Cinderellen

Mr and Mrs Cinder had a daughter whom they named Ellen. However, due to their incompetence in form filling, her name was registered as Cinderellen at the school, and people called her Cindy. As time went by, she grew up into a very average looking girl.

Her Daddy often worked on Saturday, which was good because Mummy took her round to Uncle George. They would have a burger for lunch and all the sweets she wanted. She could play with toys and watch videos so long as she didn't disturb Mummy and Uncle George's afternoon nap. There were lots of children's cartoons and some funny foreign videos in which people kept losing their clothes. She was told not to tell Daddy because he did not approve of little children watching videos and having burgers.

She loved her Mummy, so was sad to be told that she had passed away, and asked if Uncle George would be coming to the funeral. Daddy got very angry and confused, and said she was too young to understand, but Mummy was very happy, and the next funeral would probably be for Uncle George.

So they were alone for a while. Daddy got very angry with some letters from lawyers which he said cost him a lot of money, and who he described using words she didn't know.

One day, Daddy said that she would be getting a new Mummy. A lady who had lost her husband: Mrs Step. They got married, but Mrs Step decided not to change to Mrs Cinder, in order to avoid confusion with Mummy. She had two grown-up daughters who were not pretty but very kind to Cindy. They all three of them wore lovely dresses and wanted Cindy to do the same. They liked nothing better than dressing up Cindy in pretty clothes, which she had to model for them, sometimes spending an hour or more trying on different outfits. She was glad they enjoyed it, but personally preferred simple practical clothes, even tattered old ones which wouldn't matter if they got torn or dirty.

Apparently Step Mummy also had two sons, but she never got to meet them. Step Mummy got quite angry when someone asked about her boys.

Cindy went to secondary school and started her periods, which was unpleasant. She asked her new sisters for advice and help, but for some reason they did not want to talk about it, so it was up to Step Mummy. She also grew breasts which she was glad remained small and practical, though she liked seeing the larger ones on other girls.

Her favourite teacher was Miss Prince, who taught English and Drama. She was very nice and had a habit of slapping her thigh when something amused her. She was also very clever, with a Bachelor degree in English and Theatre Studies and a Master's degree in Women's Studies. Cindy also liked the Art teacher, Mr Godma, who wore prettier clothes than most men, which was allowed because he was an art teacher, and walked a bit funny. It was said that he was quite rich and lived in a big house with artistic pictures. His initials were B F which the boys said stood for Bloody Fool. However, she was annoyed that girls had to do domestic science while the boys did workshop.

She also liked hockey a lot, and was so good she was in the school team with girls years older. She was accepted into the team which felt very nice, and she liked the jokes and chat as they soaped themselves in the showers. She thought her new sisters might be good at hockey, because they had quite broad shoulders and big feet, but they said they had never played.

After finishing school, she got a job at the burger place. The supervisor had a fancy uniform and was called B. Hutton. She wasn't entirely sure at first if he was male or female until she found out his name was Barry. He was a bit older than her but she grew to like him a lot. Eventually he asked her out on a date.

He took her to a club he knew, where she was surprised to see Miss Prince and Mr Godma sitting at a table. They were delighted to see her. Miss Prince said she should now call her by her first name, Leslie, or Les, and she said Mr Godma was Brian. She hugged and kissed Cindy, and Brian did the same to Barry, which was a bit of a surprise, but then he was an art teacher.

There was an unusual show in which women were dressed as men and caricatured the way men act, and others (obviously men) did take-offs of famous women. There were some others, quite glamorous dancers where she couldn't really be sure. To add to the evening's surprises, they were joined by her sisters, who were as nice as always, and said she should come out with them sometimes, but she would have to dress up more.

Les and Brian wanted to know what she had been doing after school, and also asked Barry about his plans. Cindy said she did not like her job and had always wanted to be an electrician. Brian said he would be happy to pay for an apprenticeship. Barry said he wanted to be a dress designer, so Brian said he would pay for that too. He also suggested that they should move into his big house, where Les also lived.

They each had separate rooms, but Leslie said it would be nice if Cindy slept with her, as they could have chats in bed. Brian and Barry said they would do the same. Leslie taught her a lot of things, some of it very nice indeed.

Cindy was now wearing her hair short, and no dresses. At the college she was given a boiler suit which had a name-tag on it of a previous student, which was Alan. She decided she liked that better than Ellen so that's what they called her there. However, Leslie insisted she was still Cindy and made her wear pretty nighties, though they usually got taken off later.

Leslie and Brian said that as they were teachers living together, it would look better if they got married. They said that as Cindy and Barry were best friends, they should get married at the same time, as it would not be much more expensive.

They had a lovely wedding, with Leslie and Cindy wearing dresses designed by Barry. The only thing that went wrong was a mix-up with the vehicle bookings, so the hire company drove the family there in an orange coach instead of limousines. Her Daddy and Step Mummy cried with happiness. She now understood that Mummy had not died, so was pleased to see her and Uncle George there, though she never got to speak to them. They were probably embarrassed because Uncle George had a black eye.

Brian signed his full name of Brian Ferry Godma, as his mother had been keen on the band Roxy Music. The reception was at the Palace Hotel. One of Cindy's sisters lost a shoe, which was returned by Leslie's brother, Hanson Prince, and they fell in love.

That night, Cindy slept in pyjamas beside Barry in a pink nightie at the Palace Hotel. Then they all returned to their usual arrangement. Cindy passed college and now has a van with 'Alan the Electrician' on it. Barry has a specialist clothes business called 'Barbara's Boutique' with Cindy's sisters being models for the catalogue. And they all lived happily ever after.

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Author's Note: The character Buttons (B. Hutton) will be familiar to British and Canadian readers from pantomime but does not appear in the Disney films. See Wikipedia: Buttons (pantomime). Likewise the thigh slapping is a feature of the Prince (Principal Boy, played by a woman) in pantomime.