Cinderella's plan was to change her life forever.
First she would go to the ball. Eat, dance, and have the time of her life. Then she would return home to prepare for the next morning when the evil Madam and her two ugly-hearted daughters would be ravenous for breakfast where they would simultaneously devour whatever Cinderella served them and gossip about how charming their night was. She had planned to stock the eggs with peppers and onions and the oatmeal with brown sugar and cinnamon - oh, and a healthy helping of rat poison. For they were the true vermin and pests that needed to be taken care of.
Cinderella had planned to change her life forever.
At first light, when she usually arose, Cinderella had only just drifted off to sleep. So of course she was late getting up. Which means she was late getting breakfast ready. Which means she didn't have time to follow through with her plan. It also meant that she got enough lashings to cover her back with red hot welts, some of which broke the skin.
She had almost decided that she could escape these awful people in a different way, but their hateful and malicious behavior that morning convinced her to proceed with her plan. She knew she could not let them survive after everything they had done to her and how badly they treated everyone around them. Besides that, she knew she couldn't go back to the ball that night. She had only had time to prepare one outfit so she would have nothing to wear. She wished she could go to the ball again, but deep down she knew that with these people in her life she would always be trapped here.
The ladies of the house left early in hopes to corner the young heir before other young ladies could scoop him up like the night prior. As soon as they were out of the front door Cinderella was out the back, running, almost skipping to the shed where the poison was. When she got there she noticed something was different about her mothers grave. Too far to tell what was different she took a step closer and the sapphire amulet glinted. She made her way over to it slowly but the closer she got the quicker she walked.
To her incredible surprise she saw there was a gorgeous dress, finer than the ones she had picked up for the mistresses. And a fantastical necklace that took her breath away. She looked around and realized this must have been her mother granting her wish to return to the ball. She knelt on the ground and pressed her forehead into the large stone and breathed, "I love you, Momma." Then she scooped up the dress and the necklace found the glass slippers and headed inside the house to bathe and get ready for the ball.
She worked extra hard on her hair this time. She was excited to go back and see Emmerett again. She wanted to be even more beautiful than the night before. When she arrived many eyes were upon her. She walked slowly through the ball room, being stopped several times by handsome, and not-so-handsome young men. They asked her to dance and offered to get her a glass of punch. She smiled sweetly and obliged. Even after 45 minutes of being there, and looking for him, she had not seen Emmerett. She excused herself to the restroom and went to search other areas for him. She found him in the same spot she had left him the night before. But this time it was with Anastasia, of all people.
She spied on them through the glass doors and saw Anastasia's fingers play with her neckline. She watched as Anastasia bit her lip and dropped her gaze from his eyes to his lips. And then she watched as Anastasia's hand moved to his lapel and his lips moved to her lips.
Enraged and betrayed, Cinderella turned and darted from the scene. When she returned to the ballroom, she heard a woman's voice sternly call for James Milton. She recognized this name and looked to see who he was. She saw a very tall young man stuffing his face with two eclairs. His mother was scolding him and told him to act more gentlemanly in public. Once he was able to swallow he apologized and kissed her hand. Cinderella thought to herself, "Is that just something you do out of politeness?"
Embarrassment overwhelmed her and everything went dark.
When she opened her eyes she saw dozens of faces looking down on her. Most people looked concerned. Others? Amused. One face was familiar to her: Madam. Somehow there was no recognition in her face. Then Cinderella felt something behind her head. It was James Milton's hand. He was beside her helping her sit up. She was impressed with how gentlemanly he was.
"Miss, are you okay?" James asked and handed her a glass of water.
Cinderella stared into his eyes. "I am now, thank you." She took the water and sipped it.
He held her elbow as she stood, then escorted her to a bench to sit. He sat with her for 10 minutes to make sure she was okay. He made her laugh and then asked her to dance. His dancing was awkward. He was too tall and his hand barely hovered over her back. He didn't know how to lead. Not that Cinderella knew anything about it, except for the fact that it was different from the way she had danced the previous night. When the song was over he bowed to her and she saw Emmerett enter the room.
Emmerett's eyes scanned the room and found her. A smile grew across his face and he began to walk toward her. She clenched her jaw and raised her chin. She thanked James for the dance and asked him if there were any cookies. He led her to the dessert table which was in the opposite direction from Emmerett. She spent most of the night avoiding him. She stayed until midnight figuring the others would be staying for another three or four hours like the night before, so she wasn't worried about being caught. As she exited the oversized front doors to the massive porch Emmerett appeared from the other side of one of the pillars.
"Leaving already? I haven't even had a chance to talk to you tonight. Haven't you missed me?" He had a hunch that she would try to leave again at midnight, so he was waiting for her.
He sounded pompous and arrogant this night. She narrowed her eyes at him, scrutinizing him. She didn't think him to be genuine. He approached her slowly and stroked her arm from her shoulder down to her wrist, "I missed you." He whispered with hot breath.
She finally met his eyes and asked, "Did you really?"
"Cinny, I haven't stopped thinking about you." She had told him her name was Cinny because she didn't want anyone to know who she really was, a dirty slave. "You are the most beautiful girl I've ever met. You're funny and sweet, too." He smelled the hair that caressed her neck which gave her goosebumps all over her body. Her head turned toward him, touching her cheek to his. His skin was warm and soft, but also scratchy. She couldn't tell if she liked it or not.
He turned his face and kissed her. It wasn't the kiss she had dreamt about the night before. This one was forceful and tasted bitter like alcohol. She tried pushing him away but he still held her wrist and pulled it behind him. He held her close with both hands, lifting her slightly off the ground. She kicked, but lost a shoe in her struggle of which he seemed to be oblivious. He easily overpowered her small body, no matter how strong she had grown throughout all the years of hard work and heavy labor. He forced her against the pillar kissing and groping her. Her back screamed with pain from the pressure on her raw back. Her heart cried with panicked anxiety. Finally she was able to knee him in the groin, which directed his attention elsewhere.
She ran for her horse and heard him call after her, "Cinny, wait! You don't have to go. You can stay here tonight. Don't leave me!" For some reason this did not encourage her to stay.
Cinderella planned to go straight home and never trust anyone again. She was scared, and she blamed Anastasia. That horrid girl ruined everything Cinderella had ever loved. The adrenaline pumping through her veins energized her. When she got home she destroyed the dress and buried it by her mothers grave. On the way back to the house she stopped by the shed and grabbed two boxes of rat poison. One didn't seem like enough anymore.
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