My Dearest Cindy Ellen,
I hope all is well at home. I am sorry I was called away so soon after the wedding. Please take care of you new stepmother and stepsisters. Drusilla and her twins were very happy to have a new family member. I am sure they will treat you like a part of their family. I know they are somewhat different from us, but give them time to adjust. I know they will warm up to you. They are used to a rich lifestyle and having everything they want, help them adjust to our simple lifestyle and I am sure things will work out fine. I should be home in a few weeks. Be glad you are not here; things are a mess. The elfin forest was completely destroyed by the fire. It will take a while to get things back in order. I hate that I had to leave directly from my wedding and leave my new bride behind, but it truly was an emergency. I am needed here to help rebuild the forest and the elf homes that were once here. I will be home as soon as possible. Take care and keep me informed of how things are going at home.
With Love,
Papa
Dear Papa,
I miss you terribly. Please come home soon. I cannot stand my Stepmother and her terrible twins. They are horrible to me. The twins follow me around barking orders to me like dogs and they force me to wear their old raggedy clothes. They say that I am not good enough to dress as they do. I have to do all the chores and do things for them as well, like hem their dresses and fix their meals. Drusilla is no better. She is no mother to me. If I dare complain she locks me in my room. She believes that her twins are angels and I am nothing but a devil in disguise. I am not allowed to go anywhere. They don’t want people to see me. The only friends I have are the field mice in my room, and they are not very much company. Please, oh, please come home soon. The King is having an elegant ball for his son, the prince, soon. How I would love to go, but I will not be allowed. The twins have their hearts set on the prince. Each of them wants to be his bride and they will let me nowhere near him. They don’t understand though, I do not care about the prince. I only want to go out and have fun again. I want to be around people and be able to talk to someone. I don’t care about love and romance; I only want a friend. Please come home so that I may, or at least talk some sense into my stepmother. I will not do anything wrong I just want to have a normal life like the twins are allowed to have. I am only asking for one night. That is not too much, is it? Please write soon or come home, if possible. I love you.
Your Lonely Daughter,
Cindy Ellen
My Dearest Daughter,
I wish I could come home, but it just isn’t possible at this time. We are still awaiting the giants to help and clear the forest. It seems that the beanstalk that they had used to get down from their kingdom in the sky has been chopped down. When the giants are able to get here things will move along much quicker, I am sure. I am sorry things are not going well with your new family. They need time to adjust. I hate to say it, but the twins are somewhat spoiled and Drusilla has no intentions of changing that. I wrote to her about you and the ball, but her response was close to what she has told you. She still insist that you must not attend the ball. She believes that this is the twins only chance to capture the prince’s heart and that if you are there, things will not go as she plans. Your stepmother is very different from you and I. She believes that you will be in the way and she wants nothing to interfere with the twins’ chances with the prince. But I believe I have something that might help you. You mustn’t show it to your stepsisters. I bought it from an elf that got it from a fairy. Of course it is used, but I believe there is still some magic left in it. Use it wisely and remember that any magic that it performs will end at the stroke of midnight as all fairy magic does. Take care and be well. Let me know how things go. I hope that my gift to you will be of some help.
With love,
Papa
Dear Papa,
Thank you so much for the magic fairy wand and it is so beautiful. This is going to help so much. I have already used it and I am riding in a carriage on my way to the ball. You should see me. I have never looked better. After Drusilla and the twins left I got the glowing wand out from my dresser where I hid it. I tried it out on myself first. There was no way I could go to the ball in the rags that Drusilla and the twins force me to wear. All I had to do was tap the wand on my head and it started to work. I was showered with sparkles and lifted into the air. I spun round and round and then delicately landed back on the ground. My rags were transformed into a beautiful ballroom grown. I have never seen a dress as beautiful as this. The twins’ clothes are nowhere near as nice as this dress. It is baby blue and shines like a star in the night sky. I look a lot like mother in this dress; I wish you were here to see me. The dress is so long that you can’t even see my glass slippers that used to be my old and tattered sandals. The glass slippers aren’t very comfortable, but I suppose that is the price you pay to look nice. In such a nice dress, I knew I could not walk to the ball nor could I ride the old stallion in the barn. So, I had to find away to get there. I saw a small apple sitting on my bedside table. It reminded me a lot a carriage. It is almost exactly like one. That is when I got my great idea. I took the apple outside and placed it on the ground. I tapped it once with the wand. Once again a shower of sparkles fell from the sky. The apple was transformed into the glorious carriage I am sitting in now. It is golden on the outside and has a red velvet interior. The seats are the softest I have ever sat in. The carriage couldn’t very well pull itself so I had to find something to pull it along. By now the wand was starting to look dim. I thought it might be running out of magic. I thought quickly and remembered the mice in my bedroom. I ran into the bedroom and there they sat, seven white mice. I carried them outside and waved the wand at them and with a shower of sparkles seven? with mice became six white horses and a carriage driver. After this the wand was dull. All the magic is gone now I suppose, but I had everything I needed. And now here I am in the most beautiful carriage on my way the King’s ball. I couldn’t wait to tell you what the wand had done for me. I promise I will write you again as soon as I return from the ball. Thank you so much for the perfect present.
With much love and happiness,
Cindy Ellen
To The Dearest and Best Papa Ever,
You have no idea what your present did for me. I don’t think I can ever thank you enough for that wonderful magical wand. Because of it I had the best night of my life. I was late arriving to the ball. Everyone was staring at me when I entered, and you never believe this. No one recognized me, not even Drusilla and the twins. I couldn’t believe it! I guess no one has ever seen me so dressed up and that is why they didn’t know who I was. The ballroom was so beautiful. I have never seen anything like. It was filled with the most elegantly dressed people. All the ladies were in gowns and all the gentlemen were in tuxes. I have never had so much fun in my life. I danced the night away, and you’ll never guess whom I danced with the most! The Prince! Out of all the ladies there he danced with me the most. You should have seen the looks I got, especially from the twins. They were so envious they were almost turning green! I was having so much fun I almost didn’t get out before my beautiful dress started to change back in to my rags. It wasn’t until the castle clock chimed midnight that I even was aware of the time. I had to stop dancing with the prince and run out of there as fast as I could. I could not let him see me in my rags. I was in such a hurry I didn’t even stop to get my glass slipper when it fell off on the steps, so now I only have one-glass slipper. For some reason the slippers didn’t not turn back with the rest of the magical things. But I don’t know what I can do with one slipper. I certainly cannot go back in my rags to the palace and ask for the other one. I suppose I will keep it as a souvenir. I had so much fun tonight. Thank you so much for the wand, Papa. Now I must get to cleaning before Drusilla and the twins return from the ball. I can’t wait to hear them talk about the prince. I wonder what they will say. Take care, I love you. Please come home soon, I still miss you lots.
With love,
Cindy Ellen
My dearest daughter,
I’m so glad my present was of so much help and that it allowed you to have so much fun at the ball. Don’t worry about you slipper. I am sure it will show up somewhere. You don’t need to worry about material things. All that matters is that you had such a wonderful time at the ball. I wish I could have been there to see you. I should be home soon. The Elfin forest has been cleared and we have been started to rebuild. Those giants are amazing workers. With their help the forest should be as good as new in no time at all. Until, I can come home, please keep writing. You have no idea how much your letters mean to me. They make my day. I miss you and Drusilla and the twins terribly (but most especially you). I hope to see you soon.
With Love,
Papa
Papa,
You will never guess what happened! This week has been unbelievable! Well first of all I found my shoe. Well, actually the prince found it and he brought it here. He went all over the kingdom to find the foot that fit my glass slipper. The prince came here and was trying on the shoes on the twins when I was bringing in the wood. You should have seen them trying to shove their big feet into that shoe. I believe they would have cut off their toes to make their feet fit, if they had a knife. See, there was a rumor that the prince will marry whoseever foot fits the glass slipper. When I came in the prince insisted I try one the shoe. Of course Drusilla and the twins had a fit. They tried their hardest to convince him that I was not worthy of trying on the slipper. But the prince would not listen to them. He wanted to try the slipper on every foot. And, of course, the glass slipper fit my foot and I had the mate to it. You should have seen the look on everyone’s faces. Drusilla and the twins were so mad. There is no way to describe all the emotions they had in their faces ( and none of them good)! It was right then and there the prince proposed to me. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t know what to say. I was speechless. When I finally got my voice back, I gave the prince my answer. You would be so proud of me papa. I told him no. I am too young and I hardly even know the prince. I asked that we get to know each other before we made any important decisions. The prince agreed. So for now we are going to be friends and let things go from there. Who knows? Maybe some day I will marry the prince. Of course, you will be the first to get an invitation. I can’t wait to see you. Only 4 days left before you come home. I love you. See you soon.
With lots and lots of love,
Cindy Ellen