[April 1st Edition - 3rd]
[I am saving the various editions as a way of seeing how the story develops.
April 2020 revisions: death of father]
Cinderella lost her mother some years ago. Her father re-married - a woman with two daughters. The he passed away recently. And now Cinderella lives with her stepmother, and her two step-sisters.
Her step-sisters had the best clothes, the best food, and did not need to do any housework at all because they were wealthy and could afford lots of servants. Except, since her father died, the money he had was steadily being spent.
They had a housekeeper who kept everything clean. But when they could no longer afford to keep her, Cinderella took over the cleaning. They had a washerwoman who did the laundry. But when they had to let her go, Cinderella had to do the laundry. Then they had to let the cook go, and Cinderella took over the cooking. Part of the work of cooking was to make sure the cooking fire was at the right temperature, and tending the fire left Cinderella covered with soot and marked with cinders. And that was how she got the "Cinder Ella". Her real name was Ella. Ellie, her mother used to call her.
They also had to let the gardener go, but Cinderella had no time to do the gardening in addition to the housekeeping, the laundry, and the cooking. So the garden was left unattended, and was soon overgrown with weeds and untended plants.
All the while her step-sisters lived the life of pampered rich girls.
