The Reluctant Cinderella

Dawn was sleeping soundly, having a peaceful dream. The wall clock struck four in the morning as her bedroom door was opened. One figure walked inside quietly and made its way over to her bed.

"Dawn," the figure said soothingly. She didn't stir. "Dawn, honey, wake up." The figure lightly shook her arm. This time her eyes opened.

"Wha-?" was what she said as she looked around. A moment later she was fully awake. "Oh, you're leaving dad?"

"Yes," her father answered.

She sat up, and as he stepped aside, swung her legs over then stood up. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. It was way too early for her to be up but it was for a good reason. Her father was leaving soon and she needed to see him off. It would be a while before she saw him again.

"Come on," he said. "Everyone's already downstairs."

Nodding, she followed him out of her room, down the stairs, and to the front door where everyone else was already assembled.

Everyone, in turn, said their good-byes and gave him a hug.

"Be safe," Dawn said while she hugged him.

"I will."

Then he was out the door and inside the car. Dawn's mother was driving him. Rose, Sky, and Dawn walked outside and, as the car drove away, they waved.

The car was gone and the three siblings went inside. Sky went immediately back to his bedroom. Dawn headed to the kitchen with Rose following quietly.

Dawn grabbed a plastic kid's cup, which had a faded picture of Princess Aurora from Sleeping Beauty, from the cupboard then went to the refrigerator. She opened the door then pulled out a carton of 2% milk. She closed the door, turned around, and gasped as she saw Rose standing behind her.

"What the hell Rose? Don't sneak up on me like that," Dawn said as she walked passed her sister.

"What the hell was that last night?" Rose questioned while following.

"What was what?" Dawn was at the counter and placed the milk and cup down gently.

"That thing with Missy and you staying over the whole week." Rose's eyes narrowed. "What are you up to?"

Dawn sighed then looked up Rose. "I'm not up to anything. And I thought you'd be happy about this arrangement. We won't have to see each other for a week." Dawn paused. "Or is it, that you're mad because you won't be the boss of me. Your power was diminished." She smirked as she opened the milk carton.

Rose was fuming at her sister's remarks. Seeing the milk carton she bumped it with her arm and it fell to the ground, splattering onto Dawn's favorite pajama pants. The white liquid caused a big mess on the floor and it needed to be cleaned up soon.

"Dawn, you're such a klutz," Rose said with a triumphant smile. "Clean this up right away."

"Rose, you're the one... Hey! Don't walk away!" Dawn yelled as Rose walked out of the kitchen. Another sigh escaped her as she picked up the carton and threw it into the trashcan nearby. Then she began cleaning the mess.

Dawn sat on the couch in Missy's living room watching the television. Earlier Missy had picked her up from the house. As soon as they arrived they placed her bags into the guest room then put a movie in. The movie was towards the end and soon it was over. As the credits started to roll Missy turned off the DVD player then the television. She turned to her guest.

"What do you want to do now?" she asked.

"I don't know," Dawn answered as she leaned back against the comfortable couch.

"Hey," Missy started, "have you spoken to Prince Charming yet?"

"Who?"

"Jason," Missy said like it was obvious.

Dawn groaned. "Don't start that up again. I am not Cinderella and he is not Prince Charming."

"Yes you are! And yes he is."

Dawn turned her head towards Missy. "Please stop trying to make my life into a fairytale."

"I'm not the one who is... fate is." She nodded to herself. "Just look at the facts. You have two, twin older siblings who are mean to you. You have to do their chores-"

"But I do say stuff back," Dawn interrupted.

"Do you still do them in the end?"

"Well... yes," Dawn admitted.

"There you go." Missy smiled in victory before continuing. "Then there are the balls-"

"But in the story there was only one."

"Stop interrupting me. And no, in the Disney version there was one, but in the original version there were three. You'll be surprised on how different those two are."

"Really?"

"Yeah, now be quiet. Like I was saying you do their chores and either aren't nice to you. And your parents seem to agree with everything they say. It has Cinderella written all over it!"

Dawn rolled her dark brown eyes. "I'll believe that when I read the real version."

"Sure," Missy said while getting up. She grabbed Dawn's arm and yanked her off the couch, then pulled her into to a nearby room.

The room was Missy's father's office. Bookcases were against the back wall. Across from them was a desk with a PC. It was to that which Missy brought Dawn too. As they neared Missy released her friend's arm then moved the computer chair. While sitting she moved the mouse to get the screen to appear then clicked the Firefox icon. The Internet was running and she went into the favorite folder and clicked on something.

"You have the National Geographic website in your favorites?" Dawn asked with her eyebrows up.

"Yeah, is it that hard to believe?" Dawn nodded. "I guess it is. Anyway, I have it as a favorite because the website has the original Grimm Brothers fairy tales. Wait one moment please."

She went to the search bar and typed in "Grimm Brothers" then hit Enter. The results were up quickly and she clicked on the first link. She scanned the page then clicked the banner which led her to another page. Her eyes went to the bottom of the page and she clicked "list of stories."

"Here it is," she said as she clicked on the Cinderella link. The story appeared.

"Wow, that was quite a lot you had to do. Why not simply bookmark that page?"

Missy looked at her. "Good idea. I'll do that later. Now read."

She got off the chair then placed Dawn into it.

The room was quiet as Dawn read the story. She was immediately fascinated by it. The original story was different from the Disney version. When she was finished she looked back at Missy.

"You were right, it was different. I didn't know the real story was like that. I can see why Disney changed it. But it doesn't apply to me."

The smile that was on Missy's face slowly disappeared.

"What are you talking about? It does apply to you."

Dawn got off of the chair. "There's one thing you are forgetting mi amiga. The story is a fairytale and I live in real life. So they are not the same. Besides," she continued, "the prince went up to her every night and wanted to find her. Jason hasn't had the time or just doesn't want to be friends."

The smile on Missy's face returned as an idea hit her.

"Well, we're going to have to fix that. Come on!"

She grabbed Dawn's arm again and dragged her out of the room. They passed the living room, where Aidan was now in.

"We're going out," Missy said to her younger brother. "Be back later."

"Okay," he lazily replied with his attention still on the television.

Missy continued pulling Dawn along and into the garage where her car was parked. She let Dawn go then hurried to the driver's seat and got in.

"Where are we going exactly?" Dawn asked as she buckled her seat belt.

"To find Jason." Missy glanced at Dawn and noticed her friend opening her mouth to speak. "Shh! Here we go!"

She backed the car out and soon was on the road. There was nothing Dawn could do about the situation now.