Playmobil Fairy Tales: The Adventures of Cinderella-23

"It's your turn now, Mr. Wolf," said Lily LaLac affectionately whilst she walked towards the wolf. "From this voyage, you have not only made some new friends, but have learnt to care for others them and stand-up for your friends when they need your help, just like when you tried to dash upstairs to save Cinderella when you thought she was in danger."

"But...but I still look frightening," said the wolf. "How do I make friends with this scary-looking face?"

"What's important is not one's expression but one's inner soul, as one cannot change one's appearance," responded Lily LaLac wisely. "It's true that people will be afraid of you at first due to your appearance, nevertheless after knowing you better, they will find your gentle, loving side. You don't have to befriend everyone, only those who care to understand your inner soul are worthy of being your friend. You should feel content that you already have such great friends." Lily LaLac said as she pointed at the scarecrow, Mr. Knight and Cinderella.

After hearing Lily LaLac's wise words, they all fell into a deep contemplation. 

Cinderella walked towards her fairy godmother and said:
"Grandma, after meeting you, my wish has come true! Can I live with you from now on?"

"No, on the contrary, you are the only one whose wish has not come true, yet," answered Lily LaLac. Then, after seeing Cinderella's confused expression, she continued: "This is because your wish is not to find me, you only want to live with me to escape Ms. Vandertramp. And the reason why you want to escape her is because you cannot fulfill her expectations of you, which coincides with your expectations of yourself."

"No, I don't have any expectations for myself," interrupted Cinderella. "She forced everything onto me. I didn't want to do any of it."

"No, in fact, you are quite mistaken," responded the fairy godmother. "Your wish is to marry the prince, so you have high expectations of yourself - to become very slim to let the prince fall in love with you. When you discovered you couldn't become slim no matter how hard you tried, you blamed everything onto Ms. Vandertramp and persuaded yourself that the only reason you wanted to marry the prince was because you wanted to escape from Ms. Vandertramp. So, you discovered an easy way out - to come and live with me and forget all about your dreams. Am I not right?"

Suddenly, Cinderella fell silent. Despite her reluctance to admit it, what her grandmother said were all true. She still loved the prince, but persuaded herself to think otherwise when she was disappointed by her own failure to become slim. Then, Cinderella bursted into tears. All her friends felt so sorry for her.

"Oh, grandma, you're right. But, what shall I do?" sobbed Cinderella. "The prince will never fall in love with me because I'm so very fat!"

"Are you very certain that you would like to become slim?" questioned Cinderella's fairy godmother. 

"Oh, yes, I am very certain," answered Cinderella. "For I can think of no other way the prince will fall in love with me."

"Very well, my dear Cindy," replied Lily LaLac. "If that is your wish, I am able to help you."

"But....but there is no chance now," said Cinderella as she started sobbing. "The ball must've been over ages ago. When I left my house, there was only a week left until the ball. Surely, I've been gone for nearly a month now. The prince must've already chosen his bride. Indeed, the wedding might've already been over."

"No, you are mistaken, my dear Cindy," answered the fairy godmother with a mischievous smile on her face. "In fact, you've only been in the forest for six-and-a-half days, which means the ball will take place tonight!"

~To be Continued~