Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Los Angeles, lived a man who was kind and loving to all that he met and his name was Michael. He lived as a servant in his father's house. Joseph, he called him, was cold and cruel towards Michael. He made him clean up after him, his brother Jermaine, and his sister Latoya and made him sleep on the cold kitchen floor by the fire. Joseph made sure that Jermaine and Latoya had the very best of everything while Michael's clothes were thread bare, he had holes in his shoes, his face was always covered in soot, and his fingers were worked to the bone and would never come clean no matter how hard he scrubbed.

   Michael's siblings were also quite cruel to him and would often tease him, calling him Cinderella, and pushing him down in the dirt when they found he was more gifted at anything, when they didn't get their way, or just because they felt like it. It broke Michael's heart that his siblings were so cruel and he often wondered what he had done to deserve such hate.

   Though Michael had a sad existence he found peace in music, he would sing and talk to the mice who visited the kitchen and daydream about running away. Joseph had told him that his mother had run off (because of him) but Michael never believed a word of it. He knew that his mother had loved him and was out there somewhere and one day, they would be reunited. Little did he know that he was destined for so much more.

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   "Come on man." Jermaine demanded as Michael tried to catch up to his brother. It was hard for him to see with his arms loaded down with packages as he tried to push his way through the crowded street. "I said come on!" Jermaine turned and commanded again. "I know you're skinny but buck up, it ain't that heavy." Jermaine gave him a smack on the arm, toppling the some of the packages to the ground. "Now look what you did, so careless." He exclaimed with an evil smirk then he turned and kept on walking.

   Michael let out a sigh as he carefully shifted the packages to lean against his chest and right arm and slowly swooped down to rescue the fallen ones from the ground. He quickened his pace to catch up with his brother. Despite the clumsiness of the packages he was carrying, Michael moved with a grace that no other could manage.

   "Took you long enough." Jermaine scoffed when Michael reached him. "Put them in there." He demanded pointing to the large SUV beside him and he turned to walk away.

   "Okay, can you open the door please." Michael requested but Jermaine kept walking as if he hadn't heard him. Michael let out an exhausted sigh and again shifted the weight of the boxes to one side as he carefully opened the back. He gently let the packages lose in the back of the vehicle then shut it and turned to run after his brother.

   "Man, that woman got no shame." Jermaine said as Michael caught up to him inside of a darkened restaurant. Michael looked in the same direction to find Latoya practically hanging off of a much older man at the bar. Michael shook his head knowing good and well that his brother was a bigger flirt than Latoya had ever been. "Man, go deal with that broad. I'm ready to go." Jermaine shoved him in her direction and turned to walk out of the door.

   Michael walked over to the bar slowly and stood to his sisters side waiting for her to notice him so he wouldn't interrupt. She noticed him mid giggle and rolled her eyes. "Look what we have here," She started menacingly. "The little cinder boy." She gave a laugh and her (not so) gentleman friend joined in. "What do you want ya little runt?" She hissed then took a shot of whatever was waiting for her at the bar.

   "Latoya, Jermaine sent me for you... He's ready to go now." Michael said in a hushed tone.

   "Well I'm not ready to go yet. Tell him he'll have to wait...ugh, I can't believe they even let you in here lookin a mess the way you do." She looked around in mock concern. "Isn't anyone watching the doors in this place? Honestly," She turned once again to her friend. "They'll just let any common street rat in here." They giggled once more.

   "Darlin, you better go on, I have to get back anyway," The man stood up.

   "Must you go, baby?" Latoya put on a pout.

   "Yes, I must. But I have your number, I'll give you a call when my wife goes out of town, okay?" He gave her a small peck on the lips and walked to the doors.

   "Latoya!" Michael exclaimed. "That man is married!"

   "And...?" Latoya rolled her eyes as she took one last shot and gathered her things. She started towards the door.

   Michael chased after her. "And you're flirting with him at the bar and gonna go mee..."

   "Look." She turned as she cut him off. "That's my business. Not yours." She turned again to walk out of the restaurant. "And I don't see anyone throwing themselves at your cinderella ass anyway so I don't know why you trying to give me a lecture on love." She got to the passenger side of the SUV and turned to look at him again as she opened the door. "You better get to steppin. Looks like you got a lot of packages to carry in when you get home." She chuckled to herself as she stepped up into the SUV. "Enjoy your walk, Cinderella." She said mockingly as she closed the door and they pulled away.

   Michael looked down at the ground and let out a sigh. He was used to this kind of torment from his siblings but it never stopped hurting. He kept his head down, kicking at pebbles and scuffing his worn loafers even more, as he reluctantly started towards home. 'You could go now.' He thought to himself. 'They couldn't stop you. You could run away right now and never come back.' He shrugged the thought away. The few possessions he owned were hidden in a cupboard in the kitchen, he had no time to pack, and didn't know where he would go anyway.

   A few blocks away from his house he heard a commotion and looked up to see a crowd gathering around a shop window. Michael picked up his pace to see what was going on. When he reached the shop he saw a sign posted. It announced a ball being held at the end of the week by the king for his daughter, the beautiful Jocelyn. All eligible men in the kingdom were invited to attempt to win the heart of the fair princess.

   Amid the chatter Michael could feel excitement growing within his chest and a large smile formed on his face. 'This is it!' he told himself. 'This is my chance!' He fought his way out of the crowd and picked up his pace to a sprint running the entire way home.