African Cinderella by Zainab Hassan

Once upon a time, there lived a girl named Chioma. She lived happily with her mother Chisom and her father, a rich merchant Obieze.

One day her mother unexpectedly died. Obieze and his daughter lived in sorrow until Obieze decided to get married again. He married a lady called Eno who has two daughters named Ebube and Eje. Thereafter, the father died after the marriage. Later on, Chioma’s stepmother started treating her wickedly. Early in the morning Chioma would wake up to set the fire, she would cook for the whole family, she would arrange the house while her sisters rest without doing any work. She would go to the stream to fetch water, and they always maltreated her. They give her rags to wear and also made her sleep on the bare floor near the fire in the kitchen. She was a beautiful girl and all men wanted to marry her.

One day the prince sent a letter to each house asking all girls to visit the village square the next day. The day came, Ebube and Eje started to dress, they made Chioma make their hair, chose a fine cloth for them to wear and when they were done dressing, a car picked and conveyed them to the village square. After they have left, Chioma sat on the bare floor crying, she wished she could visit the village square. Suddenly, an old widowed lady appeared and said “why are you crying, my dear?” Then Chioma responded, “I want to go to the village square, but my mother won’t allow me, and also, I don’t have good clothes to wear to the event.” I only have rags to wear. The old lady said, don’t worry my dear just fetch me 2 lizards, 1 pumpkin, and 6 rats okay? Chioma stopped crying and said “please just give me a minute”. Chioma got all the items needed and brought it to the widow. The widow told her to turn around and to Chioma’s surprise, her rags clothes turned into a beautiful gown. The widowed old lady told her to go and enjoy the event but instructed that she ensures she comes back before midnight. She then saw a Horse in front of her, hopped on the horse, and went away. When she reached the village square, the prince was happy to see a beautiful girl and he decided to dance with her. As she was dancing with the Prince, she realized it was almost midnight and remembered what the Old lady told her. She started running, she continued running till she reached home, and then her clothes turned to rags. The following day, the girls went back to the village square again, Chioma also went to the village square to attend the event. When it is almost midnight she started running back home. The prince starts to run after her, as she was running one of her shoes fell off. It was only when she reached her house that she realized that one of her shoes was missing. So she decided to keep the other pair of shoes in the storage.

The Prince searched the girl, but he couldn’t find her. So the prince ordered one of his servants to go to all the houses and ask each girl to try the shoe. Any girl that the shoe fits will be his bride. When they arrived at Chioma’s house, Ebube and Eje tried the shoe but it didn’t fit them. It was too big for one, while it was too small for the other. Chioma stood by the corner watching what was happening, and when the shoe didn’t fit her sisters, she requested to try it, but her stepmother refused and said “She is a maid”. The servant ignored and said the prince had instructed that all girls should try it. Chioma sat on the couch and tried the shoe and it fit her perfectly. The stepmother did not agree, so Chioma went under the stairs to pick the other pair of the shoe to show it as proof.

The servant went to inform the Prince who went to Chioma’s house to take her as his bride. After the marriage, her sisters regretted making her suffer. They went to apologize, and Chioma being a kind girl forgave them. thereafter, Chioma and the Prince lived happily ever after.
THE END.