This is story is different than others I have shared. This is fiction. If Cinderella was human, she would feel a lot more than the movies depict. This is what I think she would have felt if she were crushed, and the story was not "happily ever after."

Sweat drips from the brow of a Queen whose Kingdom has fallen all around. Her six children run her, her husband left her and she is tired, finally close to admitting to her defeat. She sweeps the floors, polishes the tables, feeds the children, cleans the windows and vacuums the carpets.

She never complains.

Without a leader, her Kingdom is ripe with despair and hopelessness. A once elegant life turns a sour patch in the face of adversity and the Queen is of no use.

There was a day when galas were hosted every month on exactly the sixth day. The gowns were magnificent, glowing with beauty, a smile radiating above them. The dances now contain joy, but of a different sort. The children romp and move about, mimicking the delicate postures of grace used by their mother, who smiles from afar.

It is not quite so different from before.

There was a day when the meals were extravagant, the maids and butlers carrying ten and twenty courses to choose from. They were variously assorted, no meal eaten twice in one week, the aromas making the fullest of people hunger. The children made mud pies now, taking their turns as chef, butler and maid, as they served their dear mother their finest. Her smile was bigger than when food was made edible.

It was not so different.

There was a day when the shoe finally fit, and true love existed! A day worth getting excited about. A day and time when a marriage counted. It was a day when a perfect Kingdom stood, and a lovely maid was brought into the palace.

Now, Cinderella returns to her ashes, as Prince Charming gave his love to another, with not again a shoe, but a kiss, and left his aging bride to their fallen Kingdom.

As her feet rest on the ancient throne for a first time today, a child, no more than three, clumsily climbs his mother's skirt. She hoists the young Prince to her lap, cooing as he cries. A cut is carefully mended on the boy's cheek, healed only by his mother's kiss. Chaos may consume herself, her home, her family and her Kingdom. But, as the young Prince cuddles closer to a tired Cinderella, she realizes true love once more.

It is not quite so different as before.