Ashley- A Smoking Fairy Tale

She sighed closing the lighter lid shut. "On my way" Mary shouted to the front door as she put the cigarette pack and lighter back in the drawer and after pushing it firmly shut headed off to the front door.

With a twist of the brass handle the door flung open, Mary's eyes widened in shock "Oh, hello Aunty Fay!" she said with confusion as she opened the door "What a surprize to see you here?"

"It's more of a surprize to see my darling goddaughter at home, I was hoping you were going to be out, you should be at the Charming's doo?"

"I wish, come in, I was ceremonially uninvited my amazing family. Apparently, my old moth-eaten dress would cramp their style!" Mary stated drolly with a fake laugh as she turned around and headed to the kitchen "Fancy a coffee?" she asked as the kettle came to the boil.

"I would normally say yes, but tonight its important and we haven't got time!" Fay responded.

Mary turned around and looked at her aunt, who looked just like her real mum, but a few years younger, "What do you mean?" Mary asked.

"Don't you know silly? "

"Know what?"

"We need to get you to the ball, we need to get out of here, you need to meet your Prince Charming!"

"My Prince Charming?"

"Yes Mary!"

She sighed loudly shaking her head "But I can't, I don't have the dress, or anything pretty, my hair is a mess and I stink of sweat, I definitely need a shower before bed." She said panicking and being quite scared by the thought of the protracted process.

Fay shook her head, "You better get in that shower now! I have one of my sister's dresses in the car and the mask with which she met your father in, both of which should fit you perfectly, and I can drive you to the hall, but on one condition we have to leave by midnight, as I have a long drive home. Is that, ok?"

Mary's body practically crumpled as her eyes widened "You have one of my mother's dresses with you?" she beamed

"Yes, I do" Fay beamed as she nodded.

"Wow, you are amazing. I shall go and jump straight in the shower"

"Think that would be a good idea, but be quick, we don't have much time"

"On my way" Mary said as she headed to the stairs.

"Oh Mary, before you go, can I steal a cigarette as I wait, I've left mine in the car?"

"Yes, Aunt Fay, there is a pack in the draw beside you" Mary said pointing at the unit before turning and hurriedly and excitedly running up the stairs.

***

With her hair and makeup done in what must be a record time, the gorgeous blue glittery mask around her face, one of her mum's beautiful red dresses on, and her dads lighter safely in one of her mother's old purses they were in the car and on their way to the ball. As Mary sat in the passenger seat, she opened the purse and pulled two cigarettes one for herself and one for Fay. She put both in her mouth to light them.

Fay shook her head "Oh, I would wait a few minutes until you are there, we will be only two minutes, it's still a bit uncouth to arrive at one of these events with a cigarette sticking out of your mouth, however much one needs it. Just remember Mr Charming junior smokes, try lighting one for him rather than me" she smiled.

"Oh, okay." said Mary as she dejectedly placed the cigarettes back in the pack and back into her purse.

As they drove around the corner, they were presented with an amazing sight to see the large house all lit up brightly as if it was a Christmas tree, with added fairy lights along the driveway and up the stairs leading towards the front door. She wasn't late people were still swanning around in the ball gowns and masks; it was difficult to see who they all were.

"Remember I need to leave bang on midnight to get you home in time for me to get home at a sensible hour!" Auntie Fay reminded her.

"What happens if I am late?" Mary asked.

Fay laughed "Sorry, but you will need to walk home, as I will be going at midnight even if it's by myself!"

"Are you not coming in too?"

"God no, I am just here as a fairy god mother of an aunt, a helping hand for you, to go and have fun!"

Mary thanked her again and opened the door could hear the dance music playing as soon as she opened the car door. "Aunt Fay, I promise I will be here for 12, I also promise not to drink too much Aunty Fay!" She smiled as she turned.

"Good luck!" Fay called as the door slammed shut. Mary hurried across the drive and undauntedly climbed up the bright white limestone steps lit by colourful fairly lights up to the large house, on a mission to try and have fun, but more importantly, avoid bumping into her stepfamily.

Mary grabbed hold of her purse tightly against her body climbed the steep limestone stairs to be greeted at the large open door by a black suited, white bow tie wearing doorman with a clipboard, "Tremaine" she stated politely, and he looked down the list and nodded, and welcomed her with a glass of champagne from the tray beside him.

As she picked up her champagne and took a nervous swig of it, she looked up to see a long queue of people snaking around the grand entrance all waiting in turn to shake Henry Charming's hand. "I could really do with a cigarette now!" she said to herself looking at Charming as he was standing beside his father at the bottom of the large ornate staircase in his golden half mask above his chiselled jaw. Above the mask his shiny blonde hair was evident; he was greeting all the guests but shaking and kissing the hand of all the women.

Mary soon noticed, right at the front of the queue the rather ungainly bulging shape of the dresses of her stepsisters and stepmother. They were just about to shake Henry's hand, as they reached out their chubby blotchy bingo wing arms, Henry looked up and across the grand hallway and caught the eye of Mary. They briefly stared at each other. He smiled with his beautiful sparkling blue eyes straight at her for what seemed like hours. The world stopped and they looked at each other. Sadly, it was all but a couple of seconds. Eventually as magic was broken as he looked away, Mary suddenly remembered to breath. As his focus on her was lost as he dropped Anna's outstretched chubby arm and with an exaggerated yawn, then turned as he whispered in his dad's ears.

Mr Charming senior took a spoon from his top pocket to knock against his glass and announced it is time for the dancing to begin and that everyone should proceed into the ball room.

Mary could see that Anna and Ella were furious complaining at their mum that they didn't get to shake or kiss Mr Charming's hands, but their mother reluctantly shepherded them away in the direction of the ball room.

Mary stood there once they were gone thinking about the stare and the sparkling eyes all too quickly finished her glass of champagne in one long desperate gulp and gently burped afterwards apologising to those around her as the bubbles fizzed in her stomach.

She looked around as the crowds milled around by the door to the ball room, she nervously hunted with her eyes for another waiter for a required second glass, whilst thinking that at that moment a cigarette really wouldn't go a miss to settle her nerves. She followed the snaking crowds as she headed in the direction of the ballroom trying to stay a few paces behind her family.

As she reached the door frame, a gentleman dressed like the waiters tapped her on the shoulder.

"Excuse me ma'am."

"Oh, sorry did I bump into you, and oh, but more importantly do you have more champagne?" She asked him, offering up her empty glass and he shook his head asked her to follow him on what an empty far quieter route, she followed him through a door, away from the crowds through the study as like a rabbit warren, through another large wooden door where her guide suddenly stepped aside to let her in to yet another large, stunning room.

The room was a beautiful old book lined library, the walls where full, from floor to the ceiling filled with books old historical titles and as she took her eyes away from the titles on the wall, she could see the rather lovely looking Henry Charming was pacing nervously up and down inhaling deeply on his cigarette. She was taken aback to how gorgeous he was close up.

"Ah hello, I didn't think you would be that quick in the crowds, eh......" he said waving the smoke from his latest exhale away from his face and leaning across to the table to stub his cigarette out in the ashtray "sorry for that, my bad habit"

"Don't apologise, do you want another one, as I could now really do with a cigarette?" She asked hopefully as she started to open her purse.

"Oh erm, one moment, if you please" he asked and she closed her purse again as he nervously glanced at the back of his hand, coughed to clear his throat "Could I have the honour of asking if you would care to join me for a dance?"

"Who me? I was just looking for more champagne and a quiet spot for a cigarette!" she smiled hopefully.

"Yes you! There is no one else in the room" he said making a point of the empty room, bar them and the walls of books.

"Oh, err, well of course I would!" she beamed.

As if by magic the music struck up again from the ball room next door and Henry took her hand put her empty glass on the table and the doors opened as they walked hand in hand to a large extravagantly set up ball room Mary looked up to see the two large chandeliers and then to see the faces of all the guests surrounding the empty wooden dancefloor. Henry marched on to the floor dragging Mary along nervously into the middle of the dancefloor and Henry put his arm around her waist and on the third beat they started to dance the Waltz. She was grateful for all those years of learning to dance as a small girl.

As she quickly waltzed around the room, dashing past Ella and Anna on the front row of the crowds, she did her best to turn and hide her face from them. She could hear the chatter from everyone questioning who she was. No one could recognise her.

The hours ticked by, and they kept dancing around the room, from song to song to song. In the brief interlude between the dances the waiters kept bringing her more champagne. After what seemed like days Mary whispered into Henrys ear that she really now needed a break to powder her nose. Henry nodded and before the next dance started, he clasped her hand and walked her off the dancefloor she followed him through the same door they came earlier, he pointed to a large wooden door beside the library. "I will be as quick as I can" she said before she hurriedly disappeared.

She looked around the downstairs toilet room and compared it to the size of her tiny bedroom, she hoicked up her dress and sat down and relaxed. She then opened her purse and checked her old Nokia mobile phone, no one ever called it, she had no friends, she used it as watch. It was nearly 1130, she still had 30 minutes before she needed to go and find Fay.

Before Mary left the bathroom, she spent a great deal of time checking her appearance and straightened a couple of misplaced hairs from her fringe that had moved during the dancing and headed back out the door.

She opened the door to find Henry nervously pacing up and down the room in front of her.

"Ha, great your back, shall we go for a stroll, for some fresh air?" Asked Henry as he took her hand as they walked along the through the library and into the study.

"Oh, fresh air that would be ideal." Mary said "err, what I mean is I am gasping for a cigarette, after all that dancing and champagne" she grinned.

He nodded in agreement and walked through the study and opened the side door away from the crowds and on to the promenade that went around the perimeter of the house and started to walk towards the gardens. After a few steps both leaned on top of the balustrade wall next to the side stairs and paused as they looked up to the see the stars and the moon, they smiled at each other in silence, until the muffled sound of the band through the open door came through as it started again.

"I don't mind missing one dance!" She grinned as she opened her purse and offered Henry a cigarette, he took it and placed it in his mouth as she did the same. As she got her dads lighter out of her purse and opened the lid, as the flame flickered, she offered it to Henrys protruding cigarette, as the cigarette took a light, she moved the flame in front of her cigarette as the flame touched the bells from the stable block chimed.

"Fuck, I've got to go, oh sorry for my language" she said as her turned, his elbow bashed her arm, she accidently dropped the lighter as the second bell chimed, the lid separated from the case and fell down the stairs. She bent down and picked up the base in front of her.

"What now?" he asked before again inhaling on his lit cigarette.

"Yes, I'm going, right now, bye!" and with that she ran with her cigarette still dangled in her mouth as the bells continued to chime, she ran as fast as her legs would take her.

"Come back, I didn't even get your name!" Shouted Henry as Mary and the orange ball of her glowing cigarette disappeared out of sight.

She got down the stairs and into her aunts' car as the 11^th chime rung out around the grounds.

"Oh, I am on time!" she gasped as inhaled deeply on the cigarette, dropped it on the floor and stubbed the cigarette out with her shoes and bundled her dress up and got in the car exhaled the last of her smoke and did her seatbelt up.

"Did you have fun?" Fay asked as she sped off down the driveway as people started pouring out of the house to see what the commotion was.

"Absolutely, just spent the evening dancing with my Prince Charming, I am rather sad to have left things were getting rather interesting"

"Oh really?" Fay smiled "I wouldn't worry dear; it will all be alright in the end, I know it!" Her godmother said as they drove along.

After fifteen minutes of driving and Mary getting her breath back Fay slowed down and pulled up outside the house.

"Auntie Fay, do you want a cup of tea before you go?" Mary asked.

"No, but if I could take the dress, mask, and shoes home with me now?" she asked "Don't want the moths getting to them" she smiled.

"Oh, you want them now?" She asked as she opened the door "I could wash and return them?"

"If I could have them now, I would be grateful!"

"Come in and I will go upstairs and get changed"

Mary opened the front door and again ran up the stairs, she was panting from so much exercise today, undid her mother's dress and slowly dropped it to the floor and put it on the hangar and took off the beautiful mask and shoes, and picked up her Mickey Mouse pyjamas off the bed and put them on.

She carried the clothes back down the stairs and handed them to Fay who was patiently waiting in the hallway "Thank you so much for this evening, it was certainly exciting."

"No problem, at all, we godmothers need to look out for our godchildren." She grinned and then stifled a yawn.

"Good night" Fay said as she turned and headed out the door.

"Good night" Mary said as the door shut, she walked back into kitchen to boil the kettle for a cup of tea for herself.

She climbed the stairs carefully carrying her tea and got in to her bedroom and sat on the bed, she opened her bedside draw, and placed the broken lighter in the side of the draw thankful she manged to rescue some of it, and retrieved a cigarette and used the Bic lighter and flicked the flame and presented the flame to the cigarette as it caught she heard a commotion as the front door crash open and hear Anna, Ella and her step mother drunkenly giggling and gossiping down stairs.

Mary smiled to herself and inhaled deeply and finally enjoyed the feeling of the smoke in her lungs after a few minutes of lying there before stubbing the cigarette out and rolling on to her back and closed her eyes hoping that soon her drunken family with its now incessant screeching and giggling will soon go to bed, so that she could fall asleep and could dream of Henry Charming and all the naughty things that they could have got up to if she hadn't have to run away.

Chapter 5

The following morning Mary got up slightly later than usual and hurriedly rushed downstairs in her pyjamas to start process of getting the breakfast ready for the family before they demanded it. With the pans on the counter her Stepmother came down the stairs looking a little worse for wear and dishevelled. "Good morning, Mary, hope you had a great night in?" she groaned before yawning again.

"Yes, mother I did, I managed to complete some of the chores you asked me to complete. Those I missed I will do today!" She smiled.

"You are sometimes a good girl" she said as Lady Tremaine turned the radio on for the morning news and to end the conversation. They sat in silence together listening to the news. The fourth item on after the various Armageddon stories of world politics was news was that on Twitter and Facebook there had been a hundred and fifteen thousand retweets of a picture of a lid of a gold cigarette lighter. A well to do guy had met a girl last night at a large social gathering and broke her lighter by mistake, he hadn't got the name or number of the girl and she had run off. He was desperately trying to find her to offer his hand in marriage or in the first case, at least a date.

"It was very strange, think we are involved in that story last night" Lady Tremaine said "the party was brought to an abrupt end at 1230 as Henry Charming couldn't find his date, he was walking around trying to find a girl with a gold lighter. I am sure I have seen Ella and Anna use one like it, but I can't think where I've seen it?" she stated scratching her head before opening the draw of lighters and cigarettes and rummaging around. She shrugged her shoulders and found an old Bic then used it lit her own cigarette. "Is the coffee ready yet?" she asked with her exhale.

As Lady Tremaine was talking Mary was busily replaying the magical scene again in a daydream and the idea of marrying her prince Charming.

"Mary, hello Mary?" her Stepmother was clicking her fingers in front of her face, "Is the coffee machine is ready?"

"Oh, yes mother, sorry in a bit of daydream there"

"I noticed, maybe after you have made us breakfast and done the dishes and washed our clothes from last night, you should go and have a shower and get dressed for the day?"

"Maybe I should" Mary said out loud as she got on the making the breakfast as Ella and Anna stomped down the stairs in their dressing gowns looking very hungover.

"Morning girls" Lady Tremaine said "did either of your girls use the golden lighter last night? I am sure you used to have one?" She said purposefully flicking the ash from her cigarette on the floor in front of Mary.

"No, there used to a crap antique one kicking about the house" Ella said nonchalantly "haven't seen it for years" she said before drawing on her morning cigarette.

"Probably because you never came in the kitchen and cooked anything..." Mary said under her breath.

"Maybe you girls should look for it? They said on the news that Henry Charming is offering his hand in marriage for whoever had the lighter, if we can find a similar one, one of you may be lucky!"

Mary smiled at the thought of lighting Henrys cigarette on the veranda of the house last night, the moment was special, she was loving him and that cigarette. The dreams she had in bed were amazing, she smiled again at the lighter safely in her draw upstairs and then idea of potentially not having to make her stepmother and sisters breakfast any more.

She served breakfast and loaded this dishwasher and said she was going to go upstairs for a shower. As she climbed the stairs, Lady Tremaine waited until she had gone in her room, opened a draw in the Welsh dresser in the hallway and took out a key, she quietly climbed the stairs and causally put her ear to the door and could hear Mary singing love songs to herself. She quietly as possible locked the door and headed downstairs on mission to find the lighter for the girls.