Cinderella's Life Story
- Group Member:
- Chandra Dinata Dava Maharani
- Inova Dwi Putri
- Kesya Rifina Putri
- Nicholas Austin Giti Alfian
Once upon a time, in Suki village, there lived a girl named Cinderella. Her mother passed away when she was five years old. She lived only with her father, Nugraha, a kind and well-groomed man who loved her deeply.
Eventually, Cinderella's father remarried a widow named
Sulis, who brought along her two daughters, Rani and Rana. This new stepmother
was skilled at acting sweetly in front of Nugraha, but in reality, she
subjected Cinderella to constant poor treatment.
Not long after, Cinderella’s father had to attend to
important business outside the city. He was required to leave home for an
extended period, entrusting Cinderella to the care of her stepmother and
stepsisters.
As soon as her husband left, Sulis immediately unveiled her
true, cruel nature. She forced Cinderella to manage most of the household
chores and compelled her to work at a pecel lele stall so that Cinderella would
not be able to ask her for pocket money. Cinderella was now utterly alone.
One weekend, as Cinderella was preparing two servings of
pecel lele and a glass of iced tea, a flyer drifted down and landed right at
her feet. Cinderella bent down and picked it up. The poster advertised:
"Witness the ‘Gajah Gajahan’ Jaya Manggolo cultural performance at Sawoo
Market on September 17th." Cinderella felt an immediate draw, but she knew
her step-family would never grant her permission.
As she gazed at the poster, a young customer, about her
age, called out loudly.
“Hey,” the girl greeted her.
Cinderella quickly sought a short break from the stall
owner.
“My name is Maya, and what’s yours?” the girl asked kindly.
“I’m Cinderella,” she replied.
After the brief introduction, Maya asked if she planned to
attend the performance advertised on the poster.
Cinderella looked down. “My family won't allow it. I have
to keep working and doing chores. I don't get any time off except at night,”
she explained softly.
Seeing the deep sadness in Cinderella’s face, the stall
owner approached, offering Cinderella a day off. Cinderella refused, reasoning,
“My stepmother will surely scold me for being lazy.”
Maya thought hard, then smiled. “How about you come here
tomorrow and just tell them you’re going to work? After that, I’ll pick you up,
and we’ll go watch Gajah Gajahan. What do you think?”
Cinderella's sad face instantly brightened. She thanked
Maya profusely for her kindness.
“Why do you want to help me?” Cinderella asked curiously.
Maya answered softly, “I need a friend. We’re the same; we
both need to break free for a little while.”
The next day, as Cinderella was at the warung, Maya arrived
on her automatic motorbike. Cinderella, waiting eagerly, quickly said goodbye
to the stall owner and joined Maya. The two continued their journey to Sawoo
Market.
Once at the event, they fully embraced the show. They
danced, sang, had fun, and even took several selfies. However, while they were
enjoying the music, Cinderella’s phone, a precious gift from her father,
slipped out of her pocket. Neither girl noticed its absence.
Time quickly passed. Maya's wristwatch showed twelve
o'clock. Realizing this, Cinderella urgently encouraged Maya to return to the
pecel lele stall. She felt it would be improper to leave her work for too long.
Maya, remembering her own responsibilities, agreed, and they headed back.
III. The Descent into Tragedy
Upon arriving at the stall, Cinderella reached for the
phone her father had given her for her 16th birthday. Her pockets were empty.
Cinderella panicked, realizing the cherished phone was lost.
Maya offered to return to the Gajah Gajahan event, thinking
the phone might have fallen there.
“But even if it fell there, someone has probably picked it
up already,” Cinderella said, her voice strained. “My father gave me that phone
after saving up for a long time. I truly don't want to lose it just like that.”
Suddenly, a distinct Facebook notification sound came from
Maya’s phone. It was an announcement from a large local group in Ponorogo: a
phone had been found at the performance they had just attended. Excitedly, Maya
told Cinderella this was likely hers. Rising from her despair, Cinderella
confirmed it was her phone, and Maya urged her to return to the event
immediately.
Meanwhile, the organizer who found the phone was struggling
to locate the owner. He had made announcements but had only managed to post a
notice on the Facebook group.
Fifteen minutes later, instead of a reply, the organizer
was met with horrific news in his group: a severe accident had occurred. It was
reported that the victim's body was dismembered, scattered on the road, with
some organs strewn about. The driver, however, survived with injuries.
The organizer, also the group admin, was curious and
decided to go to the accident site. He asked his friend to call him instantly
if anyone came claiming the lost phone.
At the scene, he spoke to a police officer about the
accident's chronology.
The officer explained that the motorcycle was being driven
normally until a high-speed van suddenly tried to overtake from the opposite
direction. Startled, the driver swerved left. The motorcycle inevitably
overturned, throwing the passenger onto the road, where a truck instantly
struck them.
The officer added that finding the victim's family contacts
was difficult. The driver stated they were on their way to retrieve a lost
phone at Sawoo Market, but the driver didn't have the passenger's family
contact information.
The organizer immediately explained the phone he found. He
suggested attempting to match the fingerprint on the phone with the victim's
severed finger. The police officer agreed but requested the organizer wait
until the Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) was complete.
After the CSI concluded, a forensic investigator tested the
victim's fingerprint against the found phone. The forensic team confirmed that
the lost phone belonged to the accident victim. The police officer immediately
searched for the victim's closest family contacts.
They reached Cinderella’s stepmother, Sulis. The moment
Sulis answered, she screamed about Cinderella forgetting to turn off the
lights. The officer struggled to gain control of the conversation. When he
finally informed Sulis that her stepdaughter had died in a traffic accident,
the stepmother sounded completely indifferent. She even said that Cinderella
was a useless, forgetful child who deserved to die.
The bystanders who overheard the call were profoundly
shocked by the stepmother's reaction. The police officer sternly reminded Sulis
to inform her husband, whose calls had failed repeatedly.
After concluding all formalities, Cinderella was buried in
the same public cemetery as her mother.
Months later, Nugraha, Cinderella's father, returned from
the city. He carried new jewelry, clothes, and a new phone for Cinderella,
eagerly anticipating her joy. He knocked happily. His wife and two children
welcomed him warmly. When Nugraha called out his daughter's name, she did not
appear.
Annoyed that her husband was preoccupied with Cinderella,
Sulis informed him bluntly that Cinderella was dead. "That bothersome
daughter is gone," she stated. "Now, you can focus on making your new
wife and our daughters happy."
Nugraha’s gifts crashed to the floor. He stared blankly at
his wife, the horror and disbelief in his eyes erupting into burning rage. He
no longer heard his wife's voice; only the echo of Cinderella's laughter and
the memory of their happy moments.
Sulis, seeing his shocked face, snapped that he shouldn't
be surprised, revealing that the police had called him repeatedly but he never
answered, forcing her to handle everything. "Your daughter was useless
until the end!"
The truth—the cold indifference Sulis showed the police,
the suffering Cinderella endured—slammed into Nugraha. He roared that Sulis had
polluted his home with her hate.
Nugraha threw Sulis and her two daughters out that very
day. He sat on the cold floor, surrounded by his shattered gifts, hugging
Cinderella’s old photo. Regret and grief strangled him, making him an eternal
prisoner in a house that now felt like a tomb.
Meanwhile, Maya, the survivor, was consumed by severe
depression. Guilt strangled her, convincing her she was Cinderella’s killer.
In the end, Sulis and her daughters were expelled, with
nothing. But the greatest punishment fell upon Nugraha and Maya; they both
drowned in a sea of sorrow without end, their souls dead, their eyes forever
closed to any joy that might have been.
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