"This is not how things are supposed to be," said her Fair Goddess Mother, pacing back and forth. "I have the rats already to pull the carriage..."
"You mean the smelly pumpkin?" asked Cinder.
"Whatever. They have waistcoats on and everything."
"The prince is atrocious. I wouldn't marry him if he..."
"It's just a ball, you don't have to marry him."
"I hate balls. They're..."
"You are a difficult girl."
"I'm not a difficult girl, I just want to live my own life and that does not include ball gowns, or a stupid prince."
Her Goddess Mother sat down on the floor. "Difficult girl. I suppose you like that guy who mucks out stalls."
"I do. He's nice and the horses like him."
"He's poor."
"So?"
"Just sayin'."
"It not about money," said Cinder.
"That just shows how young you really are."
"No, that just shows how insane your values really are."
"Maybe," said her Goddess Mother, yawning. "You're dress would have been lovely."
"I like my jeans, thank you very much."
"I could still send you there. I don't need your permission, you know."
"Don't even think about it."
"I am thinking about it."
Cinder stood in the ballroom in a Freddie Mercury T-shirt and ripped jeans. She was growling and her hands were balled into fists.
"And you are?" asked the man, holding a tray of tiny sandwiches.
"I AM FURY."
"I see," he said, quickly moving away.
Cinder left the party, ran down the front stairs and started walking home, which was quite far, actually. She was muttering to herself, and feeling betrayed by a female she once thought she could trust. She came to a small patch of woods and ducked between the trees. She gathered a few twigs, a mushroom and several dried leaves and whipped out her lighter. She set the leaves on fire and cast a spell, forever removing her Goddess Mother from her life. She felt her disappear, put out the fire, and left the woods. The rest of her walk was quite peaceful. She met a fox, a deer, a baby skunk and something she didn't recognize. She petted all of them and wished them well. They made the trip worthwhile, she thought, happily.
Once home, she made herself a frozen waffle and a cup of tea. She covered the waffle with powdered sugar and opened her book. One of the cats jumped onto the table and fell asleep, leaning against her.
Hours later she heard the front door open and her quiet evening exploded into loud voices and more laughter.
"Did you see her throw herself at him?"
"Did you see how red his face was?
"She tripped over her gown."
"She lost her shoe."
"He fell off the bottom stair."
"The food was terrible."
"His mother looked bored."
"His father, looked even more bored."
"Who do you think he'll choose?"
Her step-mother walked into the kitchen, threw her gloves onto the table, and sat down, while the girls rushed upstairs.
"There has to be more to life than this," she said.
"I hope so," said Cinder.
"Silly children playing games their silly parents made up."
"What would people talk about if not for those things?" asked Cinder.
"Food, art, literature...I don't know, maybe something that mattered. I saw you. I can only assume you were sent against your will and that's why you left immediately."
"I fired my Goddess Mother."
Her step-mother nodded. "I fired mine too, when I was your age."
"I didn't know they could work against you."
"Darling girl, everyone can work against you, your a woman."
"It's sad."
"Also, deadly."
"I think I want to be a writer and write stories about brave and strong girls and women who don't need to be rescued by men."
"That's the best idea I've ever heard. You can count on me to do whatever is necessary to make sure you get to do that.
"You're too kind."
"Mothers are supposed to be kind, whether biological, or step."
"I'm not sure that's not something that's just made up."'
"Maybe," her step-mother said, smiling. "But I want it to be true."
"I do too."
"A writer. how wonderful," said her step-mother, standing up. "Go back to your book. I'll try and keep the girls as quiet as I possibly can."
"Thank you."
"The prince picked a girl named Gazelda. Her family owned quiet a bit of land, next to his father's, so it was a perfect match. Gazelda couldn't ride a horse to save her life and she never looked up, or smiled. Many of the other girls were disappointed, but there were a lot of girls, and only one prince, so that was bound to happen. The prince and princess never had any children and most people thought that was the best thing for everyone, especially any children they may have accidentally had. Everyone waited for the prince's mother to die, but she didn't, since she had a son, not a daughter.
Cinder was, according to Publisher's Weekly, "A new and upcoming author, one to watch," and her books sold out almost as soon as they hit the shelves. An entire generation of girls started looking at boys in a very different way. They realized that the mother's of girls didn't have to die, and that girls didn't have to hide in towers, or run away from evil step-mothers, or live in the woods with 7 strangers, fall into a coma, eat poison apples, or do any of the other nasty things they thought were their lot in life.
Instead, they read that they could be brave, befriend dragons and fight bad guys. They could live on their own, have friends, and BECOME whatever they wanted to become. They didn't have to go to balls. They didn't have to be CHOSEN. They could do the CHOOSING.
And yes, Cinder and the guy who mucked out stalls hooked up. They moved in together and were very happy. They were both excellent riders and had a stable of their own, with horses, cats, dogs, a few goats and three deer.
Cinder stayed in touch with her sisters, who did outgrown their silly ways, and she had lunch with her step-mother once or twice a week.
Royal dances died out and men were confused. They didn't seem to have as much power over women as they once did. It took awhile for them to realize that women were with them because society made it impossible for them to survive on their own. Relationships changed.
No one knows where fired Goddess Mothers go, but it happens more often than one would think and none of them were ever seen again.
Cinder made a difference by showing people that the old ways are not the best ways and that rules and ideas need to change, in order for people to be happy and free. It's not easy being the one who stands up for herself, but someone has to do it. Girls should be friends with dragons and carry swords. They should do magic and not need boys, in order to have a happy and exciting life. Girls just have to read the right books to know just how strong they really are.
Most of all, it doesn't matter what you call yourself, a prince, princess, King or Queen, since those are just words and titles, while underneath it all, they're just people like everyone else, even if they don't know it.
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