Everyone remember that Disney Cinderella story? Well that’s only part of it. You see, they only gave us Cinderella’s perspective to make it a little more children friendly. Let me tell you how everyone else saw it.

First of all, that big mansion Cinderella lived and served in? Yeah, that was the prison. Why was she in prison? Hm well I do wonder where dear Cinderella’s mother is; I believe she’s “gone”. As for the chores, Cinderella was made to work in the laundry room and the kitchen.

In her “family” life, her evil stepmother and stepsisters were actually just the warden and her cell mates. Sure, maybe they weren’t the nicest, but they were in prison, were they not?

Now Cindy here was a little messed up in the head. She always had been. (That’s kind of why she offed her mom. Whoops!) She was competent enough to get through the court system without being given a mental evaluation though. Ironic, right? So, in this mansion of hers, the poor girl was always seeing these mice. What better to do than give them names? And just like that, we’ve got Jaq and Gus!

Now please just try to picture this how everyone else saw it. You’ve got this woman sitting in her jail cell, in the laundry room, or in the kitchen not only talking but singing to the walls, floor, or into her hands! Not exactly something you see every day.

Here’s where the story really gets good.

I surely hope you recall the scene when Cindy’s little mice are remaking her dress for her. Now give this a thought: if she’s in prison and the mice are imaginary, then what really happened? Well here’s what the others saw. They were minding their own business until some of the other women found Cindy. She had been left alone in her cell. When her cell mates came back, she was laying on the floor laughing slightly, blood dripping out from all over her flesh. She had gotten ahold of a plastic toothbrush and broken it. She’d used it to tear at her skin. She must have imagined that it was going to make her beautiful.

After that day, she was no longer an inmate, but a resident of the infamous insane asylum. But of course that’s not the way Cindy saw it. So now we get into the magic.

So when her fairy godmother comes to save the day with a new dress, everyone else saw a cut up, bloody girl being put into a straightjacket. The magical carriage was just any old county transportation van. The Prince’s ball? Nothing special, your everyday mental ward.

Now the last mystery remains: who is the Prince, and what are the magic glass slippers? The answer may (not) surprise you. Cindy here wasn’t exactly trusted to be out of her straightjacket alone, but a girl’s got to shower, right? So everyday, a young nurse came in and helped her put on clear shower shoes and take her into the showers.

I think Cindy’s imagination just got a bit carried away with the wedding. Who can blame her?

Living in the tower

Rapunzel and Gothel

Made a perfect pair

Of mother and daughter.

To satisfy their unfulfilled pleasures,

Together the evil pair

Would lure men

Using Rapunzel's wig of golden hair

The wig, made of tough synthetic hair,

Had been ordered online

Quite pleased with its length,

It suited Rapunzel just fine.

Of a damsel in distress

The role she would play,

While her mom tricked handsome young men

Into being her prey.

The code phrase

"Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair"

A cascade of tumbling locks out of the window

Would cause the guys to stare.

Little did they know

They were walking to their doom

Cause once inside, they would be trapped

Into one of the tower's windowless room.

Both mother and daughter

Would fulfil their pleasure

When the hormones demanded

Or at their own leisure.

...

One fine guy, of noble descent

Caught Rapunzel's liking

His manners, she thought

To be very striking.

Locked away with him for hours

She was too busy, applying her seductive charm

That she didn't realize

She had forgotten to set her ovulation alarm.

Not surprisingly, he got her pregnant

Much to her dismay

She knew he had broken the rules

And now wouldn't be allowed to stay.

As furious as she could be

Upon hearing the news, Dame Gothel

Commanded her daughter

To prepare for the slaughter.

To the young man's surprise

He was attacked by the two

To tie him up. But for what?

He had no clue.

Gothel grinned,

A game played fair

As they choked him with

Rapunzel's wig of golden hair.

Alas he never got to know

Why his body was distorted

Nor did he live to see,

His unborn child aborted.

I thrive on darkness.

On misery.

On the pain in their eyes.

On the stream of tears that always follow.

On their unfulfilled wishes.

On their lost hopes and dreams.

I love seeing them being rejected.

Here was another, a young girl. Almost pretty, had it not been for the wires wounded across her. Or the pain that masked her face. Too confident, too full of herself, she had been. Serves her right.

She lay on a hospital bed, tubes going to and fro. Surrounded by hopeless doctors trying to ease her pain. Her insides were being gnawed at, her flesh was teared bit by bit by the microorganisms fostering within her, till she was left gasping for breath, for one last chance at life.

Her parents were there too, begging for mercy. Oh how I loved these dramatic ones.

I smirked.

Here's what you get for loving life too much.

***

Let me introduce myself. I am Death. I am the one who is permanent (unlike Life) yet always unloved, unwanted, and rejected. I hide in dark corners of the heart, never accepted. I am there wherever you are, constantly watching and waiting to make my move.

I don't understand people. They will always be dumb, I guess. They love Life or the illusion of it fully knowing it's temporary. While rejecting me knowing full well I am inevitable.

But boy are they gonna love me

When I approach

With my nightmarish grin

Suckin' out their lives

Loving the fear in their eyes

Taking them down with me

In the darkness

That I embrace.

I always take my revenges.

Especially from these young ones who think themselves immortal.

***

Her eyes widened as she saw me, immediately recognising. Fear flashed across her face. Hurt too as she realised Life had given up on her.

I grinned.

Here she was, rejected by Life, slipping into the cruel uninviting arms of the one she had rejected.

It couldn't have been more perfect.

"Wow. Ok so it's going to be like this then? Ok fine. You know what? Screw you. I don't need you, screw you. I've been trying to make this work for what feels like ages and...and I'm just done! I'm done trying! Does that make you happy you piece of s***? You're full of crap I don't even know why I care so much. You took everything from me, that's all you do isn't it? You just take, take take, take. And I'm just supposed to expect nothing in return? I HAVE NEEDS! I JUST WANT SOME DAMN RESPECT! IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK? IS THAT TOO MUCH TO FREAKING ASK? I want you to respect me, I want you to respect my money. I worked hard for that s*** ok? Who are you to just take it like that? And I ain't ever getting it back am I? Do you enjoy taking advantage of poor girls like me? Makes you feel real good about yourself doesn't it? But you ain't no human, you're a machine. You have no heart. You freaking got no heart! And you just looked too damn perfect and I believed in you. I believed in you. I could've picked another, but I picked YOU. I just feel so betrayed...I feel cheated, lied to, and...rejected. Screw you ok? Screw you!"

I watched in a sort of awed silence as the girl shouted all sorts of abuses, ending in a swift kick. When she looked like she was about to cry I finally interjected, "Ma'am, you know there's another vending machine upstairs right?"

"But it's out of the Nacho Cheese Doritos! Besides, this machine already took my money and is STILL saying that it has rejected my payment. UGHHH I just wanted some Doritos...."