Little Ella and her mother lay on the floor, gazing up at the countless stars through the window of their spaceship.
“Oh, look! There are the streaks of our galaxy. Do you see them, Ella?”
Ella’s eyes scanned the expansive blackness until a faint spot of purple caught her eye.
“There it is!” she exclaimed excitedly.
“That’s right!” her mother congratulated, smiling at her daughter, her blonde curls spilling onto the floor beneath her. “The ship’s turning; we should be able to see Leporis soon!”
Ella’s jaw dropped in awe as the majestic purple planet came into view. She tried to find the royal palace, but it was impossible while they were orbiting the planet at this distance.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” her mother commented as she looked longingly at the planet. “When I was a little girl just like you, I always dreamed that someday I would live there.”
“Why don’t you, Mama?”
“Well, I met your father, and we had you! But I wouldn’t exchange my life for anything. I just love you too much!” Ella’s mother wrapped her arms around her daughter, holding her close. Ella breathed in the flowery scent of her mother, felt the warmth of her arms around her. They stared up at the sky for hours, as Ella fell asleep to the rhythmic sound of her mother’s heartbeat.
? ? ?
Ella stood in the same spot she and her mother had laid all those years ago, staring out the same window. She watched the glass coffin containing her mother’s body float toward the sun of their solar system, tears streaming down her face. Her father’s hand gripped her shoulder as he solemnly looked at his wife. Ella could no longer see any light behind his blue eyes. She turned back to the window. Even in death, her mother was the most beautiful woman Ella had ever seen.
? ? ?
Ella’s father remarried two years later, this time not for love, but for advantage. This woman was also a widow, but had a great fortune to her name. After a rough year for her father’s trading business, they found themselves greatly in debt, and Ella’s father had no choice but to marry the cold, rich woman.
The woman’s daughters were extremely cold to Ella, but she knew that she could get through the difficult situation as long as her father was by her side.
Unfortunately, only a few months after the wedding, Ella’s father passed away, leaving Ella alone with her stepmother and two stepsisters.
Ella’s stepfamily treated her terribly, forcing her to clean the ship and cook them meals. It was only a few days after her father’s death that her stepmother confiscated her bedroom and forced her to relocate to the storage closet. Ella’s only comfort was looking up at the stars; she knew that they were the same stars that she and her mother had watched when she was young.
? ? ?
When the royal family on the royal planet Leporis announced that they were throwing a ball to celebrate the prince’s coming of age, Ella’s stepfamily threw many jobs on her; she had to sew the dresses, order the shoes, and make sure everything was in order for the transportation. If even one detail was off, she could count on her stepmother being furious with her.
So Ella did as she was told, but she secretly longed to go to the ball. She had never been to Leporis, and she remembered how her mother had dreamed of living there. It had become a dream of hers to someday visit the planet.
But the day of the royal ball arrived, and Ella watched her stepfamily's transport ship leave through the window, crying to herself.
“Oh stars, will I ever have good fortune again? I cannot escape my stepmother on this tiny ship. What shall I do?” she desperately asked. She looked toward the stars, wishing that they could in some way respond.
Ella knew it was her imagination, but she thought she saw them twinkle.
She fell to the floor, her energy spent and her hope depleted.
“The two people that cared for me are gone. I have no one,” she sobbed.
Suddenly, Ella felt a warmth around her, as if arms were embracing her. Her tears ceased. Without opening her eyes, she knew it was her mother. She breathed in the flowery scent that she easily recognized.
Ella felt the warmth spreading to the rest of her body, engulfing her. The cold of her sadness was evicted from her body. She could’ve sworn she felt her feet lift off the ground. Ella tried to maintain the feeling for as long as possible, but as suddenly as it had come, it had gone.
When she opened her eyes, she saw the stars looking back at her. They looked the exact same as they had before, but Ella now knew what they really were.
Ella looked down at herself, and was amazed to see the old rags of her clothes had disappeared. She was instead wearing a deep blue gown, the exact color of the sky out the window. Star-like jewels were scattered over the fabric, forming various constellations.
When she ran over to the nearest mirror, she saw that her blonde hair was now in a bun, and a starry silver tiara had appeared on her head. Looking out the window, she noticed a beautiful, pure silver ship had appeared. Decorating its exterior were images of various celestial bodies. The silver carriage had docked to her ship, and Ella was able to climb aboard immediately. As she stepped onto the ship, she noticed the finishing touch of her outfit: a pair of glittering silver shoes.
Ella smiled, and whispered to herself, “Thank you, Mother.”
The ship guided itself down to Leporis. The whole way down, Ella stared out the window, watching the purple planet come closer and closer. She was eventually able to see the capital of the planet. Beautiful silver buildings glinted in the starlight. Ella tried to find the royal palace, but she couldn’t spot it.
It was only when she felt the jolt of the ship touching down and she stepped outside that she saw the palace. It towered thousands of feet above her, made of pure, glimmering silver. Several towers swooped upward from the castle, reaching toward the sky. The palace was adorned with beautiful carvings of the moon and stars. Ella peered upward in awe, shocked by the mere size and extravagance of it all. She now understood why her mother always desired to live here.
Grinning to herself, Ella ran up the stairs to the main door of the palace, her glittery shoes clinking with each step. The guards stood outside the doors almost jumped backwards when they saw her, shocked by her beauty. They immediately thought she was a princess and nearly ushered her into the palace.
Ella stood at the top of a grand staircase, looking down at the ball. Elegant music played from an orchestra at the front of the ballroom, and couples swayed and spun all over the floor, the skirts of various princesses creating a rainbow of colors.
But the music ceased once the orchestra saw Ella. Confused, the people stopped dancing and searched for a source of the disruption. Everyone in the room stared up at Ella, as no one had ever seen such beauty. Ella, nervous, made her way down the stairs, the jewels on her dress glinting like real stars. The audience never stopped looking at her, but once she reached the bottom of the stairs, an incredibly handsome young man stepped forward. Ella immediately recognized him as the prince, and bowed down her head, shocked that he would come over to meet her.
The prince’s eyes were fixed on her own, and he reached out his hand.
“Lovely madam, would you do me the honor of taking my hand in this next dance?” The orchestra remained in silence, and everyone in the ballroom was watching the encounter. Ella paused, anticipation rising as no one made a sound or even took a breath.
“I would love that very much, Your Majesty,” she finally replied, taking his hand in hers. They strode to the center of the ballroom, the prince never removing his eyes from her. The orchestra snapped out of their daze and began playing a slow, but gleeful tune. The prince spun Ella around the room, the rest of the guests soon joining in. Ella had never learned how to dance, but somehow her feet knew exactly where to go.
“Forgive me, but I must tell you… you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen,” the prince told her. Ella blushed as they continued to dance. She felt that they were the only two people in the room, never breaking eye contact.
But as they continued to spin, Ella felt a tight grip on her arm. She turned, only to be greeted with the scowl of her stepmother.
“You,” she growled. “How dare you come to this ball behind my back!” Ella looked over to the prince.
“I’m sorry,” she told him. And she broke away from her stepmother and fled out of the palace. As she hurried down the stairs she felt her glittery shoe slip off her foot, but she never slowed. She quickly found her ship and leapt in as it flew off immediately. Looking out the window, Ella could see the prince standing at the top of the stairs, gazing upward at her ship with a devastated look on his face. Ella put her hand to the glass, tears streaming down her face as the the prince shrunk with the growing distance between them.
? ? ?
Ella’s stepmother had locked her in her closet right away once she returned. Luckily, Ella had been able to hide her gown and shoe, but she kept the tiara tucked away in her dress. Ella could not find any motivation to move. She knew it could be months before her stepmother let her out of the closet. She never slept or ate, only stared blankly at the wall. There was no hope left for her.
That is, until the day that Ella felt a ship docking with hers. The closet of course had no windows, but she peeked through the keyhole of the closet door.
“Hello, madam, we are here on the prince’s behalf,” a deep voice said. Ella heard her stepmother gasp with joy.
“We understand that you have three daughters?” the man asked.
“Oh, you are mistaken! I have only two.” Ella’s stepmother called her daughters into the room.
“I apologize. Ladies, would you mind trying on this shoe for us?”
“What is this for? What reason would you have to ask my daughters to try on a shoe?”
“If the shoe fits, we will explain everything.”
So Ella listened to the grunts and moans of her stepsisters attempting to fit the shoe onto their feet. It was obvious that the attempts were not successful.
“Thank you for your time, madam. But are you sure there is not a third young woman residing in this ship?”
“Well, I would say that I am the third young woman. There is not a fourth.” Ella knew she had to make her presence known.
“Please! Wait! I am in the closet! I am the woman that danced with the prince at the ball!” she shouted, pounding her fists against the door.
“What was that?” the man inquired.
“Oh, pay no mind! My daughters must’ve left the television on in the next room,” Ella’s stepmother frantically responded. There was a long pause, and then Ella heard footsteps outside the closet.
“Unlock this,” the man ordered. There was a click, and the door swung open to reveal two royal guards and one very furious stepmother.
“Oh, Ella! How did you get in there! My poor darling,” her stepmother purred, but Ella immediately told the guards what had happened.
“If you don’t mind, before we take you to the palace, we’d like you to try on the shoe. That was what the prince asked, after all.”
“Of course,” Ella replied to the guard, and she easily slipped her foot into the shoe. The guard grinned up at her.
“Come with us princess. The prince will be ecstatic.”
? ? ?
Ella and the prince were married only days after her arrival. They were crowned the king and queen of their solar system, and had many children.
Ella’s stepmother and stepsisters were exiled from the galaxy, forced to search for a new planet to terrorize.
After very long lives, Ella and the prince peacefully passed away together, but their souls were molded into constellations, and they danced among the stars for the rest of time.