Waitress at the Morpheme Cafe

Cinderella

She Found a Place

Each time they finally left, the woman and the two girls,

Cinderella climbed to the top of the stairs and crouched there.

In order to forget the insults and jeers, she wrapped slim fingers around her lovely knees

and pretended to be the top stair.

She was a stepdaughter and stepsister, but the others seemed to have forgotten the 'daughter' and 'sister' part

so, she reasoned, she could be a 'step' instead.

She Told Stories

The cat slunk out of the warming closet and curled in the crook of Cinderella's knees.

It ignored the family of mice that skittered out from a hole to nest in her hair.

She spoke long spools of words that uncurled like ribbons from her pale lips, for the cat and the mice.

It was very peaceful, amid the ticking of the clock and hush of the still house, at the top of the stairs; the cat purred and licked the back of her legs.

Meanwhile, at the Morpheme Cafe

The woman and two daughters had met someone.

He offered a One and many Zeroes for the girl they left at home.

Let us tell ourselves that it was due to ignorance and not avarice

as the woman glossed over the nasty rumors whispered about him, a smell of window wiper fluid, the stains on his coat, 

the flecks of spit at the corner of his mouth, a general sense of desire for blood, urine, all body fluids from the girl he would soon imprison in his basement

when he did whatever he wanted to her.

The woman nodded and accepted his One and Zeroes.

Three Things Happened at Once

Back at home, Cinderella sneezed and coughed at the same time.

The clock struck midnight with a loud Bong.

An extremely bright comet reached its closest zenith overhead.

As a result, the house yawned and expanded, and someone changed.

When the Woman and the Daughters Returned

They called and called her name, and searched throughout the still house.

Everything was as before - Cinderella's bed in the attics was untouched.

The doors and windows were locked from the outside and their voices became hoarse with panic as they ran from floor to floor.

They Did Not Notice

The stairs were thirteen in number now instead of twelve

and the cat, formerly so shy,

now slept with a smug grin, curled up on the top step