Ella Cinder sat on the roof of her castle. It was no good. The pelican droppings just wouldn't come off, no matter how hard she scrubbed. And the pelican still sat on top of the tower, smiling at her vain attempts. Even if she did manage to clean the castle roof, the pelican would just mess it up again the next day.

It really wasn't fair. While her wicked stepmother and ugly stepsisters had gone off to the ball and were having the time of their lives, she was stuck here, trying to clean the roof, as ordered by the stepmother. It was getting dark already. She hated being out here, but her stepmother had locked the door that led into the castle. Her only exit was down, and the castle was rather too tall to jump off safely. The stepmother wouldn't open the door until she got back, and that wouldn't be until at least two o'clock. And she'd probably be so drunk, she'd forget to unlock the door altogether and leave poor Ella out here until the morning.

Ella thought of running away many times. But making a getaway was not easy. Besides, if she did, her father would be most upset. Her father wasn't around much these days - he was always going off on business trips, but he was the only person in the world who cared about Ella Cinder.

Exhausted, Ella stopped scrubbing and let the tears fall from her eyes. How hard life was! Was she ever going to escape from this horrid place to marry her prince charming? Unfortunately, no prince charmings knew that she existed, since she was always stuck in the castle.

"Don't be sad, Ella," said a voice, making Ella jump. Who was that? There wasn't anyone on the roof except herself and the stupid pelican!

But when she looked, she saw her fairy godmother standing on the roof, amongst the pelican plop. "I am your fairy godmother," the voice continued. "Now, what do you want?"

"I want to go to the ball," said Ella. Then, casting a glance at the roof, she added, "And have this stupid roof cleaned."

"Ah ah," said the godmother. "You can't have both."

Ella considered. If someone just cleaned the roof, she'd still be stuck here. And the pelican was bound to make a mess again, soon. But if she went to the ball, she might find her prince charming and never have to come back here again.

"I'll go to the ball," Ella decided.

The fairy godmother nodded approvingly. "I knew you'd choose that," she said. "Have a nice time, but remember : you can only stay until midnight." And with a wave of the magic wand, the fairy godmother disappeared.

Ella also disappeared, but only momentarily. Disappearing was quite strange, but she really didn't remember it. All she remembered was that suddenly she was standing in front of the castle, instead of on top of it. Her ratty clothes had been transformed into beautiful expensive garments, like those she'd worn before her wicked stepmother had come and confiscated them all.

And a red Ferrari roared up outside the castle, driven by the handsome young prince. "Hop in," he said.

Carefully Ella stepped into the car, and they zoomed off leaving a cloud of dust.

They arrived at the ball presently, and Ella went in, feeling like a princess. The ball was just as she'd imagined - soft lighting, long tables of food and drink, and everyone dancing to a real band - a good one too.

She spotted her wicked stepmother and ugly stepsisters, eating and drinking excessively. She hoped they wouldn't recognise her. But her stepmother only stared at her in admiration for a few seconds. Ella really had transformed from a young slave-girl to an elegant young woman.

She spent the evening dancing with the prince and making brief conversation. They got along brilliantly, and Ella realised that her dreams had come true.

Then she glanced at her watch. HEECH!!! Ten seconds till midnight! She had to get out of here, or her clothes would become rags again, and the prince himself might even disappear. She dashed away from the prince. Her dainty white slipper came off in the process, but she didn't stop to collect it. She had to get out of here FAST!

"Hey!" cried the prince, but she had gone.

Once outside the building, she became herself once more. Realising that she had no money to get a taxi, she walked home, feeling miserable. The night had been wonderful, but now it was time to return to reality. She would never see the prince again, and she would be treated like a slave.

Unfortunately the moon was full and Ella was attacked by a werewolf. When her body was discovered, her evil stepmother was informed. "Well, it serves her right," said the stepmother. "She shouldn't have been out. She was supposed to be at home cleaning the roof. How she got off the roof is anyone's guess. I never liked her anyway."

The prince, however, still had the slipper. He was determined to find the girl who he had spent that wonderful evening with. With his dashing looks, he was chased by half the females in the world. But he was determined to find the girl.

He knew that he had picked her up from the castle, so he drove there first and went inside, carrying the slipper. "I am searching for the owner of this slipper, for I am in love with her," he told the stepmother when she answered the door. "Have you got any daughters?"

The stepmother was not accustomed to inviting perfect strangers into her house. But she realised what a terrifically handsome - and, judging by the car outside, rich - man he was, thought he'd be perfect for one of her daughters to marry. "Yes," she said. "I have three. Do come in," she gushed.

The prince went to the first step sister, and he was quite certain that she was not the one who he'd danced with the previous night. He couldn't remember the girl very well - he'd been a bit drunk - but this certainly wasn't the one.

The girl tried on the shoe. "It fits perfectly!" she cried, for she knew that the prince intended to marry the owner of the slipper. "It must be mine."

But the prince was not a fool. He knew that this was not the girl, and there was no way that the slipper would fit over her large, square-ish feet. "Then walk around with it on," he commanded.

The sister tried, but she was unable to stop limping as she walked round the room. The shoe killed. "Ok, it's not mine," she admitted grudgingly.

The prince took the slipper to the second sister. "Let me try it on!" she cried. "I'm sure it belongs to me! Yes, I do remember losing one of my shoes - last night in fact." She remembered seeing the prince at the ball, dancing with some girl. Admittedly the second sister didn't look anything like the girl, but it was worth a try. He was totally gorgeous.

"Then where's the other shoe?" he asked, knowing that this girl was not who he had danced with.

"I threw it away," lied the second sister. "What use is one shoe without the other?"

"Well, try this one on," the prince said. "Then I'll be convinced."

But the second sister had even bigger feet than the first one, and she couldn't even get the delicate little shoe on to her foot.

"Ok, it's not mine," she said, "but try my younger sister. She's got smaller feet than me, and I think she lost a shoe last night too." She thought that this prince wouldn't be bad to have as a brother-in-law.

The prince took the slipper and went to see the youngest of the three sisters. But as well as being ugly, this sister was stupid too. "There's no way that thing could fit over my foot," she said, when she saw the shoe. "It's too small for anyone. Except, perhaps, our Ella. She's got tiny feet."

The prince's heart beat increased. "Where is she then?" he demanded.

"Dead," said the third sister, matter-of-factly. "She was got by the werewolf last night."

The prince's blood ran cold. Could Ella be the girl he had danced with? Without saying another word to the third sister, he left the castle and whizzed off to the police station.

"The girl attacked by the werewolf attacked last night," he said, breathlessly when he arrived, "was she missing a shoe?"

"She didn't have any shoes on," the desk-sergeant said. The prince heaved a sigh of relief. So the girl, his love, wasn't dead after all. But who was she?

Then a thought struck him. Had Ella lost the other shoe on the way out of the hall, in her haste?

"Can I try this shoe on the dead girl?" he asked.

"Certainly not! You can't tamper with dead bodies, prince or otherwise!"

"Well, will you try this slipper on her? Please. It's important."

"Oh, all right," said the desk sergeant, grudgingly taking the slipper. "Just because I used to go to school with your father."

The desk sergeant disappeared into the back room for a moment. When he returned, he was frowning. "It's a perfect fit," he reported. "Why? Did you know her?"

The prince's heart stopped, briefly. Then he fled from the police station. He got in his car and drove and drove and drove. He thought of driving off a cliff and ending his misery, but there weren't any cliffs around here.

Finally, when he ran out of petrol, he stopped the car. He ran into the nearby woods, and sat down on a tree stump. There, he burst into tears.

"Hey, what's wrong?" said a friendly voice. Huh? Who was that? He looked up to see his fairy godfather standing beside him. "What do you want?" he continued.

"I want Ella to live again," said the prince, immediately. Wow! He had a second chance to see her again! He couldn't believe his good fortune. Then he remembered something else. "Oh, and some petrol so I can drive home."

"No can do," said the fairy godfather. "One wish only, thank you. What's it to be? Ella or petrol?"

"Ella," said the prince, instantly. She was much more important. He could walk home. He'd have to leave his car here in the middle of nowhere, but he could get it back sometime.

"Wise choice," said the fairy godfather. "Ok dokey." And with a puff of smoke, he disappeared.

The prince left the forest and began his long journey home. He wasn't sure how far he'd travelled, but he knew it was quite a long way. Soon he was tired, but he had to keep going. He was determined to see Ella again. Soon night fell, but the prince carried on. He seemed to have boundless energy, as long as Ella would be there, waiting for him.

Unfortunately the moon was a waning gibbous and it looked full. And the werewolf, who wasn't concerned about fractions, came and killed the prince.

The next day, the prince's parents were informed of his sudden, tragic demise. His mother cried buckets of tears, but his father wasn't bothered. "I never liked him anyway," he said. He watched his wife flooding the room. "Calm down, you stupid woman!" he shouted, but that only made her sob harder.

He was getting tired of this emotional woman after twenty two years of marriage. So he left her wailing. He was wondering what to do, when he remembered the woman he'd met at the ball last night. Now she was definitely not emotional. She was married, but her husband was always away. And the prince's father knew where she lived. He decided to pay her a little visit.

Meanwhile, Ella was feeling very confused. Had she really just died and come back to life? All she remembered was the prince. She had to find him again. It was the middle of the night when she came back to life, so she stayed at the police station until morning. How surprised the police were to see Ella alive and well! She left the station and set off to find her prince.

She remembered where he had said he lived and made her way to his castle. She rang the doorbell and it was answered by a woman. Her eyes were red and her clothes were damp.

"Why are you crying?" Ella asked.

"My son," choked the woman. "My son is dead!"

Ella's jaw dropped. Then she realised that the woman may have many sons. It had to be one of the others that had died. "Which one?" she asked.

"I only have one," the woman said, tearfully. "Correction, I only HAD one. And now my husband's stormed out of the house too."

Ella was very sorry to hear about the husband leaving, but her own grief was too great to comiserate with the woman. "My prince!" sobbed Ella. "My prince is DEAD!"

The two of them cried together for some time, and they used up all the kleenex in the castle. Finally Ella had no more tears to cry. She decided to go home. She had nowhere else to go. What was the point in hoping for a decent life when her prince had gone? She would just become a servant again.

"Oh there you are," said her stepmother, when she returned. "Didn't you die? Darn, obviously not. We need you to clean the roof anyway. You did a lousy job the other night. Now get up there."

Meekly Ella let her step mother shove her up to the roof. There she started to scrub. Her anger made her scrub harder, but it was no use. Some of the pelican plop had been here for years. Soon she was tired to death, both physically and emotionally. She sat down and the tears began again.

"Hey, little girl," said a friendly-sounding voice. "Don't cry."

My fairy godmother! thought Ella excitedly. She did have another wish after all! She was going to wish for the prince to live, of course.

But when Ella looked, she saw no fairy godmother. All she saw was the satisfied-looking pelican.

"Yes, it's me talking," the voice said. Ella couldn't believe her ears. Fairy godmothers were strange enough. But now there was a talking pelican!

"I'm going to grant you one wish," said the pelican. "But on one condition."

"Which is?" prompted Ella. She wasn't going to make her wish if it only lasted until midnight or something like that. Or if she had to stay with her wicked stepmother forever.

"I get to keep messing up the roof," the pelican said.

"Ok!" cried Ella happily. If the prince came and rescued her, she wouldn't ever have to clean the roof again. It looked a bit of a mess, but the pelican had lived on the roof for years - since before she was born, probably. It was his home just as it was hers. He deserved something - especially if she got the prince in return. "I want the prince to come back to life and find me."

"Certainly," said the pelican. The pelican did not disappear like the fairy godmother had done, but he turned away from Ella and returned to acting like a pelican.

About half an hour later, the prince came sprinting up to the castle. Ella went down to meet him. (The stepmother had forgotten to shut the door to the roof this time.)

"My prince!" cried Ella.

"Ella!" cried the prince. "We're both alive."

"Aren't we lucky?" marvelled Ella.

"Ella," said the prince, seriously. "Will you marry me?"

"Yes, yes, yes!" exclaimed Ella. And she fell into the prince's arms.

A few minutes later she remembered something. "I'd better tell my stepmother," she said. "Come on in." They went into the house together.

Ella found her stepmother in the master bedroom. But her stepmother was not alone! Her stepmother was with a man! (In an interesting position.)

"Ma'am!" sqwarked Ella. This was what she had to call her stepmother.

"Father!" exclaimed the prince.

"WHAT THE SMEG IS GOING ON HERE?" boomed an angry voice. Ella and the prince spun round to see a huge man standing behind them. The man was her father! He had come home.

"You were always away," accused the stepmother.

"I - I don't believe this," stuttered Ella's father. "You know what? I just retired so I could spend more time with you and now I see this!"

The prince's father looked decidedly uncomfortable.

"Go on, get back to it," Ella's father said. "I don't care. I'd had enough of you anyway. I just always put up with you because we were married. But I knew you never loved me. You were only after my money. Well, now you've found an even richer man, haven't you?" He stormed out of the room. Ella and the prince followed at a distance. They watched Ella's father go into the sitting room and fling himself down in a chair.

"Father," asked Ella, meekly. "Can I get married?"

Her father brightened up a bit. "Certainly!" he exclaimed. "And as a dowry, you can have this castle. I'm moving to a villa in Greece, now I've retired. I just wish I had a woman to keep me company."

"Can I make a suggestion?" spoke up the prince. "Why don't you meet my mother? I expect she'll be pretty lonely too."


And so Ella's father married the prince's father. They, as intended, moved to a villa in Greece and lived happily ever after.

The prince's father and Ella's stepfather also married, and the stepmother, along with the three ugly stepsisters moved into the prince's father's castle. Unfortunately for them, the prince's father was very very nasty. He beat the stepmother regularly and the three stepsisters were treated like slaves. The four women were all very upset.

Luckily, after a few years of suffering, the prince's father went down to the pub one moonlit night. On his way home, he was attacked by the werewolf. The stepmother and step sisters were very pleased and lived relatively happily ever after. They had learnt their lesson and changed for the better. Unfortunately they were forced to move out of the castle, for it had been passed onto the prince's uncle. But they managed.

As for Ella and the prince, they lived extremely happily ever after. Unfortunately there was still a pelican on the roof who carried on messing up the castle. And the prince never did get his Ferrari back.