"Cindy Ellie"

"Cindy Ellie" is a short story written by Mary Carter Smith in the book Talk That Talk which is similar to the story of Cinderella. The main character Cindy is left with only a father after her mother dies. However, one day her Father falls for a women that has a pretty face, big legs, and great big hips. She was the new addition to their family, but along with her came her two ugly daughters. Once the they had moved into the house, Cindy was made to sleep on a pallet in the cellar and her life changed. The elected mayor was throwing his inauguration ball at the convention center for two nights, which his son Toussaint had come home from college to attend. Instead of joining the two gals in getting ready for the ball, Cindy was busy giving the them perms, jheri curls, and facials. While she was crying her heart out on her hard pallet, her godma decided to pay a visit. Her godma helped Cindy get ready for the ball. She turned onions into cars, mice into chauffers, and her ragged clothes into beautiful gowns. The mayor's son noticed her the moment she walked into the ball. Cindy made it back home on time the first night, but the second night she didn't realize it was midnight already. As she was running out of the ball, she had left a sandal behind. The mayor's son kept it and searched for her. He had every lady in town try it on, but no one could fit it. He then reached Cindy's house, but it didn't fit her stepsisters. She then asked the prince if she could try it on and it was the perfect fit. Therefore, they lived happily ever after.

I enjoyed reading this story because it was another version of the original Cinderella story I've heard before. There are so many different versions out there, but this one was not my favorite. I did not like the fact that her godma gave her braids as a hairstyle even if th

ere were real gold beads at the ends of them.

The two new vocabulary words that I found while reading this story was jheri curl and sumptous. I have heard of the word jheri curl before but never knew what it meant until now. As stated on Wikipedia, the jheri curl is a hairstyle that was common and popular in the African American community in the late 1970s. It was invented by Willie Morrow and named after Jheri Redding, the man who made it popular. The jheri curl gave the wearer a glossy, loosely curled look. The other word sumptuous is defined as extremely costly, rich, luxurious, or magnificent. Now I understan what they were talking about when they said "...the table was loaded with sumptuous food".

The character that I didn't like in this story was Cindy's father. If he loved his daughter so much, he wouldn't let the stepmom and stepsisters treat Cindy that way. He would let her get all dolled up for the ball and join them. Instead, he left her home alone to cry her little heart out. If my own father did that to me, I wouldn't even help my stepsisters get ready. I would let them get ready all on their own and look like crap. Why should I suffer? No thanks.