This is a story of the events that follow when Tara, a modern day girl with modern thinking, gets a chance to experience the age-old fairytale of Cinderella, but with a twist…..

Tara returns home from her school, only to find her mother engrossed in cleaning up some items. She notices many items, beautiful decorative pieces, old-looking fat books, and a lot of other things that she had probably never seen before. The house seemed pretty dishevelled. And her mother, without even turning back, came to know of her presence.

“Hi Tara, how was school today?” her mother asked.

“Fine, mom. Only the History classes at the end were a drag.”

“Oh really? Why would you say that? I love History so much and Mrs. Seth is such a fine and passionate teacher.”

“Definitely, she is. But still, three hours of the same subject….that is pretty boring.”

“I can study History for the whole day. Today's kids just can't understand how beautiful it is. They just think, what will be the use of studying old things? But you know my dear, History teaches us to not repeat the mistakes that our ancestors made, if you think about it deeply.”

“That is a valid point. Other than you and Mrs. Seth, I am not sure if someone can make learning History even that interesting for me.”

Tara is just about to go to her room, but she pauses. She goes closer to what appears to be a fat book with the words “EXPLORER'S BOOK” inscribed on it in gold. It was kept separately from all the other items. Tara was interested in travelling, and hence got interested in the book. She picked it up and took it to her room. After freshening up and eating lunch, she sat on her bed in a comfortable position to start reading the mysterious-looking book. As soon as she opens the first page, the words that catch her eye are ‘Condition of the Explorer’s Book is very simple, you can only make it out of the book if you complete the story as per the original ending of the tale'

“What is that supposed to mean?”

 She got curious and kept reading.

‘This book gives you a chance to live all of the the most popular fairytales, fables, stories from around the world. As soon as you start reading, some time later you will find yourself becoming one with the characters of the story. However, no good story should ever be predictable. This one comes with a twist, too. Make your choice and start reading…..’

“Okay, seriously?” thought Tara, “Am I really supposed to believe all this? You mean, you can make me live a time of carriages and ship in today's times? The time of a Cinderella and Fairy Godmother? Why shouldn't I start with Cinderella itself, the most basic of all fairy tales ever heard on this planet?”

And she turns to the pages of the fairytale, Cinderella.