Escape

      Oh he was charming alright, and a prince. He had the most gorgeous dark wavy hair and the brightest smile. But that’s about it. He was as dense as a rock, no a boulder, and as shallow as a dried puddle. He had swooped down in a rage of passion and lust and married Cinderella after falling in love with her utter beauty and gorgeous complexion. Cinderella was thrilled and happy as a lark when he married her. She thanked he fairy godmother and her lucky stars for her good fortune. A prince! She was so happy to escape from the torment of her evil stepmother and her ugly, conniving step sisters that she didn’t care who she married, she was just grateful to get away from the abuse and madness of her childhood prison. So great was her happiness that she even forgave her stepsisters and sent them gifts of fine silken dresses and beautiful jeweled rings. All was bliss. Cinderella had escaped agony and pain and was now a beloved princess, envied by all for her beauty and poise. It was simply magical. Unreal. Unreal was right; she couldn’t even have a simple conversation with her husband. He wasn’t concerned with the nonsense that came prattling out of her glossy red lips. She had ideas and plans to help the kingdom and the economy. “Oh, put on that blue dress I like so much, will you darling? You look so lovely, don’t worry your pretty little head with such matters. That’s my job.” And he would smile his gleaming charming smile and wink at her.

           She used to sit in the cinders in her fireplace at her stepmother’s house, a lump with no validity. Now she sits in palaces, with no opinions, a lump being lusted for and coveted. She sighed. Would things never get better? As a child, she only dreamed of running away from home, marriage seemed like the perfect escape. But now she was locked in a marriage conceived on good lucks and lust with no real love or compassion. There was no connection between them, no spark, no conversations or sharing of hobbies. Cinderella wanted something more, something real; not some fairytale bull malarkey that only had her wearing sparkly overly bulky gowns and glass slippers that blistered her poor toes. If only she had not used marriage as an escape route and married instead for true love. She sighed.

           Cinderella was dressed in yellow, a huge bouncy flouncy gown and covered in jewels and gold. She almost fell into her own birthday cake trying to stay balanced atop outrageously-high high hell…uh heel…shoes. She was being oohed and aahed at; the ladies attending the celebration were full of envy and jealousy, the men lust and desire. Her prince smiled and watched, gloating at the magnificent splendor of the beauty he had married. Cinderella smiled, a big fake cheesy smile that seemed to delight all of the attendees. Dear God, if I could have but one wish for my birthday, get me out of this! Take me away from here! And the cake was served on silver plates with goblets of expensive wine. Cinderella was drowned in expensive gifts and told how beautiful and elegant she was. She gagged.

           Finally, the party was over. Cinderella managed to evade the hungry, lustful gaze of the prince and sat alone on in the garden, staring at a statue of a nymph. She sighed and held her pretty little head in her hands, her elbows resting on her knees. One of the rose bushes began to shiver and shake, little branches waving in the air. Cinderella watched as a tiny, fat, purple blob bounced from the bush and rolled towards her. It squeaked and grunted and righted itself; it was a tiny round man dressed in a tight purple spandex jumpsuit brushing himself off. “Ah! Now then! Whew! What a trip!”

           “Ah…hello there. Who are you?” Cinderella asked smiling at the adorable little figure.

           “Ah, oh, me? Who am I? I am Gladys, Your Grace. Gladys of the Glade, at your service!” He bowed, his stubby nose touching the ground.

           “Oh, it’s nice to meet you Gladys.”

           “Well, well! You truly are a beauty, Your Grace! And those shoes are fabulous!”

           “Thank you.” She answered politely.

           “So, I hear you have a problem. A wish, you might say. You are unhappy, yes?”

           “Uhm, who are you?”

           “Gladys! I am an elf, well, more of a half-elf half-fairy. Gladys of the Glade. I help fairy godparents on certain missions. I also help those who have had wishes granted by fairy godparents that have, uhm, gone astray, or off course, so to say. A bit of a mishap on a wish, boom, here comes Gladys, at your service!”

           “Oh! How nice! You’re here to grant me another wish?”

           “Well…” Gladys laid the tip of his index finger against his low lip. “Yes and no. I’m here to offer help, an alternative so to say. Yes, you get your wish but at a small cost. Well, it may not be such a small cost financially speaking, true, but small compared to the wish you will be granted. You get what you want…I get what I want.”

           “Uhm…okay. What exactly is it that you want Gladys?”

           “Your shoes! Of course! Well your entire shoe collection, including those gorgeous little glass slippers of yours. Your gowns, well they may be a little long for me but I could fix that, magic ya know. And just one other small thing.”

           “Which is?”

           “The glory in which the eyes of the beholders look upon you! I want that! The fashion, the envy! Ah! That’s my asking price, Princess. Your shoes and gowns, and your radiating magnificence. That’s all! And in exchange I will grant you your heart’s desire. I will send you away from this world into a new land where you can start anew.” Gladys hopped up and down on his toes. “What do you say, gorgeous?”

           “A new world?”

           “Yes. A new world filled with excitement and opportunities. A life away from your stepmother and sisters and that charming prince of yours.”

           “You can do that?”

           “Hey! You didn’t question your fairy godmother when she turned a pumpkin into a carriage! Don’t question Gladys of the Glade. I’m here to help you! You are the one who made the birthday wish. You called for me.”

           “True, true. Okay, my shoes and clothes for a life in a new land?”

           “And your jealousy aspiring presence.”

           “Yes and that. You will do that?”

           “Yes of course, Your Grace.” Gladys bowed.

           “Okay. Let’s do this.” Cinderella took of her heels and laid them beside Gladys. “The rest are…”

           “I have a wand, I can get them, with your consent, of course?”

           “Oh, of course. Take them.”

           Gladys waved a stubby purple clad arm clutching a stubby little stick. “There! Now then! Are you ready then, Cinderella?”

           “I am! And thank you Gladys. Good luck with those slippers.” Cinderella smiled, her heart thumped wildly in her chest.

           “Okay dear. Close your eyes. INKY BIKY TINKY BOO! NOW LET ME GRANT THIS WISH FOR YOU!” his voice squeaked and then faded, sounding like footsteps walking away from her.

           Cinderella felt a cool breeze around her legs, a leaf struck her calf. She flinched and opened her eyes. She stood, shivering, in a forest, wearing only a potato sack for a dress and barefoot. The wind danced around her cold legs and wound her long hair around her face. She gasped. Light was trickling down from above and up ahead she saw a small clearing in the woods, filled with fluffy green moss and grasses, and beautiful golden sunlight dancing along flowers. She sighed. Well, Gladys was right. He did get me out of that place. She walked to the clearing and bathed in the warmth of the sunlight. She found a lichen covered log lying in the middle of the clearing and decided that was a good place to plop down for a rest. She gazed around her. The forest encircled the entirety of little clearing. Insects were crawling over the daisies and buttercups. A blue and black lizard scurried out from beneath the log she sat on. She watched it scurry over the lush green grasses and up the leaves of a huge bulking plant on the edge of the clearing. It clambered its way up the leaves to the top of the plant, trying to find a crevice to hide in. The top of the plant opened into a pitcher, inviting the lizard inside, which the lizard found delightful and cozy and leaped in. The pitcher throbbed and wobbled, Cinderella could have sworn she heard the lizard scream. She got up and inched her way to the vibrating plant and looked inside the pitcher. The pitcher was filling with liquid and thrusting itself up and down, like someone would do if they were choking on an apple and trying to get it down. The lizard’s limbs were flailing and its tail swishing crazily from side to side. The picture gulped and Cinderella could see the bulk of the lizard traveling down the dark green stem. Oh my, this is a different land indeed! Plants eating animals, how odd! Behind the plant Cinderella saw a worn path through the woods. Well, might as well try it. Where else have I got to go? So, she started down the path, gathering from the way the moss was growing on the side of the trees she deduced she was heading north, perhaps. She knew mosses like growing on the northern side of trees, it’s shadier.

           She must have been traveling longer than she thought, the forest was becoming darker and grayer with each passing step. She saw no end to the woods and had no supplies, just her potato sack. Nightfall came. Oddly, Cinderella wasn’t very tired. The excitement of the new world and new possibilities must be fueling her, pumping her with adrenaline. Still, she needed to find a place to rest eventually, and food. In the distance she heard a babbling little creek. She hurried forward, careful to stay on the path for fear of losing it in the darkness. Up ahead she saw lights glowing, soft pinks and bright greens. The path led her closer to the lights and she saw they were coming from huge luminescent mushrooms. Each mushroom taller than herself and glowing and poofing out little pores into the night air that danced and swirled in the fluorescents. Behind the magnificent fungi was the bubbling creek. Cinderella squeezed between the mushrooms and squatted next to the creek. Running her fingers in the water made her need to squat to let out her own water. She then rinsed her hands in the creek and brought up handfuls to her mouth and drank. “‘Ello there, young lady! What ya doin’ in the creek this time o’ night?”

           Cinderella jumped. Under a tree stood an old lady and a man clutching a shovel. “Oh, hello. I’m Cinderella, I’ve been following the path and stopped for a drink.” She didn’t tell them she was lost and had no idea where she was going. She wasn’t stupid and knew that was a good way for a girl to get kidnapped or hustled.

           “Well, Cinderella. May I ask why you were coming to our house this time of night?” the old lady asked.

           “Well, I was just out for a walk and lost track of time. I’m just following the path…”

           The old lady cut her off, “The path that leads only to our house, young stranger. What are you doing out here all alone this late at night? Young thing like you liable to get eaten by bears or something.”

           “Oh Nancey, there ain’t no bears in that wood that’s desperate enough to eat that scrawny thing in a dirty tater sack! Don’t scare the poor thing!” The man scolded. “Young’un I declare I thought you was some wild animal or a thief. I was fixin’ to whop you a good’un!” He swung the shovel around. “Come on in the house and get ya a bite to eat. Gettin’ mighty cold out here.”

           Cinderella followed the couple to their morning glory covered cottage. They fed her and gave her some clothes and a bed to sleep in. The next day they talked and laughed. Nancey and Glen were a very friendly elderly couple that had lost their only daughter to cancer and their only grandson was killed in a war. They were alone except for each other and their neighbors. Very friendly neighbors, they told her. Cinderella told them she was an orphan, trying to start her own life and find her own way, which was true enough. Nancey told her to “be strong! Don’t let anyone tell you what you have to do. Be yourself. Make sure you’re happy, and everything else will fall into place.”

           Nancey and Glen took Cinderella to town and introduced her around. Everyone was friendly and courteous, no one gawked at her or licked their lips hungerly as she walked by. Cinderella found a job at a farmer’s market, thanks to Glen. She worked and saved money and bought herself a small cabin at the edge of the forest. She adopted a hedgehog named Penelope and started her own business crocheting cute outfits for hedgehogs and other small furry animals. Glen and Nancy became her adopted grandparents and they met every weekend to cook big meals, and talked and laughed together.

           Cinderella (and her hedgehogs) lived happily ever after.