We are thrilled to announce the winner of “The Real Ending” creative writing competition! Charlotte Cleary from Robert Smyth Academy captivated us all with their brilliant reimagining of Cinderella, transforming the ending in an unforgettable way. Charlotte’s original and compelling narrative stood out amongst a sea of fantastic entries, revealing an ending that challenges everything we thought we knew. Congratulations, Charlotte, on your imaginative and masterful storytelling!
In the morning, Cinderella was cleaning her two mean, ugly sisters’ house. Gretchen (the first sister) said that they were going to the prince’s ball tonight with a hope of winning his regal heart. Seething with jealousy, Cinderella sneered that they were too ugly, and the prince would never take them over the other charming, elegant women. The two sisters, offended, knew how to solve the problem (it was not 1950, and plastic surgery was available for anyone over the age of eighteen).
After getting their faces modified to the ideal, flawless look, they savaged Cinderella for her discourteous remark and left. Out of spite, Cinderella gave up on cleaning and was wishing for justice against her two pretty sisters when suddenly, a fairy godmother appeared! But it wasn’t really a fairy godmother because they don’t exist. It was the police. Cinderella had called them to report the incident. She explained what had happened and the police asked why the two pretty sisters had attacked her. She replied, “Oh, it was a silly little joke, never you mind.” But when the police asked what specific kind of joke this was, she had no choice but to tell them about the “ugly” comment. After hearing this, the police told her that your appearance is one of your protected characteristics and they had a right to defend themselves. Cinderella cried that life was not fair, so she ran off in just her rags to the prince’s ball.
At the ball, the prince was dancing with Gertrude (the second ugly sister) because Gretchen, who he had originally fallen for, had been gorging on so much hazardous ultra-processed food that she blacked out and was rushed to hospital. With sincere love, the prince proposed to Gertrude, and she accepted. Without warning, Cinderella shattered their happy moment by furiously setting the grand hall on fire, the flames flickering like her rage. She then ran out and Gertrude followed, leaving a black shoe behind that the prince collected on his way out, unaware of whom it might belong to. So, the prince set off around town letting all the gorgeous women try it on. Cinderella knew this, and developed a devious plan…
In the dead of night, she crept into the prince’s palace and purloined Gertrude’s shoe, the only witness being a cat. Then she arranged for a friend to tailor the shoe to fit her dainty foot and placed it back precisely where she had found it. When dawn rose, the birds sang and the sky shone as Cinderella woke up and beamed like the sun because she knew that today would be a good day. Later in the day, as the prince knocked on the door, a deafening silence bestowed upon the two foes. Adamant that she would win, Gertrude went up first and to her horror, disgust and disbelief her own black heel did not fit on her foot! Next was Cinderella who very well knew that the manipulated shoe would fit perfectly on her perfect foot, and with no surprise it did, and Cinderella and the prince lived happily ever after.
EPILOGUE
If you are wondering about what happened to Gretchen and Gertrude, well Gretchen suffered from poor mental health and Gertrude simply suffered from a broken heart.
