Cinderella (or the day that Phil went to the ball and lost his shoe)

Prologue

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there was a tiny kingdom. Peaceful, prosperous and rich in romance and tradition. Here, in a stately chateau, there lived a widowed gentleman and his little son, Phil. Although he was a kind and devoted father and gave love to his beautiful child, every luxury and comfort, still he felt he needed a mother's care.
And so he married again, choosing for his second wife a woman of good family with two daugthers just Phil's age. By name, Anastasia and Drizella. It was upon the untimely death of this good man, however, that the stepmother's true nature was revealed. Cold, cruel, and bitterly jealous of Phil's charm and beauty, she was grimly determined to forward the interests of her own two awkward daughters. Thus, as time went by, the chateau fell into disrepair. For the family fortunes were squandered upon the vain and selfish stepsisters, while Phil was abused, humiliated, and finally forced to become a servant in his own house. And yet, through it all. Phil remained ever gentle and kind, for with each dawn he found new hope that someday, his dreams of happiness would come true.