 Hello everyone, my name is Mara the storyteller and I'm going to tell you a story of a young woman called Ella who lived with her dad. They loved each other enormously. But one day her father decided to get married and it wasn't long before Ella's new stepmother and two stepsisters moved in with them. At first they were really kind and friendly but when Ella's father had to leave and go to work, things changed immediately. They showed their true selves and they were mean, nasty, spiteful people. Go and fetch me my clothes, said one. I'm hungry, go and cook my food, said another. Come and brush my hair, said the stepmother. Poor Ella. She scrubbed and swept and mopped and one day they saw how dirty her dress was covered with ash, cinders from the fire and they howled with laughter. Cinderella, Cinderella, Cinderella, Cinderella, Cinderella. That's what we're going to call you from now on. They said and they did. Poor Cinderella worked so hard when one day there was a messenger from the palace at the front door and he was holding invitations to a ball, a ball where the prince was going to choose a wife. Well obviously he's going to choose me, said one stepsister. Don't be ridiculous, he's going to choose me, said the other. Ella asked if she might go to the ball and they said no, you're far too disgusting, you're going to stay right here. And so poor Ella watched sadly as the stepsisters got ready and off they went to the ball and the tears began to well up and they fell to the floor when suddenly a strange creature appeared before her. I am your fairy godmother, said the creature and you shall go to the ball but you're not going looking like that. Out came the wand and there she was wearing the most amazing ball like outfit that you could possibly imagine. If you can think of your favorite color, there it was. If you can think of your favorite style, there it was and she thought wow, I look amazing. Yes, I feel good. Now how shall I get to the ball fairy godmother? Hmm, not a problem. Out came the wand and a pumpkin turned into a beautiful golden carriage, a lizard turned into a coachman. Six little mice became beautiful horses and just before she left the fairy godmother looked at her feet and put on some lovely glass slippers. Now remember, this magic is not going to last forever. You must be home before midnight because that is when the magic wears off. Do you understand? Yes, fairy godmother and whoosh, off she went. Well, the prince had eyes for nobody else. He saw what a big happy smile she had. He saw how kind she was and how gracious she was when she spoke to people and he saw that she could dance and the two of them, they took over the dance floor shimmying and shaking back flips, front flips, whoa, summer salts and cartwheels. They had so much fun. They didn't see the time pass and dying, dying, the clock began to strike 12. I have to go. She cried and off she ran and the prince said, I don't even know your name. But it was too late. All he had was a little glass slipper that she had left on the stairs. I must find the person who owns this glass slipper. He announced and the messengers were sent out the very next day. They went to every single house. And when they reached Cinderella's house, well, the stepsisters were there. It's gonna fit me, said one. And when she squeezed her foot in, it was far too big. The second stepsister came and she had tried to break the bones in her foot to make sure that her foot squeezed in. But no, it was just too big. I'm sorry, madam. The shoe does not fit. Now the messenger was about to leave when Cinderella emerged. There's no point asking her. So the stepsisters were pretty miserable. She didn't even go to the ball. But Cinderella calmly and confidently walked forward. She took that glass slipper and she put it onto her foot and it was a perfect fit. I don't believe it, said the stepsisters. And immediately Cinderella was taken to the palace and the prince asked her if she would marry him. And she thought to herself, well, he is pretty kind. He can dance very, very well. He's very smart. So I think that this would be a very, very good marriage indeed. And so they did get married and they ruled happily for a long, long time. Now there are lots of different variations of that story. I wonder if you can think of any more. Perhaps you could make up your own. I know that in Egypt there's a story of a falcon who swoops down, picks up a little red shoe that belongs to a Greek slave girl and drops it into the lap of the pharaoh. And I'm sure you can guess what happy ending might have happened there. Okay, I look forward to hearing yours. Bye for now.