The Son of Cinderella

Being the son of Cinderella, you’d think I lived a charmed life, or so says the eldest heir to the Charming family. But by the time I reached the age of six, I had already tired of hearing the story about my mother, and to this day, it makes me sick. “Fairy Godmothers, indeed,” I cried out to mt mother. “I’m seventeen! Do you still expect me to believe that childish story?”

My mother sighed. “Lawrence my son, how many times have I told you that my words are true? Just because one day you’ll be sitting on your father’s throne, doesn’t give you the power to dismiss anything you can’t see. There’s much more to this world that the eye can see. If you listen to your heart, you’ll know what I mean.”

It wasn’t like I heard this lame excuse before. Sure, there are things we don’t understand why certain things are, the way they are, and with that, love was at the top of the list. There’s no question about it. Love, the most felt but misunderstood of all emotions, and I, unknown to everyone close to me, was enraptured with it, and it all surrounded a girl whom I’ve adored from the first moment I saw her.

It all began on May first, the day when all the new ladies of the court made their first public appearance. And like a diamond among coal, there she was, standing at the end of the line. She was dress in a lavender gown, and it was as if she just floated across the floor. She looked up towards the balcony I was watching from and for a split second, our eyes matched. It was then I made it my business to find out more about her. After a few inquiries I discovered her name was Melissa and she turned out to be the daughter of a prominent Duke and Duchess. Everything was perfect, I thought. Then I sighed. If only I could get up the courage to meet her.

My shoulders drooped and feet shuffling across the floor, as I returned to my room. The moment the door closed behind me, I flopped down on my bed and thought, Mom and Dad’s anniversary ball is tonight and everyone’s going to be there. No doubt Melissa will be there as well.

As I lay there wallowing in deep sorrow, a heard a tapping sound coming from my closet. Overridden with curiosity, I opened the closet door to see what caused the noise, and to my surprise I found an old lady peering at me from behind a layer of jackets.

Before I could call out to the guards, the woman said, “Don’t bother, Lawrence. I’d be gone before they’d get here, and I’d hate to leave early, since we have so much to talk about.”

“Lady, I don’t know who you are or what you’re doing in my closet, but you need to go.”

The woman carefully stepped out of the closet and stopped directly in front of me. then she eyed me from head to foot and declared, “You look a lot like your father on the outside, but your heart definitely comes from your mother.”

As I looked at the woman’s face, I couldn’t help but feel at ease. She stood no taller than my shoulders and her eyes showed deep in her soul. There wasn’t an unkind thing within her. “Who are you?” I kindly asked.

She smiled at me for the first time. “Tonight’s the first time I ever met you, but as for your mother, I had known her since she was a child. You see, I was the one who changed the course of your mother’s life, for I am her fairy godmother.”

Suddenly, it became clear. Mom was trying to play a trick on me. I thought. She must have paid some old lady to jump out of my closet and convinced me her fairytale was true. Well, it wouldn’t work.

I pointed a finger at her and shouted, “Hey, lady, I don’t need to hear any of your crap! If you have nothing real to tell me, get out and leave me alone.”

Instead of getting out, she decided to freak me out instead. As I stood there, she began to levitate. It wasn’t until her head touched the ceiling before she began her descent. Then she replied, “Since I was your mother’s fairy godmother, I guess that makes me your fairy god grandmother.”

As the realization that my mother’s story might have some truth behind it, I heard himself asking, “After all this time, why are you coming to me now?”

“Why Lawrence, didn’t you hear what I said? You have your mother’s heart and that’s why I’m here today. You see, when your mother was about your age, I witnessed the predicament she was in. Orphaned, she was endlessly tormented by her wicked stepmother and uncaring stepsisters. Still, her heart was untouched by their hatred, and I knew with a little help from me, she would find true love and live happily ever after. Now, I’m about to do the same for you.”

“But I’m not living in squaller nor controlled by an evil family,” Lawrence retorted. “What are you offering me I don’t already have?”

The old woman slowly shook her head. “My dear boy. I thought you understood. It was never my intention to remove your mother from her environment, but a consequence of my actions. I only helped your mother to find true love. This I wish to do for you as well.”

Could it be true, thought Lawrence. Is this woman, this magical being the answer to my prayers regarding Melissa?

Before I could continue pondering the possibilities, my fairy god grandmother broke in, “Unlike your mother before you, there’ll be no magic involved. No pumpkin carriages, mice for servants, or fancy clothes, for you already have everything you need. Instead, I give you a prophecy. Before midnight tonight, you will open your heart to the woman you love and show her you love her. If not, you will never marry or be with her again.”

I shuttered at this thought, for rumors were abounding how Melissa’s parents were in the middle of arranging her betrothal to the son of an Earl in a neighboring kingdom. If this should happen, there’d be no chance of ever being with her.

“What must I do?” I asked.

The old woman laughed softly. “You’re a young man. Figure it out.” Then without a further word, she stepped back in the closest and disappeared from my sight.

The setting sun told me I had little time. The ball would start soon, and I wasn’t even dressed for the evening. Immediately, I attacked my closet and yanked out suit after suit, until I found the perfect one. Burgundy with a white silk shirt. A moment later, I dashed out of my room and headed towards the ballroom, and by the time I arrived, I found himself lost in a sea of smiling faces, dancing around the room.

I recognized a few people, but most were strangers to me. One by one, I looked at the guests, hoping to find the one I desired. Minutes turned into hours, when finally, I found her. Unlike the other ladies of the court, Melissa decided not to dance. Instead, she sat herself at a table next to her parents.

Great, not only is it Melissa I must deal with, but her parents as well. Tempting as it was to forget about the whole thing, I found myself approaching their table, and without hesitating asked, “Melissa, would you like to dance with me?”

While Melissa’s mother eyed me questionably, her father nodded his head in consent. Then surprisingly, Melissa offered her hand to me and accompanied me to the dance floor. Nervously, I placed my arms around her, and we began to waltz.

As I stumbled around the dance floor dragging Melissa with me, I said, “When I saw you just sitting there, I thought you wouldn’t dance with me, but in the end, you did. Why?”

As Melissa tried to keep in time with my fumbling feet, she replied, “Isn’t it obvious? You need someone to teach you to dance. How could I deny your request when you are so in need?”

I couldn't help but laugh. “Am I that bad?”

“You could be worse,” she replied. “But not much worse.”

The ice was broken and from that moment on, we continued to dance and open our hearts to each other. Dance after dance, other gentlemen would try to take her as their partner, but each time Melissa kindly refused. It wasn’t until the midnight bell began to chime when my fairy god grandmother’s warning came to mind. As the third bell struck, the music ended and as Melissa tried to retreat to her waiting parents, I grasped her arm.

“Don’t,” I pleaded. “Don’t leave me now. I want to spend the rest of our lives together. Will you marry me? Please.”

Seeing me on my knees, Melissa’s parents rushed to her side, realizing what was going on. “What is the meaning of this?” her father shouted. “Are you actually proposing to my daughter?”

At that moment, all my fears and uncertainties melted away and I boldly declared, “Yes, I am, with you permission of course.”

Her father, along with her mother sobbing at his side, looked and Melissa nodding her head, then burst out laughing, “Congratulations, my boy! Welcome to the family!”

As the twelfth bell rang out, the onlooking crowd cheered and joined in the celebration, and as I looked at the faces of the onlookers, I saw the face of the old woman peering approvingly from the crowd. Then a moment later, she was gone.

I had grown that day, in many ways, and I am a better man because of it. Never again did I sneer at my mother whenever she told her story, not even when she told it to her granddaughter.