One day our friend, Cinderella, was seeing Prince Charming practising fencing. Cinderella wondered, “I too would love to try it.” But she dared not ask her father, as girls and especially Princesses weren’t allowed to learn the art of war or to become a warrior. Cinderella loved sports like horse riding, archery & swordsmanship but every time she would ask her father, he would simply turn her down by saying “Really, Cinderella for the last time, this is not your place, what would everyone think about you. Be a lady or learn to act like one at least”. But this could neither stop her nor convince her fearless mind that girls are not meant for sports. She listened to her heart which said, “There is nothing wrong in trying”.
So that night she snuck out of the palace with Prince’s sword and armour. She practised, practised and practised and this became her daily routine. Days and months passed by and she started becoming better and better in the art of sword fighting. One day she saw a fencing competition flyer, inviting young boys to participate and win prizes. She too wanted to participate and thus made a plan, to disguise as a Prince and enter the competition. Dressed like a prince, she kissed her sword, remembered her mother and prayed to the Almighty to give her strength and courage. On the day of the event, she performed excellently, the auditorium was full of clapping and thumping sounds. She won one round after the other and made it to the final round of the competition where she was supposed to fight Prince charming. The round started and it was a fierce fight but at the end to her surprise she WON!
As the prize distribution started the seconds were winding down her eyes and she was supposed to be back in the palace. She glanced at the watch 10…9….8 …..and the countdown had begun in her mind, and suddenly a surge of energy went through her and struck her!! The time was 00:00!!!!! She took off her mask and the crowd were surprised to see a Princess winning the competition. Our Cinderella wasn’t wearing the glass sandals this time, but the boots!!!! She didn’t run away but stood among the crowd and faced them fiercely. She made them believe that girls can play any sports and master it too only if they are given the opportunity.
Back at the castle, it left Prince Charming wondering why did he lose, and where did he go wrong? Was it just pure luck or a play of magic? To that the Princess had an answer, “No one can win with just luck , it is hard work, perseverance and pure determination.”
After the show, while coming back home she met a man who offered her a contract to become a special swordswoman, fencer. This was too good to be true so she accepted the offer.
Message from the story: Whatever one thinks, he/she can and will achieve it, all it requires is belief in oneself, hard work, consistency, discipline and dedication.
(Samaira, a resident of Hamilton Society, a Grade 3 student in TSRS Aravali School is an avid reader who loves to read, write, hear podcasts, and stories and loves to narrate stories to her grandparents, parents and friends. She is a storyteller. She has recently got into different forms of story writing, like fractured story tales, mathematical concepts explained through stories and her favourite, detective story writing. In an era of mobile phones and video games, our budding writer loves to pen down and share her world of imagination and binds her friends with her art of story-telling.)
