Bad Prince Charming

5 - Fairy(?) Godmother!

Amora collapsed onto the kitchen floor with a hard thud rattling her bones. She struggled to lift herself up and braced herself for sudden impact...but stepmother didn't strike her this time.

Gradually Amora opened her eyes to find stepmother shadowing above her, now with a box of salt in her hand. Without a word of explanation she poured out a large pile of granules never once looking away to take in every ounce of Amora's horror.

Amora tugged at the hem of the bitter woman's purple gown, forehead pressed beseechingly against the floor. "Please, Stepmother! I swear on my mother and father's grave I would never steal from you or your daughters...please believe me."

She began to weep, her tears blurred her vision of the cold marble floor.

"Oh, I believe you."

Relief did not find its way into Amora's heart when she heard this. Sickness did. A sick realization that all of this was meant to happen. That no matter what she did to appeal to stepmother's rules and play within the boundaries of her games...

...Amora would always lose.

"Now kneel and stay here until we return."

"But-"

Stepmother violently raked Amora's neatly made bun in between her fingers mutter in her ear: "You know what I will do if you disobey me."

She discarded Amora like a used-up rag, disgust made a snarl take form as Amora fought to push herself off the floor again. This time she felt as if the weight of everything that had just happened had begun to push strenuously against her. But Stepmother was still waiting and Amora knew better than to test her patience any further.

She tried to focus her sights on anything other than the salt pile as she lifted her skirts and knelt down on the salt slicing into her skin like sandpaper. The more she moved the more it worsened, tearing at her already throbbing bruised knees.

"Have a good night, my dear." Stepmother laughed tauntingly behind her.

Amora trembled like a volcano of emotions that had reached its limit. She waited until she heard the front doors shut closed to let unleash the sobs she was holding in.

"YA! No puedo hacer esto! No puedo hacer....no mas, POR FAVOR!" She cried at the top of her lungs, her voice broke against the strain. "Papa, why...?"

Questions fled her mind but none of them would ever find their answers. She had no reason to keep going like this. Why was she trying so hard to walk on eggshells for a family that only relished in chewing her up and spitting her back out?

Why was she still here after all of this time?

But before she could come up with an answer, a voice as soft as a summer's breeze stole into her mind. "Poor, poor, child. Whatever did you do to deserve this?"

Amora opened her eyes wide in shock right as she felt something gently cup the side of her face. She blinked several times clearing her teary vision to make sense of the glowing green silhouette before her.

At last she was met by a pair of giant yellow eyes staring deep into her soul. Amora realized that she was looking at someone but they weren't at all human in the slightest. The one who had spoken had pink petals brushed white at the tips for hair pulled into a pony-tail, green skin, large leaf hands, and an assortment of leaves as their undergarments.

Amora didn't dare move an inch, her voice trembling in alarm.

"Who...who are you?"

"Ah...!" the strange floating being squealed in delight, their tone high-pitched like that of a young child. "You said 'who' instead of 'what!' Thank you!! It's so nice to meet you, Amora! I'm your very own fairy godmother."