He looked for and found someone to marry. This woman had two daughters of her own, and it seemed a match made in heaven... until he fell ill and died.
Then the step-mother's true nature became apparent. She was arrogant, selfish, and doted on her own daughters to the point of cruelty to her late husband's child.
This went on for quite some time- years, in fact. And it would have continued except for one thing... or maybe two. But let's start with the first thing that happened.
The prince came of age. The king felt that it was high time for his son to take a wife and begin preparing for his own reign. The young man enjoyed spending time with the ladies of his social circle, but none really caught his eye or his heart.
In an attempt to move things along, the king and queen organized and held a magnificent ball. All the remotely eligible, vaguely age-appropriate ladies of the realm were sent personal invitations... which were of course heeded! Really, who needs a second request to possibly marry a prince?
The day of the ball arrived. The little girl who had lost her mother and then her father.. and now lived with a harsh and unloving step-mother was now a young woman- lovely, charming, kind.. and motivated to get the heck out!
Of course Step-Mother didn't want that kind of competition for her own daughters, so she told the young woman that she could certainly go to the ball... after she had completed all her chores... as well as some that had been thought up just for "special" occasions such as this.
The young woman was desperate. She dusted, swept, mopped, scrubbed, and scoured faster than she had in her entire life! She HAD to be to that ball! She just knew it was her golden ticket.
She even had a dress. It had been her mother's. Her father had talked about her mother occasionally. Watching her father talk of his young bride, the young woman knew her mother must have been radiant to behold. The dress was beautiful, too, and the young woman hoped it would catch the prince's eye.
When it came time to go to the ball, Mother seemed pleased that the young woman was prepared. But there were more chores.. another list devised to keep the young woman from the ball.
The young woman was devastated. There was no way she was going to break free now. She fled to the garden to cry, realizing instantly that Mother in fact had NEVER intended to allow her to go anywhere. Once she had cried herself out, she returned to the house, intent on freshening up and throwing a pity party for herself and the dog.
That's when the second thing happened. As she opened the door to the washroom, she discovered another door. It was blue. As she reached for the handle, the door abruptly opened inward and a man's head popped out.
" Hello, I'm the Doctor... Come with me.. NOW!"
(Author's note: This is a work in progress.. I may eventually chose to write more... another chapter, perhaps. As it stands, Doctor Who fans know full well that this is really just the beginning!)
