There first was a little girl
Then there was another
Soon there were more and more
The first little girl
Assumed this was
The Order of the World
and modeled her life after
This in every way

‘First there is me,
Then others follow,
I know the way of things the best
Because I’m the one who came
The first; I will always no more
Than the rest.’

When she was near to grown,
Many things in her life had changed.
She had a different father
She had a new religion she
Was directed to believe in and
She was told when to bow and pray
In an entirely different array.

One thing that never changed was her knowing
That she was smarter than those around her
Especially her mother
Who always obeyed whatever new father
Came her way
She also knew she was superior
To her six sisters
She knew that women other than herself
Had little purpose
Needed to be treated roughly
And men were a waste of resources every day

She was then given a large black shard of diamond
It was almost bigger than her finger at that age
Her mother told her she had earned it
But the girl was unhappy and wished she could throw it away
It was too ornate, too gaudy and kind of scary
she could see a distorted version of her face in the black diamond
She looked fierce and evil, angry and vengeful
It was the only thing that she’d ever been given of worth in her life
So she kept it tucked safe away

Her sisters, one by one, were each given a stone
The eldest knew that it was a stone that they were seen to be suited
Not a birthstone or anything so banal,
With each stone given, this sister a ruby, that one an amethyst,
this one an orange one she didn’t remember the name…
It was a pink sapphire that made Eldest angriest
She punished each sister according to her rage.
Her face distorted until each day she looked like
The reflection she wore on her ring.

When she became an old woman, she could never be
Around more than one sister, without the black diamond
Coming out to play
Like jewels in a box the old women rolled and fought
They could never stand to be close to each other to stay
It wasn’t just the Eldest
Although, without her present the others discussed,
‘it’s much better’, until they began to fight
Over who was next worse and they left wounded and hurt

Each sister had learned many lessons
Though there were seven, they were no rainbow of light
Starting in darkness and ending in silence
None would discuss the lessons they learned
Inspired by pain and fear, sewn up in solidified carbon diamonds
Their pain festers on
In generations gone wrong
Silent angry dinners with their second and third husbands
And those who have children who will speak to them

This is a the shortened fairytale.
I assure you it has everything a good fairytale needs
(all but one)
Witches, stepmothers, magical prisons, princes and kings!
Fairy godmothers, castles, magic spells, enchantment and magical rings!

But never oh never will you find the one thing, every good fairytale has;
A happy ending will never be found in this story
Because it’s a true story in the end.