The Facility

“Okay, Ella, let’s get you back to bed.”

Cinderella was led by one of the maids back to her room. It was small, with just a single bed and a desk taking up most of the space. Everything was white, even the walls, which meant it was clean. Cinderella loved to clean.

“Oh, no thank you Joyce, I haven’t finished my chores yet. Stepmother won’t let me attend the Prince’s ball unless I do everything on her list. Have you seen Lucifer, by any chance?”

Joyce helped Cinderella onto her bed, and began to take off her shoes. “No, Ella, we haven’t seen him for a while. I think your mother is looking after him while you’re here.”

Cinderella huffed. “She’s my stepmother, and she hates me. Of course she’d make it difficult to find the damn cat, I can’t bathe him if he’s hiding from me! This-” Cinderella moved so her face was less than an inch from Joyce’s, making her jump. “This is what she does! She always adds so many things to my chores, so I never get them all finished. It’s so unfair.”

Joyce had managed to get one shoe from Cinderella’s foot, but she was fidgeting so much the second wouldn’t stay still. “Actually, Ella, I think one of the other staff members already gave Lucifer a bath. Yes, I remember now. He was quite difficult.”

Cinderella smiled. “Really? That’s great, one less thing for me to do before the ball.”

The ball was all Cinderella could think about. She’d met the Prince for the first time last week, and had been waiting to see him again. He was so kind, and very handsome, and she was already imagining a life with him.

Joyce wrestled the second shoe from her foot, and placed them carefully under the bed.

“Is there anything else you need, Ella, before I go on my rounds?” Joyce indicated the corridor outside, but Cinderella was already dreaming up a wedding dress.

“No, I’m wonderful. I’ll let you get back to your chores.”

Joyce closed the door behind her, and let out a long breath. Another worker came by, took one look at her, and laughed. “You had Ella again, didn’t you?”

Joyce gave an exhausted smile. “You mean ‘Cinderella’? Yeah. And tomorrow.”

The second woman winced. “Come to the staff area, I’ll make you a nice drink.”

Joyce followed her friend. “Thanks, Mary. I really need something after the day I’ve had with her.” She took her identification from her pocket and clipped it back to her blouse. “She won’t stop talking about going to a ball, and seeing this ‘Prince’? Do you have any idea where that came from, because I had her last Monday and she wasn’t this bad at all.”

The women reached the cafeteria, and Mary walked behind the counter and switched on the coffee machine. Joyce was about to interject, but Mary butt in. “Decaf, I know, I know.”

They sat in exhausted silence drinking their coffees, before Joyce put down her empty cup and said, “Spill. What’s going on?”

Mary gave a wry smile.

“You know that new intern, what’s his name,” she said, clicking her fingers to jog her memory. “Oh yeah, Pete? Well, apparently, when Danielle took Ella for her walk on Thursday, they literally ran into each other! Stuff went flying, including Ella’s new shoes, because she refused to put them on. Pete picked one up for her, and I guess must’ve said something like, ‘is this yours?’ or ‘does this belong to you?’, and put it on her foot, because ever since that moment she’s been talking non-stop about her ‘Prince Charming’.”

Joyce burst out laughing, and the few other staff still in the cafeteria looked round at them with annoyance.

“Oh my god, seriously?”

Mary took another swig of coffee before continuing.

“That’s not all. Every time she’s seen Pete since then, she’s tried to dance with him, and her shoes keep ‘accidentally’ falling off when he’s around. He’s so embarrassed by the whole thing, he’s asked to move to a different facility for his internship.”

Joyce sat back in her chair, thinking. “She’s definitely getting worse with these delusions.”

Mary nodded while finishing the rest of her drink.

“For sure. Her family first had her committed because she kept talking to the rats, and her little sisters had been bitten several times by them. She refused to let anyone set traps or set them back outside.”

Joyce shook her head at Mary. “No, they’re her-”

“Step-sisters!” they both said in unison, laughing.