Once upon a time, there was a girl named Cinderella Singh Agarwal living in a small Indian village with her stepmother and stepsisters, near the big city of Mumbai. Her stepsisters were perfect in almost every way: they had good grades, were beautiful, and at the same time very strong. Her measly light brown hair and patchy skin was nothing in comparison to their clear, perfect olive skin tone, and beautiful, lush brown hair. Almost every day, Cinderella only desired one thing: to be as good as her sisters so they would finally accept her. Little did she know that the one quality Cinderella still had that set her apart from her sisters was her positivity and kindness, as well as her great personality. While her step sisters never batted an eye at those in need, Cinderella always tried to help. 

But today, something else was on her mind: report cards came out, and Cinderella was sure that she had flunked almost every single class. As Cinderella was walking down the monotonous, cracked gray road that led to her house, an idea lit up in her mind. Wait… what if I crumble and tear up my report card before mother sees it? Surely, that must work! Then, her step mother wouldn’t be able to see her bad grades and couldn’t give her that perpetual, judging stare. Briskly, Cinderella took her report card out of her folder, and tore it up, letting the scraps blow away in the wind. Evidence destroyed, thought Cinderella as she smiled smugly, trying to get rid of the guilt she had from being dishonest. It couldn’t be that bad, after all. 

“Hi, Cinderella. I heard report cards came out today. Can I see yours?” Her step mother asked as she walked in the door. No “How was school?” or “What’s new?”. Cinderella rolled her eyes. Why isn’t she like this with my older sisters? 

“What report card? I didn’t get anything…” Cinderella replied, a confused look on her face. Or at least she hoped it was enough to convince her mother that she didn’t get it. After a few long seconds, her mother finally shrugged. 

“It’s fine. I guess it’ll be on the computer. I’ll check later.” Her mother said. Cinderella stopped dead in her tracks, shivers sent through her spine. “Oh, and King Jasprit sent out a letter saying that his son, Prince Jignesh, is ready to get married. They are planning a ball where he will decide who the most beautiful girl in the region is and take him as his wife. Depending on your grades, I’ll let you go. ” Cinderella’s eyes widened. 

“O-Ok.” She said, her face turning pale and palms sweaty. She ran upstairs, faster than a horse in a race and crashed on her bed. “What will I do now?” She whispered to herself. Cinderella thought the prince was the most handsome man to ever exist, and there’s absolutely no chance her mother would let her go to the dance with her grades. She truly did need a miracle to help her now. Fortunately, one was on the way. 

In the evening, as Cinderella went out on a stroll, still struggling to come up with a way to get out of her issues, she at last gave up, the sad truth engulfing her like the darkness in the sky above her as night came. I try my best at everything, Cinderella thought, tears now streaming down her face. Nothing is good enough for my mother… why? Is it because I’m not her real daughter? Does she not see that I work so hard only to see failure? Cinderella collapsed beside the water fountain. Looking at her reflection, she whispered to herself, “Look at me. I’m so ugly. Even if mother lets me go to the ball, it’s not like the prince will choose me anyway.” Eventually, Cinderella just decided to come clean and hope that her step mother would understand her honesty, and then let her go to the ball. However, this is when magic happened. A figure magically appeared, shimmering and glowing right next to her in the reflection of the fountain. Taken aback by this, Cinderella gasped and fell into the fountain. 

“Oh, my. Sorry about the surprise appearance!” The strange man exclaimed. He had a relatively short stature, with dark brown hair and eyes, a slight beard, and a moderate brown skin tone with wrinkles on his face. Cinderella figured that the man was in his forties or fifties. 

“Oh no- it’s okay! Please, don’t feel bad,” Cinderella replied softly. “It’s very nice to meet you, sir. My name is Cinderella. And you are?”

“Alright, then. My wife has directed me to the right person. My name is Fred Patel Jayesh Ramaraju Ravinder Rai Sharma, or just Fred for short. I’m the Fairy Godmother’s husband.” He said. 

“The… Fairy Godmother?” Cinderella asked, confused. She thought that only existed in fairy tales. The kind she had only read as a little girl. Now she was almost 18, and her life was far from a fairy tale. 

“Yes. Everyone has one that usually only appears in a time of dire need. Right now, the Fairy Godmother needs a break from all the hard work she’s been doing recently, but still heard your calls so I came to cover for her. From what she and I have seen, you try so hard and are always such a nice girl, but not fortunate enough to be as gifted as your sister. Tonight I believe you deserve to get what you want! ” Magically, Fred summons a computer with Quick Techie IT Support on the back out of thin air, does a lot of quick, furious typing, and turns the screen towards Cinderella. On it are her grades on the report card, which turned from Bs and Cs to all A+’s! Cinderella’s eyes widened, her mouth gaping. 

“Oh, thank you so much sir, thank you!” Cinderella exclaimed, squealing in delight. Quickly, she tightly hugged Fred, but not so long after he disappeared in a glimmer of sparkles and a smile, just as fast as he had appeared. What was only left for a few moments afterwards was his voice, saying “Remember, you’re a good person. You don’t need to do bad things to get what you want.” Cinderella immediately realized he was talking about what she did this morning, but accepted the lesson in gratitude as she skipped back home for dinner. 

“Wow, Cinderella, you got straight A+’s! Great job!” Her stepmother said as she walked into the house.

“Thanks, mother,” Cinderella replied, grinning. “So… does that mean I get to go to the ball?” She nodded, smiling. 

“You earned it, ” her stepmother said. “Alright then, I’ll take you to the shops for an outfit. It’s tomorrow!” Cinderella gobbled down dinner and went right to bed, sleeping in peace and thrilled for the eventful day she had tomorrow. 

The next day, Cinderella sprang out of bed, threw some clothes on, and headed out the door with her stepmother to the shops. As she looked around, and through the windows of other shops, nothing really caught her eye just yet. They all looked like plain dresses everyone else would wear. How can I stand out? She thought. But then, one really caught her eye: a beautiful, marbled blue and white dress with golden accents in a pattern looking so natural yet so planned at the same time. Instantly, she knew it was the one that would catch the eye of the prince. 

“Mother, can I please get that one?” Cinderella asked, pointing to the dress. 

“Sure, Cinderella.” She said. It only took them 5 minutes to get in and out of the shop, with a beautiful dress for the ball. When they went home, Cinderella got ready along with all the other women for the ball, making sure everything was perfect: her hair, her skin, and her clothes. The finishing touch were majestic baby blue slippers that completed the outfit. The prince would surely love it! As they headed for the carriage prepared for them, Cinderella noticed there were only three seats. Taking a seat with her mother and step sister, her other sister came out of the house and frowned. Tears filled her eyes. 

“W-where’s my place in the carriage?” She asked.

“Darling, I thought I told you. We only have room for three. The last one ready must walk.” Her step mother said, shrugging. 

“Well then Cinderella can walk! She is irrelevant. The prince will never choose her.” She screamed, tears now streaming down her face. Cinderella couldn’t stand it. 

“Mother, it’s fine. I’ll just walk.” She sighed, getting out of the carriage. 

“Oh-thank you, Cinderella,” her step mother said. 

“Yeah, right. That’s what she should have done earlier,” her step sister muttered. Cinderella ignored her comment as she began the long trek towards the castle. She thought of nothing other than the potential reward that she would receive if she was chosen to marry the prince. That was the only motivation that pushed her to go every step. Fred’s words still rang in her head, pushing her to move forward. Then, along the way, she found a homeless man in a dark cloak sitting next to a building. 

“Can you spare some change, please?” The man asked as Cinderella skidded to a stop, taking a breath from her brisk walk to the ball. Even though Cinderella knew she was already short in time, she took out her purse and placed money into the man’s callused hands. “God bless you,” he said, smiling, as Cinderella went off, at a quicker pace than before, not looking back. If Cinderella had looked back once more, she would have seen Fred under the cloak. 

About half an hour later, Cinderella came across another small town. As she was lightly jogging through the area, she saw a house on fire! Quickly, she called the fire station and looked to see if anyone was inside the burning house. Smoke filled the air, turning the sky a dark gray and flames surrounded the house. Inside, she heard a faint wailing sound. So, Cinderella sprinted inside, sweat covering her face, and followed the noise. In the bedroom, a young child was on the floor, creeping away from the flames getting closer and closer. Cinderella, ignoring the deadly heat and red-orange flames, raced towards the child, picked him up, and ran back outside the house, only just escaping the fire as it engulfed the rest of the house. 

“Thank you,” The child whispered, still trembling. 

“Of course. I’m just glad you’re okay,” Cinderella told the kid. Then, the child found his parents, running up to them and tightly embracing both. The parents thanked Cinderella many times before she once again went off. Cinderella saw her face in the reflection of a window, and gasped. Her face was dirty, with spots of gray ashes and dust. Her hair was frizzy and wild. She didn’t look like she was going to a ball at all. Regardless, Cinderella had come this far without stopping so there was no point in going back now. It was already turning dark. The ball must have started already, so Cinderella wasted no more time and sprinted off. She dashed through the woods, her surroundings a blur as she only focused on the castle soon ahead of her. Quickly checking the time, she realized it was already 10:00 PM, and the ball would end in 30 minutes! Cinderella ran hard, not caring for anything else in the world. Her heart beat faster and faster as she got closer and the time was running out, but with 5 minutes left, she called to the guard - “WAIT! PLEASE!” She yelled. The guard nodded, welcoming her in and bringing her to the ballroom. It was massive. People were everywhere, in beautiful dresses and fancy hairdos Cinderella couldn’t name. The walls and flooring were all marble, soaring up to crazy heights. And to top it all off was a massive chandelier emitting light to make it look like a snowy landscape - something Cinderella never believed she would see in India. 

“Sire, the princess has arrived,” the guard said. 

“I’m sorry, what?” Cinderella asked, frowning. “Sir, you must be mistaken. I’m no princess. I’m just a poor little girl from a small village. Not a princess. What do you mean?” But then at that very moment, she saw Fred standing next to the Prince and King, and Cinderella gasped. 

“Hello again, Cinderella,” Fred said, grinning. “I see you took my advice well.”

“Hi, Fred! Were you involved in this the whole time?” Cinderella questioned. She always knew something was interesting about that man, besides his magical powers. 

“Yes - you see, the purpose of this ball wasn’t really even about the ball itself. It was more or less a test for those invited to see how they would react to certain scenarios, and if they were worthy of being considered for being the prince’s wife. Your kindness throughout the way, from helping strangers and even saving a young child from a fire was something both myself and the royal family took note of. Out of all the people here, you’re beautiful both on the outside and inside, more than you may realize. I’ll leave the prince to do the rest. ”

“Hello, Cinderella. I think you know who I am,” he said, smiling. Cinderella’s eyes widened as she was taken aback by how handsome the prince was. 

“Hello,” Cinderella said shyly.”I’d love to be your wife.” She heard the mumbles, groans, and whispers of all the other women there, especially her step sisters, but none of that mattered anymore. Cinderella’s kindness and struggles had paid off. 

“Well then, let the celebrations begin!” the king boomed, and everyone cheered.

In the end, it turns out that Cinderella had only struggled in school and other times because her teachers had specifically challenged her more than the other students as a test of her abilities, knowing she was something special from the very start. Cinderella’s real parents were royalty as well, of a far away land before they died overseas. So, they celebrated the marriage through a great feast, and the couple had many wonderful children, living happily ever after!