Ella

I woke up groggy with crust in the corner of my eyes after a harsh night's sleep, I splashed water from the well on my face and made my way to the henhouse to get eggs for breakfast. Usually, I sleep quite well; I am typically tired after a day's work with my chores, so I fall fast asleep. Ever since getting the invitation to the ball, though, my mind has been elsewhere. 

What will it be like? What kind of music will be playing? Will I have to dance? I haven't danced in years since my father passed. How many people will be there? The invitation invited everyone, especially the females of the court since the purpose of the ball was to find a wife for the prince. Gosh, what is he like? 

I tried to put all these questions to the back of my mind while making my way to the main house. 'No, Ella, you still have chores to do before getting ready for the ball, don't get too distracted and in your head about this or you won't be able to focus and end up making a fool of yourself.'

Still, while in the kitchen waiting for the water to boil, I couldn't help myself but wonder. I had no idea what to expect, and that thought alone gave me butterflies. I put my hand on my stomach to calm myself, took a deep breath, and went about my day. 

I had prepared breakfast before my stepmother and stepsisters were downstairs, I knew they didn't like to wait and the last thing I wanted to do today was to anger any of them. They had been quite generous lately. They were allowing me to go to the ball tonight, after all.

When the invitation was delivered, I was in the foyer dusting and the mailman saw me there. When he mentioned that all women were invited, he bowed his head to each of us before leaving. My stepmother acknowledged that I had been seen, so I must attend. There were conditions, of course. 

The first condition was that I had to find something to wear myself and I couldn't use anything of my stepsisters. Done. The second condition was that I had to find my own way there because my stepmother didn't want the girls or herself to be seen with me, I was still brainstorming how to accomplish that task. The third condition was to keep away from them all night and talk to no one about who I am, especially the prince. I didn't think that would be a problem, he wouldn't approach me anyway and I didn't have the audacity to dare make the first move. 

The dining table in the main house was large and rectangular; unbelievably long, in my opinion, seeing how we rarely had guests over. I placed the eggs and bread in the middle of the table, closest to the fire. Stepmother liked to sit near the heat. Perhaps it was to warm herself from having such a cold heart? I smirked at myself for the thought. Maybe someday her dress will catch fire from being too close to it? Oh, now there was a nice thought. I set their plates and cutlery and went on my way to clean up the kitchen and head back to my shed where I was working on my dress for the evening.

My own mother had passed long ago and I hardly remember her. Father always wanted to keep her spirit alive, though, so he shared things with me about her. He told me that I was a spitting image of her; tall, strawberry blonde hair with waves towards the tips, but I had his blue eyes. Father would tell me stories about my mother and how she would always whisper to me as a baby "You will do great things when you are older, little one. Just remember; be brave, be courageous, be strong, and always be grateful" 

I try to recall this every night before bed and ask myself if I was brave, courageous, or strong that day? And I always counted what I was grateful for. Usually, I would say that I was grateful for a roof over my head, food to eat, and friends to keep me company. Oh, that reminds me, I brought back with me some scraps of bread for the mice.  

There was a hole in the corner of the shed, and I was startled when I first moved into the shed to find them there, but then I felt guilty. This shed was their home and I was intruding, but they didn't seem to mind too much. If anything, I think they quite like me. Sometimes I'll even wake up and find them on my cot. Others would be repulsed by rodents on their feet in the morning, but I found that they kept me warm and accompanied, which is always a comfort. 

I placed the bread by the hole in the shed and they appeared instantly, they must have smelled the bread as I was approaching. They sniffed at it for a moment before taking a bite and looking up at me. "You're welcome" I giggled.

Now, it was finally time to work on my dress. One of the things that Father left behind of Mother's was her favorite dress. It was a baby pink color with ruffle trim around the neckline and hem, the sleeves flowed just past my elbow and there were golden accents around the boning of the corset and a lace ribbon around the waist. It reached the ground despite my height, I really must have looked much like my mother, I thought. 

There wasn't much work to be done on the dress, only some rough patches here and there that needed to be fixed. I had caught the mice nibbling it at times. We had words, and eventually, they understood that I was upset with them and stopped. 

I could have a temper at times, I admit, but who doesn't? Especially after I was thrown out of my house after my father's passing and was treated as a servant other than a sister or daughter, some days it was hard to be brave, courageous, and strong. Some days I found myself being grateful for simply being alive.