Dreams and Nightmares

The Midnight Clock

 "Please welcome, uhh," the valet hesitates in his announcement of my arrival.

I watch him through my mask, my eyes vacant, before descending down the grand staircase.

The Fairy Godmother's voice rings in my ear through the earpiece in my earring.

"Smile," she says. I curve my lips upward. "Do you see him?"

"I don't know what he looks like," I whisper through gritted teeth.

"Well, figure it out." I thought fairy godmothers were supposed to be nice.

A rich voice asks from behind me. "May I have this dance?"

I turn, my eyes widening. Fairy Godmother whispers, "He is one pretty, pretty boy." The Prince offers me his hand as girls gather around him, glaring at me through fans and slitted eyes.

I slip my hand in his. "I would love to." We waltz around the ballroom with other couples, every person's center of attention on us.

His hand is firm in mine. I'm sorry, I want to tell him. I'm sorry for everything. Instead, I whisper, "Do you remember me?"

He spins me out then back into his arms. "I'm sure if we'd met before, I'd recognize a princess as beautiful as you."

My heart sinks. He forgot.

When the dance is over, the Fairy Godmother whispers, "Do you know him?"

"Not anymore."

Two young women step in my pathway as I try to escape to a corner to survey the room. The older of my stepsisters, Anastasia, says in her unnaturally high voice, "Who do you think you are? A princess?"

Druzilla hides behind her, tugging on her sleeve. "Anastasia," she whispers.

Anastasia swats her away, walking in front of me. "Not now, Dru. Well, who are you?"

I swallow, afraid to speak in case they recognize my voice.

Anastasia sneers. "A princess. What nonsense! Princesses and high ladies such as myself know how to use our voice. And the Prince shouldn't be dancing with a nobody."

A nobody like me.

Even the Fairy Godmother is quiet in my ear now.

A hand lands on my shoulder. I look up, only to see Prince Charming. "His fingers dig into my skin. "Are they disturbing you?"

My awfully beloved stepmother, Lady Tremaine, steps in front of my stepsisters. "Please excuse their behavior, my Prince. My girls simply wished to dance with you."

"I will only dance with the one I chose then."

"As Your Majesty wishes." Anastasia sulks but Lady Tremaine nods in acceptance.

I grip the Prince's arm, guiding him away from my family, deeper into the center of the ballroom.

Again we start to dance. "Won't you ask me for my name?" he asks. "My dear Cinderella." His hand tightens in mine, the other firm on my waist, preventing me from leaving. He remembers.

"William," I say hesitantly as we start to dance faster to match the increase in tempo of the string orchestra.

He dips me. When he brings me back up again, I stumble on the blue ball gown. He catches me, his lips brushing against my ear. "You've never called me William."

"You've never called me Cinderella," I counter.

"Fancy names for people like us, don't you think?"