“And they lived happily ever after”, her mother read the last line of the storybook and closed it after.

“Good night, daughter”, she kissed her to sleep and left the room.

“Mommy?” 

“What is it?”
 
“Can I be like Cinderella?”

“Yes. Someday, you’ll find your prince too.”

The very morning, she was awakened by the chirping birds and she noticed that it is no longer her room. From the big, cute, magnificent and comfortable room she had slept in to a small, dark, warm and closed room. There is a big window where the birds had stayed and in front of her bed was a desk – full of dust; seems like it’s not been cleaned for years. This is not really the exact place where she had slept, where her mother, the queen told her the story of Cinderella. 

She dreamt to be one. Ella gets up in bed to find out what’s going on. She felt something tickling her feet and when she looked down, her hair! It’s already a kilometer so she found a rope and tied it up neatly. On her way, she stepped on a rotten and bitten apple which she almost slipped. This time, she realized that her tiny feet are no longer tiny.

Someone calls “Cinderella!” from downstairs and the loud, angry voice excites her for she thinks that the princess in the story book became real.

“What’s taking you so long?”, said a girl of her age. “My things! Where are they?” She’s clueless but the feeling is familiar. A déjà vu?

“Meow!”, a black cat had scratched her. When the strict woman keeps giving commands but she declined, the other girl pulled her hair and laughed at her.

They also pushed her to the floor and Ella already suffers. “Ouch”, this is the only word she managed to say and obeyed the commands instead. It’s still a big mystery why she reached this place. Her mind keeps on thinking while her body is at work, doing the orders of the three girls: ironing the dresses, shining the shoes, fixing their hair yet she can’t recall anything.

After they had left the house, she continues searching for answers why and how. She missed the scent of coffee and the hearty meals every morning, the kind servants and the cool breeze in the garden. A tear fell from her eyes and it hit a blue bird which is staying on her lap. She weeps and someone pats her.

“Everything’s okay now, stop crying child”, says the beautiful woman who sits beside her.

“Who are you?”

“Just call me your Godmother.”

“Mother?” She just smiled and took her to a big mansion. The road going there is full of fragrant flowers. Ella took one red rose and inserted it in her hair.

“We’re here.” Her eyes widen when she saw a shining gate opening up for her. Inside was that big mansion that seems like a palace. There are servants cleaning up the surroundings, smiling and waving back at her. At a snap, the horrible scenario she experienced a while ago had been forgotten.

The woman still accompanies her until they had entered. “Eat”, a long table filled with many foods and desserts are in front of her. “How I miss this!”

As she gulps them, a couple appeared and sat with her.

“Enjoying the food?”

“Yush”, she talks while is full of grapes.

“Welcome home, daughter.”

Ella just smiled and said, “thank you for getting me out of that mess.” 

“As a gift to our long lost but no found angel, here’s your favorite book. Can you still remember it?”

After I had read the book entitled “Cinderella” by myself, we received an invitation handed by a familiar girl. She was the one who pulled her hair.

“Who is she?”

“Gracilda, one of our servants here in the palace”, the Queen answers even her eyes are on the paper. “By the way, here is an invitation from the royal palace this Friday night. You must come.”

On the day of the ball, Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother arrived and shook her wand to transform Ella to the most beautiful princess she can be. A fixed hair, a shining blue ball gown, a glass shoe and some accessories – she looks like her mother now! She also had a coach which accompanied her. Nevertheless, there is no reminder or precaution given to her because they trust their daughter.

Ella captured everyone’s eyes as she went out. The ladies in their elegant gowns stopped socializing and the gentlemen in their manly suit turned their heads just to see the beautiful lady in blue. She wandered around the palace.

The prince who was busy entertaining the ladies lining up for the search of his wife stopped and ran towards her. 

“Cinderella!” he shouted. She knows that it’s not her name but she looked anyway. They danced waltz all night long and all the rest were suspicious. 

Prince Jin glanced at the clock and discovered that there are two minutes left before midnight. He’ll be back into a merman after so he says his thank you and goodbye and ran as fast as he could. Ella tried to catch up with him but he is nowhere to be found. He left no single thing. She doesn’t even know his name, only his voice when he spoke.

Ella was left with a mystery on how she would know about that prince and why did he left. The desire of her heart is to search for him but she doesn’t know where to start.

“The prince whom I danced all night left me and I don’t even know his name!”

“Don’t worry, if destiny would allow it, you’ll have a happy ever after with him.”

Years passed. Nothing happened. She finally moved on with that night.

On her 18th birthday, the royal family decided to have the celebration on the beach together with the other members of the family and some royal families. The twelve fairies gave their wishes for Ella, the seven dwarfs greeted her and everyone enjoyed the celebration.

As soon as it is over, she found herself being dragged by her feet to the shore and she saw a man lying helplessly, half of his body is covered with sand.

“Hello? Are you okay? Are you part of the celebration? Helloooo!” His lovely eyes are still closed until to the second minute when Ella shook him.

Prince Jin’s vision is blurry but he recognizes who’s in front of him. “You’re the girl whom I danced five years ago.” Upon saying these words, his scales turned into feet. The spell was already gone!

Fairy Godmother witnessed the two and with the help of her wand, she played the memory of that unforgettable night.

(Cinderella – When I Fall In Love)

When I fall in love it will be forever
Oh I’ll never fall in love in a restless world
Like these years love has ended before it’s begun…

Prince Jin was then introduced to Princess Ella’s parents, King Vladimir and Queen Cinderella. They had their wedding the next day and they lived happily ever after.