Why Cinderella Skipped the Ball

The thing about fairy godmothers is that they always have an agenda.Take Cinderella's. She's dead-set on stuffing Cinderella into a pouffy dress and shoving her off to the ball to make kissy faces at some prince. If Cinderella becomes queen, that puts the fairy godmother in line for all the royal favors she could ever ask for.Cinderella would rather slay the dragon that's been eating all the kingdom's sheep. She likes mutton, she likes wool, and she really likes the thought of her grand deeds immortalized in song. The problem is, she's no dragonslayer. She can't win that fight without her fairy godmother's help, and her fairy godmother isn't biting.But if Cinderella plays her cards right, maybe they can both get what they want.This short story is 7000 words long. It is also available in Not Your Heroine, a fantasy short story collection.