Once upon a time, there was a girl called Nneoma. She lived with her grandma in the village. She is obedient, respectful and lovely but people despise her. This is because her mother died when she was giving birth, so people assume she was the one who killed her mother. After the sudden incident of her mom, her father died. She grew up without parental care. Her grandma lived in the village with her and took care of her. She also enrolled her in one of the best schools in the village.
Nneoma studied very hard to make her grandma proud. She always tops her class.
Her grandma always praised her and her teacher loves her. She finished her primary six and was about to enter Junior secondary school when one sudden incident occurred. One sunny afternoon Nneoma was coming back from school. She saw her grandma lying helplessly on the floor beside the bush where they normally fetch/cut firewood. Some passersby were trying to revive her but she later gave up the ghost. They told Nneoma that a snake bit her mother when she was coming from the bush and the snake was very poisonous which made her give up the ghost.
Neoma wept profusely but no one came to her rescue. She called her mum's sister and some other relatives she knew. Mrs Nwachukwu who lived in the nearby village rushed down to their grandma's place before other relatives came. They carried her corpse to her house and Mrs Nwachukwu accused Nneoma that she killed her grandma the way she also killed her mother and father. Other relatives came and they carried out the burial rites and wept for some days. They did a meeting on how to take care of Nneoma. Mrs Nwachukwu volunteered to take care of her and others accepted.
Mrs Nwachukwu is a divorcee and she has two children, Favour which is the firstborn and Miracle the last born. Favour is a boy while the miracle is a girl. Miracle and Nneoma are of the same age. Mrs Nwachukwu brought Nneoma to her house. She started denying Nneoma some of her rights. Mrs Nwachukwu always gives her little food which does not satisfy her. She also told her children not to do any house chores and that Nneoma will be the one to do the whole chores. Nwachukwu and her children treat her just like an outsider. They accused her of stealing.
One day Mrs Nwachukwu went to the market when her children had just come back from school and Nneoma was the only one at home. She did not enrol her in any of the secondary schools. Then Miracle ordered Nneoma to cook, she did not argue with her, but instead, she prepared the meal. After cooking, she called miracle to tell her she was done cooking. Then Miracle told her to serve her the food, but she could not answer her. Miracle refused to give her the food she had prepared by herself. Nneoma was served very little food which suppose not supposed to be. Mrs Nwachukwu came back from where she went and saw Nneoma with a little food. She asked miracle to give her reasons why Nneoma was given little food. Miracle explained to her mother and Mrs Nwachukwu went to her room to change her clothes without responding to Nneoma's condition.
The house was hell for Nneoma until one day the prince was asked to get a wife to sit on the throne. The prince then thought of a wonderful idea. He thought to himself to dress just like an outsider to look for a good woman who he can make his wife. He started his adventure, going to different houses for food and shelter, but people kept ignoring him. So he just kept thinking that no one has the power of humanity. So the last house he checked along the roadside was Nneoma's house. He knocked and she opened the door, he explained everything to her and she allowed him in. She served him food and gave him a long blanket to cover his body. Mrs Nwachukwu came in and beckoned her for allowing a stranger into his house. She sent him away and again Nneoma did not eat that night. The prince then went back to his palace and declared to everyone as well as his dad, the king, that he had found his bride. Everyone in the palace prepared to go to meet his bride the following day.
Everyone was surprised after hearing about the news of the prince going to pick his bride. The prince and his titled men went to Nneoma's house and chose her as his wife. The prince told her to tell her family members to come along with her. This was where she explained everything to the prince and everything Mrs Nwachukwu has been doing to her. It was a great day and a great celebration for the whole village. Mrs Nwachukwu was surprised about the whole scene and it was just like a dream.
Nneoma is now the Prince's wife. She is a girl to recon with and has good character. Mrs Nwachukwu came begging for forgiveness which she did forgive her and her children. Nneoma helped Mrs Nwachukwu.
NO MATTER THE SITUATION YOU FIND YOURSELF ALWAYS ENDURING.
your story reminded me of disney's cinderella. But more cruel, and I like all the versions. greetings.
{Edited comment}
@cool08, thank you for updating this story as requested, removing the beating of Nneoma. We appreciate it!
This story pays homage to the classic story of Cinderella. A young woman, with no parents to support or nurture her falls victim to others who are terribly unkind. They ultimately must bow down, however, when the young lady is chosen for a bride by the prince.
Thank you for posting your story in The Ink Well, and for engaging with the work of other writers.
I will do as instructed
I have done the changes as instructed as well as the image. Please, pardon me for the use those words. I won't try that again.
Thanks for always correcting me...
It would be great if all the girls in the world could find their prince. Unfortunately, such a fortunate thing rarely happen in real life. Nonetheless, I still think the moral of the story was good.