Once upon a time, there was a faraway land. This land was beautiful. It had hills that stretched for miles and rivers that wound through those hills out onto a wide sea. On the banks of one of those rivers, just before it met the sea, in the valley between two hills, sat a kingdom. The kingdom was filled with merchants, fishermen and tradesmen of all kinds. The kingdom was ruled by a monarchy. The monarchy lived in a beautiful palace on top of one of the mountains that created the valley.

On the outskirts of this kingdom sat a small cottage that was home to a man and his wife who was graced in beauty. The man and his wife loved each other so much that they gave birth to a baby girl. They named her Ella. Even from birth, Ella had the beauty of her mother. As she grew older, her mother taught her the importance of kindness. Therefore, her heart became equally as beautiful as her appearance.

One day, however, Ella’s mother became very sick with an illness from which she could not recover. She called Ella into the room and said, “I will always love you. I will remain by your side in spirit for as long as you live. Plant a tree at my grave and, whenever you wish for something, I shall make it be.”

With that, Ella’s mother died. Ella immediately went to her grave, planted a beautiful tree and watered it with her own tears. Ella returned to the tree every day for years because it was there that she truly felt the presence of her mother. Occasionally, after Ella had been crying under the tree for some time, she would feel a branch reach down and rest on her shoulder as though her mother was calming her. Sometimes she would hear the wind whisper “I am with you, Ella. I love you, Ella.”

After sometime, Ella’s father remarried. The woman was the complete opposite of Ella’s mother. Her heart was cruel and her appearance was dreadful. The woman had two sisters who were equally as evil as their mother was. Their appearance was beautiful to an extent but when compared to Ella they were nothing more than commoners and they knew it. As soon as Ella’s father left on business for an extended amount of time, they treated Ella as though she was their maid. They made her cook and clean for them. Ella was made to clean the chimneys so that her face would be covered in dust and no one could see her beauty. It was because of this that her nickname became Cinderella.

One Sunday morning Cinderella awoke at her usual time and began cooking breakfast for her stepmother and stepsisters. Once breakfast was delivered and the mail was brought to her stepmother, Cinderella sat in the kitchen and began the rest of her chores for the day. Minutes later she heard a scream from her stepmother’s room. Cinderella was shaken by fright. Upon reaching the room, Cinderella found her stepmother, still in bed, surrounded by her two daughters. “The Prince is having a ball in order to choose a wife,” she exclaimed, not noticing Cinderella’s entrance into the room. The stepsisters rejoiced at the prospect of being the new princess. “Oh I am so excited to go to a ball,” Cinderella exclaimed. The sisters stopped and glared at their stepsister. “Silly girl, you can’t go to the ball. You have far too many chores to do,” Stepmother said.

Cinderella helped the girls get ready for the ball. As she saw them adorned in their gowns with their hair done beautifully, she grew even more eager to go. However, she remained covered is dirt. Once the girls left, Cinderella sat under the tree at her mother’s grave and began to cry. She whispered under her breath “I wish I could go to the ball.” Instantly, Cinderella’s dirty and disheveled appearance turned into a beautiful blue gown and glass slippers. It was even more beautiful than the gowns her step mother and step sisters wore. Cinderella, feeling extremely grateful to her mother, kissed the trunk of the tree and rushed to the ball.

As she entered, a hush fell over the crowd of people. Cinderella was the most beautiful girl they had ever seen. She looked so different from her dirtied, everyday appearance that her stepmother and stepsisters didn’t recognize her. The Prince, struck by Cinderella’s beauty, immediately approached her and offered his arm for support as she descended the stairs. “My Lady, I am Prince Grim. What shall I call you?” Struck by fear as she did not want to tell the Prince her true identity, Cinderella remained silent. “Very well then. Shall we dance?,” the Prince asked not skipping a beat. The two danced and talked the entire night. The entire crowd grew jealous of Cinderella for they knew she had stolen the Princes heart. When Cinderella, saw her stepsisters and stepmother begin to leave, she knew she had to return home before them or her secret identity would be discovered. Without a clear explanation why, she ran from the castle leaving only a single shoe in her wake.

Days later the Palace announced that the Prince would go from house to house looking for whom the shoe belonged. When Cinderella heard this she immediately went back to the tree and asked, “Turn me into the beautiful woman I was. Give me beautiful clothes and hair as you did for the ball.” Minutes passed and instead of wearing a beautiful gown, Cinderella was still in her dirty clothes. The tree began to sparkle. In the light Cinderella saw the reflection of her mother. “You do not need beautiful clothes to impress someone. Be yourself.”

The Prince soon reached the house of Cinderella and her Stepmother. The Prince entered followed by a handsome Duke from an adjacent land who was considered the Prince’s closest confidant. Cinderella, still in her stained appearance, opened the door and welcomed the Prince and Duke in. The stepsisters were waiting for their guests in the front hall eager to prove their worthiness. The Prince saw the stepsisters and, not being able to compare them to Cinderella as her face was covered n soot, thought they were beautiful.

Both stepsisters tried on the shoe but it fit neither of them. Tired from searching all over the kingdom, the Prince decided to take one of the stepsisters as his bride. He could not decide which one so, out of greed, he took both. “But Grim, this young woman has not tried on the slipper,” said the Duke. The Duke had noticed Cinderella upon his entrance into the house. He had managed to look beyond the dirt which covered her face to see the beauty which lay beneath. “She is too ugly to be considered a Princess,” the Prince laughed. The Prince led the stepsisters to his coach. Stepmother snarled at Cinderella as she passed. “See Ella, girls like you don’t have happy endings,” she said as she alighted into the carriage. “Are you coming, Duke?,” the Prince asked. The Duke was still in the house staring at Cinderella, enthralled by her beauty. “She may not be a Princess but she may be a Duchess. Go on without me, Grim.”

And so they did. The Prince, stepsisters and Stepmother went to the castle where a large wedding was held in honor of the Prince and his new brides. Yet, Cinderella and the Duke quickly fell in love and had an equally grand wedding. When the Prince saw Cinderella in all her beauty, he became jealous of the Duke for marrying such a stunning woman. He was no longer content with his two brides.

Some years passed and Cinderella was living happily ever after in her beautiful castle with her husband when they were invited to dine with the Prince. They obliged and arrived to dinner that night. Cinderella sat and watched as the Prince ordered her stepsisters around as they had ordered her around just years before. As Cinderella and her husband were leaving the castle, she was stopped by her stepmother. Crying, she said, “We are sorry for the way we treated you, Cinderella. Please, take us to your castle. He is horrible to us. We are his slaves. He hates my daughters and wishes they looked more like you. I beg of you to help us.” Cinderella said nothing. Instead, she smiled and turned away. Perhaps in her most evil act yet, Cinderella walked away without helping her step-family.

Many years later, when Cinderella met her mother in heaven, she asked “Why did you not grant my wish like you said you would?” Her mother smiled and said “Your wish was not simply to wear pretty clothes, Cinderella. It was to find true love. If I had gave you those beautiful clothes you would not have found true love.”