The Golden Slipper

1st Prize Winner - The Resurrected Bedtime/Fairytale Contest.

The Golden Slipper

         Amelia Proud was a rich little girl who lived in a small town. She was eight years old and was very popular in school because of the beautiful clothes and the lovely shoes she wore.

         Now one weekend Amelia had to attend the school dance. She was excited as she would get to buy a new dress and new shoes. That afternoon, she went shopping into town with her mother. Although Mrs. Proud hated shopping in town and went only to the city, this time she decided to give the shops in town a passing look.

         As was expected, Mrs. Proud rejected everything she was shown in ten shops. When she and Amelia finally walked toward the eleventh shop, they were in for a surprise.

         Its window display held a mannequin of a small girl. It was wearing the most beautiful dress with golden satin bows that Amelia had ever seen! And on its feet was the most exquisite pair of delicately embroidered, golden slippers!

         “Oh, mummy, I simply must have that dress!” cried Amelia.

         Mrs. Proud nodded for she was quite impressed by the dress herself. The Proud women walked into the shop and found a simple but beautiful woman at the counter.

         She welcomed them with a warm smile. “I’m Mrs. Simple, ma’am, how can I help you?”

         Mrs. Proud gave her a scornful look, then said, “I am Mrs. Amanda Proud and this is my daughter Amelia. I would like to purchase that dress you have in your window for her. I think it’s the right size.”

         Upon hearing these words, Mrs. Simple was at once happy and sad. She was happy because that dress was the most expensive one in her shop and would fetch her a lot of money. But she was sad because she had wanted no one to buy it so that her daughter could wear it for her school dance that weekend. However, the Simples were in dire need of money, so she removed the dress from the mannequin and packed it lovingly.

         “I want those golden slippers too,” announced Mrs. Proud.

         Mrs. Simple turned white. She could absolutely not sell those slippers! Why Mr. Simple had made those especially for their daughter. She had put them on display because they matched the dress. So she shook her head. “Those are not for sale, ma’am. They belong to my daughter.”

         “Not for sale! How dare you say that?” Mrs. Proud shouted turning red. “When I say I want something, no one can refuse me!”

         “But..but..,” stuttered Mrs.Simple, “My daughter has to wear them to her school dance!”

         “I want to wear it to my school dance too!” yelled Amelia.

         Hearing all this shouting, Mr. Simple, who was at the back of the shop came to the front. “What is going on Jane?” he asked.

         Mrs. Proud turned her angry eyes on Mr. Simple. “I told this woman to sell me these golden slippers but she refused me. Now, let me make this clear to you people, if you do not sell me those slippers, I will see to it that you are not only forced out of business but also out of this town! Do you understand me?”

         Mr. Simple knew who this arrogant woman was and he became troubled. Although he had no wish to sell the golden slippers, he knew Mrs. Proud’s threats weren’t empty.

         So with a heavy heart, Mr. Simple sold the golden slippers. When Mrs. Proud and her daughter left, he turned to face his wife with a heavy heart. “Don’t cry my dear; the school dance is still four days away. I will make the most beautiful pair of slippers in this entire town for our girl.”

         Mrs. Simple nodded drying her tears. “And I will sew the most beautiful dress for her.”

         Four days later, Janey Simple looked like an angel in her soft, golden dress with golden ribbons in her hair and of course, exquisite, delicately embroidered, golden slippers. The Simples dropped Janey off at her school and watched her go into the dance hall with love and admiration.

         You must surely be wondering by now if this was the same school that Amelia Proud attended. Well, of course she did not! She went to a very exclusive private school that was built atop a hill. But she was attending the same school dance as Janey Simple because their schools had decided to hold a common charity dance.

         So it is but obvious that the two girls soon bumped into each other. Upon seeing the golden slippers on Janey’s feet, Amelia and her friends scoffed her.

         “Is that a copy of your golden slippers, Amelia?” asked Nolah Rudford.

         “It sure looks like a copy,” said Amelia, “I’m sure she cannot afford the original.”

         “It isn’t a copy!” replied Janey’s friend Francis angrily, “In fact, the golden slippers you are wearing were made by Janey’s dad.”

         Amelia looked stricken. She knew it was the truth because Janey looked exactly like the man she had seen in the shop. “He made the same pair for her???”

         “Yes, he did, and see, your feet look just the same as hers,” Francis said with a smile.

         Amelia went off in a huff. She could not bear the thought of wearing the same pair of shoes as a cobbler’s daughter. Outside she tried to remove the golden slippers to throw them off as far as possible. But strangely, only one came off and the other one remained stuck on her right foot. She caught the slipper and tried to slip it off but to no avail. Feeling helpless, she dissolved into tears.

         Just then someone came out. It was Janey. She saw the crying girl and felt very sorry for her. She knew Amelia was angry at her and yet she wanted to be of help.

         “I’m so sorry for this; please don’t cry,” said Janey softly, “Can I be of any help?”

         “I’m not crying, go away!”

         Janey turned to leave when Amelia stopped her. “Wait. I do need your help.” Amelia smiled wickedly. “You’re sorry aren’t you? Well you can make up for it by giving me one of your golden slippers.”

         Janey looked shocked. “Why do you want it?”

         “Because I threw one of mine away and now I want to go back to the dance.”

         Janey was still surprised but she removed one of her slippers and gave it to Amelia.

         Amelia wore the golden slipper and went back to the dance leaving Janey outside.

         However a very strange thing happened when Amelia started dancing. Her feet would simply not dance together. If they so much as came near each other they would repel and go in the other direction. And even when Amelia tried to stop, her feet simply kept dancing!

         Soon the other children began noticing her weird dance and there was laughter all over. Now Amelia was really in trouble. She cried for help but no one could stop her!

         Hearing her screams, Janey came running into the hall. When she saw Amelia dancing out of control, she knew what the trouble was. She immediately removed her other slipper and threw it toward Amelia. As soon as the golden slipper fell at Amelia’s feet, her dancing stopped. Then to everyone’s disbelief, one golden slipper popped out of Amelia’s foot and united with the one Janey had thrown.

         Mr. Brown, Janey’s school principal strode forward to ask the one question that was going on in everyone’s mind. “What is going on here?”

         “Mr. Brown, sir, I can explain,” began Janey but Amelia interrupted her.

         “No, no, it’s my fault! I forced her to give up her slipper after I threw mine away! I had no idea they were magical! I’m so sorry, Janey, if it weren’t for my stupid pride, I wouldn’t be in this mess.”

         Everyone looked at her in surprise. Magical slipper? Whatever was Amelia talking about?

         Mr. Brown turned to Janey. “Can you explain what she is talking about?”

         “I’m really not sure, Mr. Brown,” Janey replied as she offered her hand to Amelia, “But I’m sure I’ve made a friend tonight.”

         The next few days, there was a lot to talk about the dance.  Everyone had one opinion that Amelia was a very bad dancer!

         However my dear readers, I’m sure you are wondering if the golden slippers were really magical? Well, they certainly were not! They were merely fitted with magnets that would control the flow of their tread when they were worn. And of course since Mr. Simple had made them for Janey, only she knew how to use them correctly!

----------------THE END---------------

Word Count: 1445