The Girl with the Glass Slipper

A Story a Day 365 Challenge

The upper gardens of the royal palace were constant at night. Tall dark cypresses lined the paths made of white marble. They moved ever so gently in the warm evening wind. Marble fountains carved into cherubs sprung forth crystal water ever so gently from their delicate mouths, aiming their arrows at any love birds present. The two figures sitting on the low marble walls, where vines and blue roses wrapped around and lay still in exquisite delicacy. The man was a handsome prince, heir to the throne of this kingdom, of which there is no name. Strong masculine features, soft brown eyes, daring lips...and the lady, her body pressed up close next to his, wrapped in a delicate gown made of light blue silk, sparkling as if it were made of stardust. The beauty lay in her soft face, where blue eyes examined all of the beauty in front of her, her lips plump and pink, rivaling the energy of the rose's petals themselves. And on her feet, dainty glass slippers.

 

The two sat there in this heaven, and quiet surrounded them, their gloved hands meeting, their faces inches apart from each other.

 

The garden overlooked the entire kingdom.

 

The girl with no name.

 

The clock struck midnight. She turned to see those two hour hands pointing upwards. Damn them! She turned to the prince, expecting to tell him something, but the worry was crashing down inside her head, and she ran. She ran towards the ballroom, where once again, all the people stopped to look at her grace and beauty, even while running! Behind her, she could hear the prince's feet. Her own feet, inside those glass slippers, where starting to tire out. They clanked against the red carpet floors, as she passed the long corridors lined with huge portraits of royal family members, and the silent guards, with only their eyes watching.

 

"Stop her!" yelled someone from behind. It was not the prince, she was sure of that, but then who?

 

By the time the command had been yelled, she had already turned around the corner and started dashing down the entrance hall stairs. The door was a few feet away. Her sparkling blue dress was waving side to side in her hands as she glided down those stairs. And then, she felt something come loose from her foot. But she did not let that stop her. Taking a glance behind her, she saw the twinkling crystal that was her glass slipper, lying on the step. Oh, never mind, she thought. She couldn't possibly go back to get it. Not that it would matter once the spell was over.

 

The carriage was waiting outside, the same glittering orange carriage bewitched from a pumpkin. She climbed inside, and without a moment's glance, it sped off into the night, with the royal guard hot on her heels behind her on a set of black horses. But the magic of the carriage was far more powerful, and they soon left them in a cloud of dust.

 

She poked her head out of the window, to see the palace rolling out of view. It was only a dream, wasn't it? A beautiful dream.

Author's Note

As the description says, this was a challenge I had planned on following. And as is typical of me, this (along with another piece of philosophical bullshit I titled a 'musing') was the only thing that came out of it.

Written 26 July 2010.

Reviews

[Glen Yumang Manese]

This is a well written narrative...taking from the old story and recreating the design of it here within your lines...the beginning to the end...has the reader going into the action of her escape...and liked the way you pull us into the scene...

I did only see a minor area for correction:

The two sat there in this heaven, and quiet surrounded them, their gloved hands meeting, their faces inches apart from each other.

--
-
The two sat there in this heaven, and quiet surrounded them, their gloved hands meeting, and their faces inches apart from each other.

again --- its a sound write...