Cinderella's Fangs

2. Accused

Cinderella parted the maroon curtains that covered the hallway's windows and welcomed the warm sunshine in. Next, she picked up a jug of water she had placed on the floor and set to watering the plants, humming to a song in a low, soft voice. This is how she started her days - after making breakfast, of course.

Stepmother wanted her breakfast exactly at eight in the morning. The older woman demanded order and obedience. Everything had to be clean and on time. If Cinderella was even a minute late, she would be scolded.

Cinderella stopped in front of her stepmother's door and took a deep breath. She hoped the woman was in a pleasant mood. She knocked on the door, lightly. Three small knocks. A low, cold voice responded from within.

"Breakfast is ready," Cinderella replied and hurried to the next door down the hall. She could hear her stepsisters' voices, loud and clear. Cinderella knew knocking won't help there, so she opened the door to her stepsister's room - and found a big mess. The two women inside were screaming and hitting each other with various things, back and forth. Feathers elegantly fell from the pillows, making the room look oddly beautiful. Books, clothes, and other objects laid on the floor in a disturbed manner and the beds looked as if they had fallen down to earth from a horrid storm at sea. 

Cinderella avoided a hair brush that flew towards her head by sheer luck. Stella started pulling Hella's hair and screaming, "You stole it!" Hella pulled on her sister's night dress and shouted her own verse of words, "Did not!"

Cinderella sighed and grabbed Stella and tried to pull her away from Hella in an attempt to stop the fight. The two women did not budge . Hella cried in pain because her hair was being pulled at the same time. Bold, colorful words were exchanged in the process. The sisters were never seen in their well-behaved, mature state inside the house. Perhaps they only thought manners were for the market and wealthy nobles.

"Let go off me, you stupid girl!" Stella spat at Cinderella and tried to shove her away with her free hand. 

Hella took this chance and shove Stella with all her might. Stella fell on top of Cinderella, putting her whole weight on her. Hella screamed at the top of her lungs and jumped on Stella, leaving Cinderella at the bottom of the pile. Cinderella gasped in pain. Her fingers were crushed and her hair was pulled sharply from her scalp with each of her sisters' movements. 

"What is going on here?" A slick, loud voice boomed into the room and the storm became silent.

All three women looked toward the door. Stepmother stood there, her face stern and upset. She looked at them with a cold stare and surveyed the messy room. Hella quickly got off and Stella stood up like she had done nothing wrong. Cinderella was still on the ground massaging her hurt fingers.

"She stole my earrings, mother!" Stella complained.

"I did not, mother!" Hella replied quickly. "The earrings were inside my table drawer. I did not steal them! I don't know how they got there." She pointed.

"She is lying, mother!"

"You fought because of a mere earrings?" Stepmother spat.

Cinderella stood up. Stepmother's attention shifted to her. Cinderella knew what was coming, she could feel it in the woman's cold gaze. Stepmother's snake-like face showed no emotions.

"Cinderella..." she said as she came near her. "Do you find this amusing?"

"What do you mean?" Cinderella asked.

"What do I mean, you ask?" She gave a fake, bold laugh as she turned her back on Cinderella. "Please, do not pretend. I do not look well upon lairs." She glared. "But of course, lying was always your second nature, was it not? Just like your mother?"