Tales From the Cave-Cindermeg

Crushed Dreams

For the next two weeks, the household was in a frenzy.  During the day, M'gann had to sew ballgowns, look up hairstyles online, polish shoes, and practice applying makeup, on top of her regular daily chores.  At night, instead of getting a good night's sleep, she stayed up until sunrise, altering her mother's dress by a dim lamp in the corner of the attic.  Upon digging further into the trunk, she found a Belgian pearl necklace and a pink satin sash, perfect to add a little flair to her gown.  She also found yellow silk half-inch heels with tiny blue silk butterflies sewn onto the toes, and a pink satin ribbon for her hair.

At last, the night of glamour arrived, and, as expected, the twins had M'gann running herself ragged helping them prepare.

"Mend my dress!"

"Fix my hair!"

"Polish my shoes!"

"Can't you go faster?!"

M'gann was working up a sweat helping her stepsisters with last-minute details, but that didn't slow her down.  The sooner she finished dressing them up, the sooner she could get herself ready.  At last, they were satisfied with what they saw in the mirror.  With not a moment to spare, Megan dashed up the stairs to her bedroom.

She took a few bowls of water she'd poured from the sink and used them to wash her skin and hair.  Then she brushed her red locks and braided it and tied it with the ribbon and put in some blue flowers.  She slipped into her dress, put on her necklace, and stepped into her shoes.  Smiling at her reflection for the first time in years, she hurried downstairs to join her stepfamily.

Cynthia and Edwina wore identical gowns of bright yellow and hot pink, while their mother, in contrast, wore a slimming, form-fitting velvet gown of dark green, trailing behind her in a mermaid style, a deep plunge ending just above her waist, with short sleeves so as not to interfere with her long silver gloves to match her silver bead necklace and earrings.  Her hair was put up in a French twist on top of her head, and her deep red lipstick and black eyeshadow made her purple eyes look even more purple. She had her silver clutch in her hand when she saw her stepdaughter at the top of the stairs, in a gown more simple and old-fashioned but infinitely more elegant that those of her stepsisters. Her face glowed, her eyes sparkled, and her hair shined in a way that outshone her stepsisters. She was, in a word, stunning.

Regina tried to hide her detest. "Where did you get that dress?" Megan smiled. "It belonged to my mother when she was young. I took it up myself." Cynthia and Edwina ran to their mother's sides. "Mother! She can't!" "Its not fair!" Regina put both hands up. "Girls! Please! After all, we did make a bargain. Didn't we, Cindermeg?" M'gann nodded. Regina strode towards her. "And I never go back on my word." M'gann began to feel uneasy when she saw her stepmother's codfish smile.

Regina circled around her like a vulture. "M'gann, I think its a lovely dress." Megan looked at her. "Really? Thank you. That means a lot to me." Regina stopped at her left side, inches from her. "Its just a shame about the ripped sleeve." M'gann gave her a confused look. "What ripped sleeve?" Regina reached out and pulled Megan's left puff off, causing it to hang off her shoulder frayed. "That one." She pranced over to the other side while M'gann looked at her sleeve in horror. "And it would look so much nicer if that ribbon around your waist was in one piece." She dove in and ripped Megan's sash off her waist with a mighty yank.

Taking their mother's cue, the twins ran in and attacked M'gann, Cynthia pulling shreds of tulle off her skirt while Edwina took the flowers out of her hair, messing it up. "Its falling to bits and pieces!" "Its a horrible old-fashioned joke!" When they stepped back, M'gann looked down with tears in her eyes to see that her gown was ruined, just like her hopes of going to the ball. "This was my mother's dress..." She looked up at Regina, who seemed to be pleased with herself. "How could you?"

"How could I not?", Regina snapped.  "I will not have anyone associate my daughters with the likes of you.  It would ruin their chances to be seen at such an affair beside a ragged servant girl!  That, is what you are.  And that is what you always will be."  She pointed her finger in M'gann's face.  "Now mark my words!  You will not go to the ball!"  And with that, she spun on her heel and walked out of the house, her daughters closely following her, before slamming the door behind them.  As the sound of the limousine's engines faded away, Megan looked at the remains of her dress, sat on the steps, and cried.