Tale as Old as Time | ✓

Cinderella

Ella sat at the window looking at the beautiful flowers blooming in the garden. She smiled at their colours and closed her eyes in delight. She sighed happily as she hummed a tune and nodded her head to the music.

She sat there with her hands placed in her lap and her long legs spread out in front of her. Her brunette hair swept sideways as the winds blew through the window. The melanin brown of her skin glowed as she basked in the rays of sunshine. Her mood was always happy when the weather was warm and sunny. She hated the cold with a passion as it would remind her of the dark demeanor and sadness.

At the sound of chirpings, she opened her eyes and laughed loudly as she saw the little bird trying to get into her room through the grills of her window. She placed her palm upside down and the little bird jumped onto her palm. She kissed his head lightly and the bird flapped its wings in response.

She held him in front of her and said, "Hey there, little guy. How have you been?" the bird just chirped in response to her question and she giggled, "Aren't you a cute little lad?" The bird jumped in his place and flapped his wings fast as his answer.

"Why don't you have some food, huh?" She said as she placed him back on the edge of the window and stood up to the bring him some raw rice she kept in her room, to feed birds. She grabbed some in her fist and then placed it slowly in front of the bird, careful not to spill any on the ground. "There you go, little guy." She said as she sat in front of him and saw as he picked one by one with his beak and swallowed. She patted his head softly and giggled at his attempt to fit more than one bits in his beak simultaneously.

Ella looked out the window to find her stepmother Tremaine and her stepsisters Anastasia and Drizella step down from the carriage. Even though her stepmother wasn't much of a mother towards her and her stepsisters but, Ella knew that her stepmother dotted on her sisters and nurtured them with love and care.

Looking at her stepmother, Ella remembered the fond memories of her own mother. Her mother had long wavy dark brunette hair just like her and her skin was the same colour. Ella knew that her mother was the most beautiful woman her father had seen and he loved her with all his heart. Her father was the most successful nobleman in the Village but, he would say, "I'm just a beggar in front of your mother, asking her to shower me with love and care as she is a divine human being."

Ella knew that her mother was the sweetest person in Village and everyone adored her for her beauty and kind nature. Not a single person who came asking for help at her home, would go unattended her mother used to say. A smile spread on Ella's face as she remembered her father twirling her and her mother up in the air whenever he would return from his business trips. He would shower them with kisses and gifts to make up for the time he would be away from them.

The three of them would play in the open grounds and the backyard whenever they would be together and laugh and smile. Ella's memories were all filled with love, laugh and gifts as much as she could remember.

Only one of them was bitter and it was of the time when she was fourteen. It was the year her mother had suddenly taken a catch of illness and it was the year when the distraught had been brought upon her family. Ella considered that year to be cursed. Her mother had been fine but, one day she fell unconscious in her room and the doctors had to be called in as she didn't wake up for a long period of time. Her father was by her bedside till she opened her eyes, and breathed normal again. Ella was scared and frightened that day as she was playing out in the open when the havoc started. The maids and servants were running everywhere to find medicines and whatnot.

Ella wasn't allowed to enter her parent's bedroom for her safety. Even though being clueless at her age, she had the idea that something bad had happened to her mother. Ella sat in room frightened and praying for her mother's health while clenching her favourite doll in her arms. Tears were running down her face, when the maids came in to check on her and feed her dinner. She refused to eat alone and threw a tantrum as she wanted to hear the well-being of her mother. But, none of the servants gave her an answer. She ran back to her room from the dining room and kept on crying. Later on, her father came in with the plate of food and he had fed her while caressing her and calming her down.