My name’s Momo. Though that’s not my real name. My real name’s Nora but I hate that name so I go by Momo. Anyways, I’m the younger sister of Prince Charming, or Prince Charles, as his real name is. We both hate our birth names so we changed them.
My story begins when my parents host a ball for my brother to find him a wife. We’re three years apart. He’s 20, I’m 17. My parents wanted me to attend the ball, but I hate balls. They’re literally SO boring. I had to attend one last year and this guy named James asked me to dance. But he stepped all over my feet, so now I’m not too keen on balls. More like a waste of time.
I envy all the regular girls that aren’t princesses. Especially the girls who get to explore outside all day. I can’t do that, my parents are too strict.
On the night of the ball I go down with my brother, but then he starts dancing with girls. I walk around for a while, but eventually get bored. That’s when she enters. She has pretty blonde hair falling over her shoulders, perfect skin and blue eyes. She’s wearing a sky blue dress and glass slippers to match her eyes. My brother goes up to her and I can tell he’s in love. Literally so pathetic.
I look over me: curly brown hair held up in a loose braid (I did it myself, maids aren’t allowed to touch my hair), brown eyes, and I’m wearing a purple dress that’s long enough to cover my bare feet. But not all the way bare, I’m wearing white socks. I hate high heels and slippers, I prefer my feet bare. So I wear long dresses all the time to hide the fact that I’m wearing socks.
After three minutes I get tired of watching Charles and his “soulmate” dance, so I head upstairs. Balls are so boring, and I was just wandering around aimlessly so why not go upstairs?
I suddenly get a desire for adventure. I’d never been in the attic before, my parents had always said it was off-limits. So I decided now would be the perfect time. I quietly crept up the stairs towards it. The freshly polished wood floor felt smooth under my socks and I fought the urge to slip and slide all the way down the hall. I only passed a few maids on my way up, and I just pretended I was going to the bathroom, or to my room for a quick break. They all know I hate crowds.
I finally made it to the staircase to go up the attic. I was so excited. I went to the trap door and tried to open it. It wouldn’t budge. I pushed harder, but it still didn’t budge. This was annoying. Then I had an idea. I quickly ran into the nearest bathroom and grabbed plywood. Don’t ask me why we keep plywood in the bathroom, we just do.
I brought the plywood to the attic door and after a struggle I managed to open it. Then I stepped up into it.
There was a strange smell inside it, something like mold and rotten milk. Dust was over all the surfaces, and there was a lack of light. I stumbled around, not seeing anything too exciting, until I found an old book.
I picked up the book and studied it. It was surprisingly lacking dust. It had sort of a glow to it, probably because of the shiny cover. It was a plain silver cover that felt smooth under my hands. The entire outside was completely silver. I opened it and flipped through the pages. Stories. Our parents don’t let us read fictional stories, they say it’ll ruin our minds. But these were fictional stories. I flipped to one called Cinderella. That looked interesting, so I started to read it.
The story was about a girl who had an evil stepmother and stepsisters. One day they got invited to a ball for Prince Charming. Huh. Same title as my brother. But anyways, her step mother and sisters didn’t let her go so her fairy godmother came and gave her a gown and glass slippers. There were pictures, and the picture of Cinderella looked just like the girl that my brother was dancing with. Odd.
I started to wonder as I continued to read: were these true? A picture of my brother, and a picture of me. I was just in the background though. What is going on? Then I realized something: this wasn’t just the present, it was also the future. Cinderella loses her shoe, my brother goes after her, they get married, and I’m the flower girl?!? No way, I don’t do flowers.
So, maybe there is something weird with this book. I decide I’ll keep it, see what I can do. What if all these stories are real? I flip back to the beginning, and I see some writing: Fairy Tales for Bedtime. So that’s all I am? A Fairytale for bedtime?
Well, whatever. This book could still be useful. I decide to take it with me out of the attic. I run it to my room, go to the bathroom to fix my hair and make-up, and go back to the party. I look at the clock. 11:50. Time to see if the story is true. At 12:00 Cinderella, or, Ella, as her real name is, will run out and leave one of her glass slippers behind. I look around and find Charles and Ella dancing around the floor. They look like they’re really enjoying themselves. Good for them. I’m not.
I look at the clock again: 11:55. A few more minutes. Wow, my brother and that girl are really bonding. Should I mess this up? Like, break the slipper? That would be funny, my brother would never be able to find her and I won’t have to be a flower girl. Perfect!
But what if she’s his soulmate? Then they’ll find a way back together. Well, I guess we’ll just let that happen. 11:59. One more minute. I get ready to steal the shoe as soon as she loses it.
5…4…3…2…1… go! As soon as I hear the dinging, I’m up and running. Ella runs away from Charles, and I chase after her. I can hear Charles chasing us yelling “Wait! I don’t even know your name!”
I remember that from the story. Just as the story says. There it is! Ella ran out and lost her shoe. I pick it up as Charles catches up to me. “She’s gone.” He says sadly. I fight the urge to laugh.
Then he notices the shoe. “That was hers, wasn’t it?” He asks. I look at it. Now or never. I pretend to hand it to him, but then I let go. I make it look like an accident of course, like it just slipped. It falls to the ground and shatters.
My brother is horror stricken. His assistant, Wayde, runs up to us. “What’s going on? Where is that young lady you were dancing with?”
“She’s gone.” Charles says, tears in his eyes. Now I’m really fighting the urge to laugh. No one will ever see me crying over a broken shoe. Maybe a cookie that fell on the floor, or a tree that someone cut down, but a shoe? Never.
“What’s this?” Wayde says, looking at the broken pieces of the shoe.
“The girl left behind her shoe, and Momo had it. But then it slipped and dropped.” Charles says, and I fight the urge to smile and strut away sassily.
“Well, there’s plenty of other ladies here, I’m sure you’ll find someone.” Wayde leads Charles back into the crowd, and I run into my room. I tear off my dress. Underneath is my favorite outfit: shorts that go above my knees and a purple shirt. I always wear this outfit under my dress so I feel more comfortable. Whenever I need a break I slip out of the castle, take off my dress, put my hair up, take my make-up and all my jewelry off and go around town acting like a peasant girl. It’s fun.
I fall onto my bed laughing as soon as the dress is off. My brother’s face! Oh my gosh, so hilarious. Then I remembered something. Tomorrow my Mother is taking me to have tea with her friend, Queen Marcella. She’s the queen of the land south of ours, and she has a son my age named Alex. I hate Alex. Literally the perfect prince, who doesn’t get dirty and has girls falling all over him. It makes me wanna barf.
I know he has a crush on me, and I’m the only one he wants. But I don’t want him. He has stupid blonde hair, he never smiles, and he acts as if he’s above everyone else. I hate it! But around me he acts differently. He actually does smile, he shows off, and he acts like I’m way better than him. I mean, I am obviously better than him, but he’s so annoying!
I sigh and roll over. I don’t know what to do, go to sleep or read? Even though my parents don’t allow it, I have a stash of books. I love to read them. My favorites are Matilda and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Super good books. Then I wonder: are they real too? If those fairytales were real, are Matilda and Charlie real also? That would be so cool! I’d be best friends with Matilda and I’d go to the chocolate factory every day! But what if it’s just fairytales?
So, I decide to go to sleep and plan on how to make myself sick tomorrow so I don’t have to go see Alex.
don't question it