This is my first attempt and all of these short exercises are miles from my comfort zone so apologies if they’re not great.
Day 1: Re-write a classic fairy tale
Once upon a time there was a little girl named Cindy. She lived alone with her dad in a big mansion but they were very happy, she didn’t remember her mother, as she died when Cindy was only two years old. Her dad ran his own company and so had the money to provide very well for Cindy. But when she hit puberty and started asking questions and having ‘women’s problems’, Cindy’s dad knew he needed to provide a motherly influence. So he went on a blind date and settled with the first girl he found, Christina. Christina had two daughters from a previous marriage, Beth and Belinda. Her ex-husband’s death was treated as suspicious at the time before the case was mysteriously dropped. She then jumped at the chance of marrying Cindy’s dad.
The five lived together for a few years, but when Cindy was seventeen, her father passed away. Naturally, with no preen up, Christina inherited everything, including custody of Cindy. That’s when things turned nasty for Cindy.
Cindy was forced to clean the house from top to bottom while her step-sisters went shopping with their mother. She was also particularly good at maths so Christina had her keeping two sets of books for her father’s business. One day, one of the best looking guys in school, Johnny, decided to have a massive party because he would have a free gaf. He invited everyone, but especially all the single girls – he was looking for the shift. Beth and Belinda ran home and told their mother but when Cindy mentioned wanting to get a dress for the occasion, Christina laughed and told her she had too much chores to do that night – she had to do the girls homework that night so that they could spend time getting ready for the party.
When her step-mother and step-sisters had gone to the party, Cindy called her best friend, Kate to come over and help with the homework. Kate came over with a spell book she had been reading and decided to try out a makeover spell on Cindy. They had everything they needed except ginger, which would make the spell last 24 hours. Without it, it would only last four hours.
“That’s plenty of time! If it works at all, I dare you to go to that party,” Kate challenged Cindy. “Bitchface one, two and three won’t recognise you when you’re all done up and as long as you’re back here by midnight it’s grand!”
“Well, ok, it probably won’t work anyway,” said, Cindy in a less than confident voice.
To both girl’s amazement, it worked. This made Cindy a bit brave and she decided to go through with the bet. In her silk dress, new hair, make-up and tan and a pair of killer silver sparkling stilettos, she set off for the party.
Johnny was wildly disappointed with the female turnout at his party. Bored with everyone pretending to be more friendly with him than they really were, he sulked in the corner of his own party. Suddenly, he saw a vision in a silk dress. He thought she looked pretty hot so he asked her to dance and she accepted.
Cindy couldn’t believe Johnny was dancing with her. Well, it was more swaying but still. Next thing she knew, they were shifting. Four hours went by in the blink of an eye and suddenly, the big grandfather clock in Johnny’s hall was chiming midnight. One by one, Cindy’s manicured nails started to disappear.
“Oh my God, I have to get home!” Before Johnny could get her name Cindy was out the door. She tripped over her stilettos and one flew off her foot. But she could feel her hair starting to turn back into the rats’ tails it had been earlier and she knew she was out of time; she had to leave the shoe behind. It will disappear anyway, she thought to herself as she took the other one off and ran with it. She managed to get through her front door just as the last of her make-up disappeared and her dress disintegrated into the PJs she had been wearing, but with the dirty stiletto still in her hand. Her step-family were none the wiser. That was until they found out that the homework wasn’t done. As punishment, Christina locked Cindy in her room for two days.
Meanwhile, Johnny was searching for his mystery girl from the party. He was walking along Cindy’s street when he spotted her in the top window. In desperation, Cindy held up a sign to the window: ‘I’M TRAPPED’.
An hour later, Johnny came back with his father, who was a police man. Christina was begrudgingly accommodating and when it came to Cindy’s room she pretended the door was jammed.
“Oh, Cindy, are you stuck in there? We had no idea!” she lied.
Johnny’s dad broke down the door and she immediately jumped into Johnny’s arms. Her jealous step-sisters tried to explain why Cindy was not at the party but as Johnny took the broken stiletto from his bag Cindy matched it with the other that never disappeared that night. She started to leave with Johnny when Christina desperately called after her
“Stop! She can’t leave, I forbid it! She’s still under my control!”
“Actually, not that any of the three of you cared to remember but it was my eighteenth birthday yesterday. I’m not under anyone’s control,” said Cindy. “Oh, and Sir,” she turned to Johnny’s dad. “You might be interested in these.” Cindy handed the policeman the two sets of account books Christina had forced her to do. “I’m not sure but I think that might be fraud”.
Christina was arrested, and Cindy moved in with Kate and started dating Johnny. She lived happily ever after.
The End
To My Write 