“It’s boring, we already know how it ends” piped one of my friends while we were watching Cinderella. Being a big fan of fairy tales and having a bit of an imagination, I couldn’t get that statement out of my head. It’s true, the movie was a bit predictable. What if we could write alternative storylines for Cinderella? They don’t all have to end with “and they all lived happily ever after” so here are a few of what I came up with;
*Photo from Google
Alternative Storyline number 1; Ella’s mother and father both live to old age. Ella marries a local village hand who is equally as selfless and happy as she. The prince never meets her in the forest and ends up being forced to marry that princess from another kingdom. That princess is beautiful but an awful witch and ends up destroying the prince and his kingdom. Her kingdom takes his in a brutal and bloody war in which he dies. The end.
Number 2: Ella’s father dies first and her mother being so distraught never remarries. They continue to struggle along with the household staff but then they are faced with possible bankruptcy. She is then forced to marry a count from the kingdom and thus Ella is introduced to the prince. They fall in love with each other but Ella’s commoner past is a factor for the prince’s advisors. hey want him to marry the princess from a kingdom far far away. The fairy godmother intervenes and Ella ends up marrying the prince. They all live happily ever after.
Number 3: Both of Ella’s parents die in a random, freak accident involving the mice and geese that Ella clearly adores. She is then forced to marry an old bachelor and continues to live in her house. Her new husband, being of advanced years, dies soon after and, distraught, she rides into the forest where she meets the prince. She doesn’t have a clue who he is and ends up attending the ball in search of another husband. Unknown to her, the prince is totally besotted by her and proposes to her immediately. They all live happily ever after.
Number 4: The story is exactly as depicted in the movie. After she has a fight with her stepmother, she rides off into the forest where the prince and his crew are hunting stag. The prince’s men get a little trigger happy and mistakenly shoot her horse. Ella falls to the ground, breaking her collarbone and wrist. The prince rushes to her aid and insists that she is brought to the palace to recuperate. She spends 4 months there receiving treatment, during which time the prince falls in love with her. When she is better, she wants to go home but the prince surprises her with a ball during which he proposes. They get married and live happily ever after.
Number 5: Ella has a sister who is equally as good and selfless as she. When her father marries the evil step mother, they are both thrown into a slave type life. It is her sister, however, that rides off into the forest and meets the prince. When he sends out word for her to present herself at the palace, Ella drags her there, wishing to stay true to the wishes of the prince. While there, the prince sees Ella and spends the next few months trying to figure out which sister he loves most. The girls are oblivious to this internal struggle and continue to help and be very popular in the village. Eventually, he chooses her sister and Ella lives her life as a spinster. The end.
*Photo from Google
And now for the more morbid endings;
1. The story continues as predicted until Ella is returning from the ball. She left it too late to get home before the magic wore off and as they drive along the cliff edge her “carriage” turns back into a pumpkin. She falls out and over the cliff. The kings men are still chasing her and see her fall over but are too shocked by the horses turning into mice and the footmen turning into lizards that they cannot do anything. Ella, as it turns out cannot swim and drowns. The prince never does find her on his search throughout the kingdom. This means that the princess from a foreign land gets to marry the prince. She’s only after him for his money and status and soon starts to poison his drink with arsenic. He dies. The end.
2. The story continues as predicted right up until the evil step mother finds her glass shoe. When the step mother breaks the shoe, she cannot help herself and stabs Cinderella. With no prince and no medical help, she eventually bleeds out. This suits the stepmother very nicely. She buries the body in their garden and the prince never finds her. This results in a failed search for the prince who then has to marry the princess for the other kingdom. He lives a truly miserable life as ruler. The evil step sisters are indeed married off to influential members of the kingdom. They all lead ridiculously material, fake lives and everyone in the kingdom is actually miserable. The end.
I could continue this post for days but most of the scenarios end in death of one character or another. I’m available to write alternative endings for most stories so put your requests at the bottom!~
whatawaygook 