Happily Ever After

Heya all. So guess whats? I have a little story for you all, so drop whatever you're doing right now and pay attention, got it? Good. Okay, here we go.
Well, once upon a time there was this girl. She was beautiful; heartbreakingly so with eyes to die for, a complexion that would make Athena jealous, and a fairy tale life. Now, this girl was a pretty princess who was put in dire peril. But, she was rescued by a prince, and she lived happily ever after. The end.
Now, we've all heard that story before, correct? It's Disney's favorite way of ending every story. Of course we've heard it. Well... Ever since I was really little I always, always, always wondered one thing.
What happens to all those characters in the movie that don't get a happy ending? What about Cinderella's stepmother? What about those stepsisters of hers? Why didn't anyone think that they deserved a happy ending?
I didn't understand for one the evil stepmother. It's not exactly all her fault that she's the way she is, is it? I mean sure, you chose your attitude and she chose to be a bitter old witch who is jealous that someone else is prettier than her. Is that really so bad though? Haven't we all gone there and been jealous of someone who is just so beautiful and so... perfect? Something that we couldn't even dream of being? I mean, in the Disney movie, the evil stepmother doesn't even have a name! I dunno about anyone else, but if I didn't even qualify enough to have a name in a flippin' movie where I was the evil villian, I'd be pretty bitter too. (Yeah, give me the part of a villian anyday. I woudn't need help for that one. :D)
And, look at it this way, what happened in her life that made her so jealous? I mean, maybe she was beautiful once too. Maybe, just maybe, she had a handsome prince who loved her! And maybe something happened to that prince. Maybe he found a Cinderella, someone who was so perfectly perfect that he couldn't help but love her over the girl who would become the evil stepmother. How much would that have hurt? Maybe the prince had told her that he loved her. Maybe she had believed him. And maybe she'd never gotten over him, because he'd been everything she'd ever wanted. What if that was what happened?
And what if... What if that prince that had left her hadn't been a prince? What if it had been Cinderella's father? And finally, her chance comes to be with the one man she had ever loved, just for her to realize he had a daughter that he loved more than life itself. And of course, it wouldn't be just any daughter, but one who looked exactly like that girl who had first stolen her Romeo. How hard would it be to find that the only man you'd ever loved, had moved on and would never love you the way you loved him...?
So, yeah she was horrible to Cinderella, but what if there was an explaination? Could you day after day after day get up and look a girl in the face who reminded you of everything you had ever hated? I'm slightly ashamed to say that I would probably do exactly what the evil stepmother did. I'd give in and be bitter and try to inflict as much of the horror I had harbored inside of myself on that girl for a past hurt that the girls mother had done to me.
Yeah, it's evil. But... it's human. A human folly. Sure, the stepmother could've done better. I could do better. But then again... No one is perfect. You see, I'm not justifying the stepmother's actions. I'm not saying that she's right in what she did. I'm just saying, she's human. She has human weaknesses, she has human moments and she makes mistakes. It's just sad that she had to be the evil stepmother. She could've been so much more.
I guess that can apply to life too. We could be sooooo much more, but generally we never are. So many people settle for ordinary, when really they could've been amazing. What would have happened if Thomas Edison or Jane Austen decided that they weren't worth anything and that they just shouldn't try? What would our world be like now? Well, for one, it'd be dark, and for another, it'd lack the beauty that we've come to appreciate through their actions.
I think that this whole thing definately applies to Cinderella's stepsisters also. I mean, jealousy is a major emotion to feel and an extremely hard one to ignore. For girls especially I know how hard it is to have someone who is prettier, nicer, and just does everything so much better than you. Sometimes you just want to hate them with every fiber of your being, but then its impossible because they're just so good. Most people find it hard to hate girls like Cinderella, but I'm pretty sure if I put my mind to it, I could.
(Yeah, I know. Sorry Mom, you brought me up better than this.) But wait, lemme explain!!
Cinderella was the girl who suffered physically all those years under the thumb of her stepmother. (Notice how I left off the evil part. I'm thinking along the lines of more misunderstood.) But what about her own daughters? Gisella and Anastasia or what not. They've been raised by this woman who's passed on all bitterness to them that she's ever harbored. They never even had a chance at what Cinderella had because of the way they were raised. They have no chance at ever being beautiful like Cinderella is and they have no way to rival her pure innocence because that was taken away from them so early.
When you're taught a habit from so young, you believe that it is right. Cinderella's stepsisters learned that it was okay to treat people like they treated their stepsister from their mother, so really, it isn't their fault is it? Shouldn't they deserve some type of life, some guy, who will teach them that life is worth living and worth living well? And maybe not even a guy, but something that makes their life happy?
Does ANYONE agree with me?
And besides... If my life was a fairy tale, I've always thought that I'd be one of the stepsisters. Someone who would be in the background, watching the belle of the ball swirl around with Prince Charming while always just wishing that she could somehow find fufillment in herself.
Because maybe the stepsisters weren't exactly beautiful on the outside, but on the inside... maybe, just maybe... They were like me. Maybe they were something that might have been worth five more minutes of time, instead of just being passed over...
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And then again, maybe I just over think things. Maybe Ma and Pa were right about saying I need more extracurricular stuff... Ah, oh well. Onto the homework now!! Loves to all! :D
-Loryn