tell you what really happened to
Cinderella. My name is Chipper, and I am one of Cinderella's
dearest friends. I am a songbird who has seen her through some
tough times. The death of her mother was one of the most
difficult times for her. I remember sitting on the windowsill
watching her hold her mother's hand as she said her last
goodbyes. Her tears broke my heart, and we spent many days
together by her mother's grave just enjoying each others'
company. After her mother's death, Cinderella's father decided to
remarry. If you ask me, Cinderella would have been much better
off without any mother at all than with the witch that her father chose
for her. This old hag was absolutely the worst woman I have ever
met, and her two daughters were no treat either. Poor Cinderella
had to do so many chores that I hardly ever got to see her. For
years Cinderella grew up without a place to call home, and when I did
get to see her I got shooed off by her evil stepmother. Boy, did
those shoes she threw at me hurt!
At
this point, Albert got up and demonstrated for the girls exactly how
Chipper escaped the evil stepmother's shoe by frantically flapping his
arms and running around the room. Ally and Sarah just stared at
him in amazement. After several minutes, Albert sat down, out of
breath, and continued his story.
I was flying by the
castle one day when I overheard the prince talking about his upcoming
ball. He was making preparations to take a wife, and he wanted to
meet his future bride at the ball. He was going through the guest
list when I noticed that Cinderella's name was not on it, so I took it
upon myself to snatch up an invitation for her. I flew quickly
into the open window and took the invitation right out of his
hand. Luckily the prince did not have very good aim or else I
would have become somebody's dinner! After I so tactfully avoided
the prince's gunshots, I immediately took the invitation to
Cinderella. She was sitting in her usual spot by the fireplace in
the kitchen. She seemed pleased to see me, and was happy to find
that the invitation was for her. A week went by before her plan
to go to the ball was discovered, and I found Cinderella weeping by her
mother's grave. I asked her what was wrong and she said that her
stepmother had forbidden her to go to the ball. I was
infuriated! I flew away as fast as my little wings would take me
and I called for a meeting of my furry friends. Janet the Bunny
and a few other songbirds met me by the oak tree and we discussed what
we were to do. We decided to help Cinderella get ready for the
ball by helping her make a dress. The dress was golden with a
beautiful sash across the front. We also managed to grab a pair
of glass slippers from the glassblowers shop in the village, which was
another narrow escape for me. Finally, when it was all finished,
we placed the dress and slippers on Cinderella's mother's grave.
When she discovered what we had done for her, she cried tears of
joy. She got dressed immediately and hurried off for the grand
ball. I do not know what happened at the ball, but I think it
went well because Cinderella was singing and dancing for days after the
ball.
The end.
Ally
and Sarah stared at their dad appalled by what they had heard.
Could that be the Cinderella story they had seen on TV?
"Well,
girls, how did you like the story?" asked Albert.
"Daddy,
I don't think that's the right story," said Ally.
"Um,
it's okay, girls. Just go to sleep now," pleaded Albert.
Albert quickly turned out the lights and left the room.
Albert quickly turned out the lights and left the room.
Author's Note: I kept the story in
its original setting, but the narrator of the story is a friend of
Cinderella's. The narrator is a songbird who tells the story of
how Cinderella goes from a commoner to a princess. Most of the
details of the original story are kept in my version of the
story. These details were not considered suitable for children
when the Grimm Brothers were collecting these stories. In our
modern society, however, these details are hardly considered graphic
and most children have seen something like this or something equivilant
to it. I tried to shorten the story quite a bit, but it was very
difficult to do. This story has a lot of details that I
really wanted to keep in the story, so most of the details are short
and do not have a lot of explanation. I am counting on people's
prior knowledge of the story of Cinderella to aid them in their reading
of this version of it. Some of the details that I added are
mostly about the narrator of the story and his perspective on
Cinderella's magical transformation from a despondent housemaid to a
beautiful princess. This version of the story is very different
from the versions we are familiar with today, such as the Disney
version. It contains graphic details that add a new twist to a
very common story.