Lynette Mejía

Fairy Tale

She sleeps among the burned‐out
ruins, the melted silverware, the shattered china.

Cinder‐girl, they called her, and so she is,
scurrying to and fro among the ashes,

the blackened walls, the remains of sisters,
mothers, handsome princes.

Polishing shoes of glass, she waits for pumpkins
and godmothers, music and dancing,

and then, when she is done, she
lights another fire to pass the time.

Lynette Mejía writes science fiction, fantasy, and horror prose and poetry. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Goblin Fruit, Dreams & Nightmares, Strange Horizons, Mythic Delirium, and Star*Line. She is currently working on a master’s degree in English, and lives in Carencro, Louisiana with her husband and three children. You can find her online at LynetteMejia.com.