by Lisa Shea
Prudence stepped in front of the mirror. Before she could stop herself, she shimmied in excitement. Cupid grinned. “I bet the prince will ask you to dance the minute you enter the ballroom,” she said. But instead of looking happy, Prudence suddenly turned pale.
“If the dress is fine, Cinderella, please help me get out of it immediately.” Cupid didn’t understand, but she did as she was told. If I got to wear a gown like that, I’d never take it off, Cupid thought, looking down at her own rags.
She let out a little sigh and said, “Okay, Charlotte, you’re next.”
Charlotte’s dress was equally lovely. It was soft, buttery-yellow silk, with lace trimming around the neck and sleeves.
“You look fableous,” Cupid told her.
“Yes, yellow always was a good color for you, Charlotte, darling,” Stepmother said.
Charlotte studied her reflection thoughtfully.
“The dress is fine,” she said. But then she made an odd request: “Cinderella, could you make sure it’s long enough that my shoes don’t show—at all?”
Her mother seemed surprised—and a little bit disappointed. “But, Charlotte, dear, I bought you a new lovely pair of shoes specifically to match your gown. It would be a shame to cover them up. Look!” And she held up a pair of soft golden slippers with satin bows.
“Mother, please! I don’t want my shoes to show! If I can’t wear the dress the way I want, I won’t go at all!” Charlotte said.
Once again Cupid was confused. The shoes were just beautiful, and she couldn’t figure out why Charlotte didn’t want to wear them.
Charlotte’s mother sighed deeply. “Fine. Cinderella, adjust the gown however she wishes.” Then she stared at the shoes in her hands and said, “Maybe I can return these tomorrow.” She tried to slip one on her own foot. “I’d keep them for myself, Charlotte, if your feet weren’t so very tiny.”
Cupid just looked at Charlotte sadly, not saying a word. Finally, Charlotte broke the silence. “You heard my mother, Cinderella!” she demanded. “Lower my hem!” Reluctantly, Cupid did as she was asked.
After she finished both dresses, Cupid took out her notebook and added her notes on Charlotte’s and Prudence’s strange behavior.
“What is that?” Stepmother asked.
Cupid looked up and hastily closed the book. “Oh, nothing! I’m just—uh—taking notes on Charlotte’s and Prudence’s dress measurements… what they like and dislike in a ball gown… things like that. It will help me for the next time I need to get dresses ready for them.”
As Cupid started to walk to her room, she heard Charlotte calling her name.
“You forgot your book,” said Charlotte.
“Oh!” Cupid replied nervously, hoping the stepsister hadn’t taken a peek inside. “Thanks, I’ll come get it.” She started back down the stairs to retrieve it.
“No—wait!” Charlotte said suddenly, and Cupid froze. “Get ready and go long!”
“‘Go long’? What does that mean?”
Charlotte laughed. “It just means move back a little,” she explained, and so Cupid shuffled up a few steps.
“Now, catch!” Charlotte shouted as she threw the book to Cupid. It landed perfectly in her hands.
“Wow, that’s quite an arm you’ve got there, Charlotte,” Cupid observed.
“Thanks,” Charlotte replied. And, for the first time since Cupid had arrived, Charlotte’s face broke into a big, beautiful smile.
Before she went to bed that night, Cupid decided to bring each stepsister her ball gown. When she got to Prudence’s room, she heard a loud thumping sound. She tiptoed to the door and quietly took a peek. Inside, Prudence was dancing around, holding a broomstick. She was trying to dance a waltz with it, but she was so clumsy she kept tripping over her own two feet. The poor thing, Cupid thought as she watched Prudence’s awkward steps. Prudence attempted a complicated ballroom dance step again and again but kept messing up. She became frustrated and tossed the broom aside. Surprised, Cupid accidently pushed on the door, and it let out a big squeak loud enough for Prudence to catch her watching from the doorway.
“Cinderella! What are you doing there staring at me? Have you been… spying on me?!” she roared.
“No! I didn’t mean anything.… I was just dropping off your dress.…” Cupid tried to explain.
“Get out of here now! You should mind your own business! Stay out, Cinderella!” Prudence yelled and slammed the door.
Cupid wasn’t bothered by having the door closed in her face because now she had another clue! Hanging Prudence’s dress by her door, she quickly made a note in her book.
Pleased with herself, Cupid tucked the notebook back into her apron pocket and headed over to Charlotte’s door.
“Come in!” Charlotte called.
Cupid walked in to find Charlotte doing sit-ups on the floor.
“I finished your gown, and I just wanted to give it to you,” Cupid said.
Charlotte did another sit-up.
“Thanks. Just put it on the bed,” Charlotte said, and continued exercising.
Cupid watched her for a few minutes. “Wow, you’re really good at that,” she told her. “You must be fairy athletic.”
“I am,” replied Charlotte, picking up two hand weights. “Speed, strength, and balance. That’s what I’m trying to work on.”
“That’s spelltacular!” Cupid said honestly.
“Thank you,” said Charlotte. “I appreciate that. Those three qualities are fairy important to me, if I want to keep my spot on my b—”
“On your what?” Cupid asked. “It’s okay. You can tell me.”
Charlotte hesitated. For a moment, it looked as if she was going to confide something in Cupid. But then she stopped.
“Why should I tell you?” Charlotte said at last. “It’s not like we’re not friends. We’re not even sisters, really.” She looked coldly at Cupid as she spoke. “You’re probably just like my mom. All you probably care about is hair, makeup, the Grand Ball, and meeting the prince. Maybe there are more important things—things that matter to me!”
Cupid took a deep breath. “Tell me what is important to you! Let’s make it happen. I want to help everyone be happy.”
Charlotte wasn’t convinced. “You want to help me? Really?”
“Yes, of course!” Cupid answered.
“Well, then leave my gown and get out of here!”
Cupid gently put the gown on Charlotte’s bed and quietly left the room. As soon as she got back to her own room, she made note of everything she had learned about Charlotte.
Later that night, alone in her room, Cupid looked through all her notes. She was starting to get a picture of what made the stepsisters tick.… But this was one complicated fairytale! How could she ever put all the pieces together?
CHAPTER 5
Scrub-a-dub-dub
The next morning, Cupid found a thick, creamy envelope with gold lettering at the front door. It was the official invitation from the prince for the Grand Ball that evening! He was throwing the ball in order to find his true love and invited everyone in the kingdom to attend. Cupid was hexcited until Stepmother yanked the invitation out of her hands and told her, “This invitation is not for you.”
Now it was Cupid’s turn to be upset. She pointed at the invitation. “But… look! It says everyone in the kingdom is invited. Everyone. That means me, too!”
“How dare you disagree with me, young lady?” Stepmother yelled. “And anyway, this house is still a mess! You absolutely cannot attend the ball.”
Cupid was disappointed. She wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Not to mention, she’d finally get out of the raggedy clothes she’d been wearing all the time. But then she noticed Charlotte and Prudence at the top of the stairs exchanging worried glances. Somehow, they looked more upset than Cupid felt. The mystery continues, Cupid thought. What is wrong here? Why don’t they want to go to the ball? She had to find out.
Cupid decided she’d start with
Prudence, and this time she knocked very carefully at the door.
“Come in!” Prudence called, and Cupid slipped her head past the door. “Oh,” she said, “it’s you.… What do you want?”
“Aren’t you just so hexcited for the ball?” Cupid asked in her most cheerful voice. “I know you’re going to have a fableous time tonight in your beautiful new dress, Prudence.”
“Why would I?” Prudence said with a groan as she stood up and walked toward the door. “Tonight will be just like any other night. I’ll go the ball, be miserable, come home, and then my mother will blame me for not trying to have a good time. Even if I did try, I still wouldn’t be able to do anything right.”
Cupid didn’t understand what was wrong, and she wanted to help. But before she could say anything at all, Prudence walked out of her room and shut the door behind her.
A short time later, Stepmother told her two daughters to fetch their new gowns; they had to start getting ready right away for the Grand Ball. Immediately, Charlotte and Prudence became sour and cranky, and started barking orders at Cupid to do more chores.
“Cinderella, you have to empty out all the shampoo bottles and wash them, and then pour the shampoo back in the clean bottles. How can I possibly wash my hair with shampoo that’s not in a clean shampoo bottle?” Prudence complained.
Just as Cupid finished washing each and every shampoo bottle, Charlotte walked into the bathroom and looked carefully around the room. Cupid couldn’t help but get the sense that Charlotte was looking for something to be wrong. Finally, she looked up at the ceiling and smiled triumphantly.
“Cinderella hasn’t dusted the ceiling in the bathroom, so how could I possibly do my hair in here?” Charlotte announced, and waltzed out of the bathroom with a dramatic sigh. Cupid quickly grabbed a stepstool and tried to dust the ceiling, but she still wasn’t tall enough. Then she remembered her feathered friends! The little birds were happy to help. They flapped their wings across the ceiling. But just as Cupid thought she’d finished with all her chores, Prudence came up with a new one. She wanted the mirror polished. And then Charlotte decided that the bathtub should be cleaned again, even though it was sparkling.
Cupid didn’t mind the hextra work, but she did suspect that the stepsisters were making up chores for no good reason. Cupid thought back to Cinderella’s fairytale—then she remembered! In the story, the wicked stepmother said Cinderella couldn’t go to the ball unless she finished all her chores. The stepmother thought the chores she gave Cinderella would be impossible to finish, so she would never get to go to the ball!
Then Cupid realized—maybe in this story, Charlotte and Prudence were making up these chores so they couldn’t get ready in time for the ball! Why were the stepsisters so opposed to going to the ball?
Finally, the girls couldn’t come up with any more silly chores, so Cupid set to work on getting them ready. She fixed Prudence’s long, shiny black hair in an elaborate crown braid. “This looks spelltacular, and you won’t have to worry about your hair getting messed up when you dance,” she told her. Cupid thought she saw Prudence’s eyes light up at the word dance. But almost immediately her eyes grew sad again, and her face returned to its usual sour expression. What can I do to change this story? Cupid wondered. I’m not even going to the ball, so how can I help? Then, she had an idea.
It was time to call for backup.
CHAPTER 6
One Candy-Colored Coach Coming Up!
Cupid thought more about Ashlynn’s story, and she remembered that she should have a fairy godmother to help her. She shut her eyes tightly and wished with all her might for her fairy godmother to appear. When she opened her eyes, Madeline Hatter was there, all dressed up like her fairy godmother!
“Maddie! What are you doing here? This isn’t Wonderland!” Cupid said, surprised to see her friend. Then she gave Maddie a big hug. “You have no idea how ‘tea-rrific’ it is to see you!
“Oh, hi, Cupid! The Narrators have been telling me all about this topsy-turvy storybook mix-up! All the midterm hexams have been turned upside down by Faybelle. Or maybe they are rightside up. Or sideways? Definitely sideways, like a jamberry upside-down scone!” Maddie said, clapping her hands excitedly.
“So, Faybelle put a spell on the midterm hexams? This is all making so much sense now!” responded Cupid.
“I heard that Cerise Hood and Dexter Charming ended up in Rosabella Beauty’s story, of all places,” Maddie continued. “You will never believe what those two are up to.…”
As much as Cupid wanted to find out what was going on with her classmates, she also wanted to help the stepsisters. “Can you help me out, Maddie, as my fairy godmother? So far I’ve been a fairy-fail at figuring out this fairytale.”
Maddie laughed. “Of course I can! What you need to do is to throw a tea party and invite everyone!”
Cupid wasn’t sure that throwing a tea party sounded like the best solution. How could that help fix the stepsisters’ problems?
“Everyone always feels better after a nice cup of tea,” Maddie explained. “I’m going to put out my finest tea set. Isn’t it spelltacular? I guarantee this will perk everyone right up! Are there any fresh flowers around here? Help me set the table.” Maddie was already putting out her tea set when Cupid suddenly stopped and said, “Wait, Maddie! Can you use fairy magic to make me a horse and carriage, just like in the story?”
“Of course I can. That’s easy!” Maddie exclaimed. “Why don’t I lend you my teapot for the night? I think it would make a tea-rrific carriage, don’t you? And these little doves would make even lovey-dovey-ier horses!”
“Oh, thank you!” Cupid said happily.
“I’ll even throw in a wonderlandiful dress for the ball!” added Maddie with a wink.
Maddie waved her fairy godmother wand, and—POOF!—her tea set and Cupid’s new critter friends were transformed into horses and a carriage to take Cupid to the ball. And Cupid was transformed as well. The transformation turned out a bit sillier than Cupid expected. Her carriage looked like a giant teapot with four big plates for wheels. It was covered in bright lemon-yellow and orange flowers. Cupid’s gown looked like a blue sky covered in pink cotton-candy clouds! Now she had everything she needed to go to the ball.
“Ohhh… Cupid! Look at your hair!” Maddie sighed. Cupid peeked in the mirror she had just polished. Her hair was now every color of the rainbow. This is actually kind of spelltacular! Cupid thought with a little smile. She twirled in front of the mirror. She loved her new gown! Cupid couldn’t wait to go to the ball to see if she could save this fairy topsy-turvy fairytale after all.
CHAPTER 7
Anybody Lose a Sneaker?
Cupid felt like a princess as she walked into the ball. No one recognized her, of course, now that she was out of her Cinderella rags. “You look hexquisite!” one princess said to her as she passed. “Oooh, I want rainbow-colored hair, too!” said another. Cupid smiled. The Grand Ball was even more hexciting than she had imagined!
“Excuse me. Would you like to dance?” a young prince asked. He held out his hand to Cupid.
“Oh! Um… maybe a little later. Thank you for asking,” Cupid replied.
“I will wait forever for the young lady with the rainbow-colored hair,” the prince said.
Cupid watched him walk away and sighed. Maybe if she could solve these stepsisters’ problems early, she could enjoy one dance. For someone who was always playing matchmaker and helping other people find love, Cupid never seemed to have any time for romance for herself. Cupid suddenly had an idea. Maybe she could talk about royal balls on her next Mirror-Cast show. She imagined what she would say: Are you looking for love? Is it your lifelong dream to meet a handsome prince at a royal ball? Then pay close attention. I’m here to tell you everything you need to know to make a royal hit in romance! Cupid searched the ballroom and spotted the stepsisters moping around, looking even more miserable than usual. Rule number one: Do not mope around in the corners, Cupid thought. Y
ou must get out and mingle! Cupid moved in and watched the stepsisters more closely. She noticed that Charlotte kept tugging at her dress and checking the time. Rule number two: Always wear clothes that you are comfortable in and make you feel hexquisite.
Prudence, meanwhile, kept watching the people on the dance floor with a sad look on her face. Then, as Cupid watched, a young prince walked over to Prudence and asked her to dance. Prudence looked surprised and nervous, and quickly shook her head.
“Are you sure?” the young man asked. “Forgive me if I’m being forward, but I couldn’t help but notice you standing here by yourself, tapping your foot to the music. I thought surely you would like to dance.”
“No… no, thank you,” Prudence said firmly.
Cupid looked back to Charlotte, who had moved to a dark corner of the ballroom. What is she doing? Cupid wondered. It looked like she was pretending to throw a bookball! Why would she be pretending to do that? Does she even like bookball?
A little while later, Cupid went to the bathroom to wash up her hands. When she opened the door, she was surprised to see Prudence dancing in front of the mirror. She was shimmying and twirling and seemed to be having a great time… all by herself. Luckily, she didn’t see Cupid, and Cupid quietly sneaked out, shaking her head. Why would Prudence refuse to dance with a royal, yet dance alone in the ladies’ room?
As Cupid left the ladies’ room, she nearly bumped into Charlotte and her mom. But they didn’t recognize Cupid, so they carried on the conversation they’d been having.
“Charlotte. I’m begging you. Just dance with someone. It doesn’t have to be a prince. Just dance with anyone. Please,” Stepmother pleaded with her daughter.
“Mother, I told you already. I don’t feel like dancing right now. If I see someone I want to dance with, I will.”
“My dear, you mean to say there’s nobody in the entire kingdom that you’d like to dance with right now? Not even a teeny little bit?”
