Cinderella, Queen of Rats

My name is Drizella, but you can call me Driz. A few years ago, my mother re-married for the sake of myself and my sister, Anastasia. 

Shortly after moving into my new step-fathers' home, he fell ill and we were left living with his daughter, Ella. Mother did not like having a third daughter to raise, so she moved Ella into the shed outside; "out of sight, out of mind," she would say. I pitied Ella, she seemed harmless to me. 

* * *

I dreamt that Anastasia and I were moving things from our old house to the new one. She and I were put in charge of all the heavy lifting, seeing as she and I were of equal size and strength, being only one year apart. Sadly, part of the heavy lifting included the piano. For some reason, Ana told me to push it through the window, which was now suddenly the size of the entire wall. She started pushing without hearing my objection, and before I knew it, the piano had fallen out of the house and onto someone who I could only describe as a zombie. Somehow, suddenly I was inside the piano when it fell. The slam of the piano to the ground was what woke me, only it wasn't. It was Ana slamming shut the trunk at the end of the bed.

"What are you doing?" I asked, drowsy. "The ball is tonight and I can't find anything the right color to bring out my eyes!" she responded with a frustrated sigh. 

I rolled my eyes and put the pillow over my head, trying to drown her out. Ana was known around the court for her bright green eyes, and she did anything she could to make them a focal point of hers, seeing the only other attribute of hers worth noting was her clumsiness. 

She looked out the window to the shed and continued, "I wonder if our little Cinderella will try to come to the ball tonight. The invitation stated for all women of each household to attend, but I can't imagine anyone like her being there!" she said through a laugh and a horribly attempted accent. I don't even know what accent she was attempting; all I know is she sounded ridiculous. 

"What on earth is that accent you're putting on, Ana?" I snapped. She whipped around to look at me "Do not call me that! My name is not Ana, and it's not Anastasia! My name," she continued calmly coming towards me, "is Anastausia. Say it with me, sister, repeat after me," she sat on my bed and said very slowly "Ana-" then looked at me and motioned with her hands for me to repeat. Feeling too tired to fight, I amused her, "Ana-" I responded with some sarcasm. She looked at me sternly and finished "stausia. Ana-Stausia is how it's pronounced. extra emphasis on the U," she informed me. Stunned, the only response I could come up with was "Ah." I got up and went downstairs.

The cold wood hit my toes outside the door and I realized that I had left my room without any slippers and in my night slip. I hurried back inside my room and picked the first dress I saw and threw it on. Ana was still rummaging the trunk when I finished dressing, only this time she was going through my trunk. I rolled my eyes again and left. 

Downstairs, I found Mother in the dining room having her breakfast. She looked regal as always, with perfect posture and using her cutlery so gentle as to barely make a sound on the porcelain plate. The sound of my steps brought her eyes to mine and she gave me a slight grin.

"Where is your sister?" she asked.

"Still losing her mind over tonight," I responded.

Mother put down her utensils and looked at me for a moment before commenting "You seem utterly calm. Are you not nervous like your sister?" 

"No. Worrying will do nothing and being nervous would not come across as confident to the Prince or King," I took a seat and adjusted my posture to match hers. She gave me a slight smile that I could tell she tried to suppress. We ate in silence until Ana came in stomping her feet in frustration.

"What's the matter, dear?" mother asked her.

"I have less than twelve hours to get ready for the ball tonight, that's what's the matter," she snapped as she flopped into her seat and started eating a croissant, getting crumbs all over herself. Mother and I shared a look at each other before silently going back to our meal.

I felt bad about how stressed my sister was and wanted to comfort her a little. I cleared my throat "Ahem. Ana-" "NO!" Ana slammed her fist on the table cutting me off. She glared at me and started breathing heavily until she calmed and could speak. "Stop calling me that," she said through clenched teeth, "the name Ana is short and simple, implying that I, myself, am short and simple, and I will not have people thinking of me as simple!" she stared at me a moment longer with her lips clenched in a line then exhaled sharply and left the room. 

Mother looked at me once again with a glimpse of sorrow in her eyes, then continued her breakfast. We finished our meal in silence and I excused myself to my room to start my own preparations for tonight. 

I had expected to find Ana in our room, face down on the bed, instead, I was stopped at the base of the steps when I spotted her silhouette out back. I walked out slowly, she must have come out here to cool down but her cheeks were still red. She had her arms crossed and was staring at the shed that Ella stayed in. I stood by her silently. 

"Do you think people would think our little Cinderella simple?" she asked in a soft tone.

I hesitated. Treading lightly, I responded "well I couldn't say, she's not been out away from the house a lot,"

"I suppose," she seemed happy with my response then looked at me "We should keep it that way."