Kilalarella Read Along

Narrator: This is the story of Kilalarella. You can read along with me in your book. You'll know when it's time to turn the page when the chimes ring like this. (chimes ringing) Let's begin now.

Once upon a time in a faraway land, there was a young girl named Kilala Reno. When she was a child, her mother, Kayley, died. Her father, Garrett, found a new wife who had two daughters the same age as Kilala. But after Kilala's father died, the Stepmother found a new husband. They were very cold and cruel to Kilala. The kind girl was forced to work as a servant in her own house. Still, Kilala was always cheerful. Sure that one day her dreams of happiness would come true, she started each day with a song.

Kilala was always busy cooking, cleaning, and serving her stepmother, Magica DeSpell; her stepfather, Negaduck; and her stepsisters, Renee Roberts and Hyper Blossom. One day while Kilala was doing her chores, she heard a knock at the door. "Open in the name of the King and Queen." a man shouted. It was the King and Queen's messenger, the Mayor of Townsville. He handed Kilala a letter.

Magica and Negaduck were giving Blossom and Renee music lessons. Kilala knocked at the door. "We warned you never to interrupt!" barked Negaduck. Then Kilala showed him and Magica the letter. It was an invitation to a royal ball for the Prince! "By royal command, every eligible maiden is to attend," Magica read.

"That means I can go!" Kilala cried happily. "You!" Blossom shrieked. "We see no reason why you can't go to the ball." Negaduck said in a silky voice. "*If* you get all your work done..." Magica added, "and *if* you find something suitable to wear." "Oh, I will," promised Kilala, hurrying away. "Do you realize what you just said?" a horrified Renee asked her parents. But Magica and Negaduck had a plan. "Of course. We said *if*," answered the evil duck witch. "Ohhh...*if*," Renee repeated. Blossom giggled.

Kilala went up to her room in the attic and found an old dress in a trunk. "It was my mother's," she told Mungo the Mongoose, Lumpy, Young Kaa, and Roo, as she twirled around.

"It's a little old-fashioned," admitted Kilala. "But I can fix that." She took out a book and found a picture of another dress. She had just started making plans when she heard a shrill cry. "Kilala!" "My dress will just have to wait," she said patiently. "I'm coming," she called, as she headed down the stairs.

"Now let's see," Kilala's stepmother said, "there's the large carpet in the main hall, clean it! Oh yes, and the tapestries and the draperies---" "But I just finished," Kilala said. "Do them again!" ordered the cruel male duck. The Stepparents planned to keep Kilala so busy that she would never have time to work on her dress for the ball.

The plan worked. Magica, Negaduck, and their two daughters kept Kilala so busy that the sweet girl didn't have a moment to work on her dress.

"Poor Kilala," a lion cub named Simba said to his new friend Flower. "Work, work, work. She'll never get her dress done."

"Hey! We can do it!" exclaimed Mungo. "We can fix the dress for Kilala." Lumpy, Kaa, and Roo thought it was a wonderful idea.

Simba and Flower scurried to find some new trimmings for the dress. Blossom and Renee were throwing things away. "I wouldn't be caught dead in that sash," Blossom said, while Renee kicked aside her old beads. So the lion cub and the skunk scooped up the discarded items.

Simba and Flower had to sneak past Scratcher the reindeer. It wasn't easy, but they did it! Mungo, Lumpy, Kaa, and Roo were proud of Simba and Flower. Mungo, Lumpy, Kaa, and Roo began to work on Kilala's dress.

Mungo, Lumpy, Kaa, Roo, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders measured and cut and sewed. They all sang as they worked. They couldn't wait to surprise their friend Kilala. But would they finish in time!

Soon it was eight o'clock. "The carriage is here," Kilala told her stepparents. "Why Kilala, you're not ready," said her stepmother, sounding surprised. "Aren't you going, child?" "No, I'm not going," Kilala hadn't had a chance to work on her dress all day. "There will be other balls," her stepfather told her smugly, knowing that he and Magica had kept Kilala from going to this one.

Kilala told herself the ball would be frightfully dull, but in her heart she knew it would be completely wonderful. Slowly, Kilala walked up the stairs to her attic room. When she entered her room, she couldn't believe her eyes. "Surprise! Surprise!" shouted Mungo, Lumpy, Kaa, Roo, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Happy birthday!" cried a confused Flower.

Mungo, Lumpy, Kaa, Roo, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders had finished her dress. She could now go to the ball! "Oh, how can I ever---oh, thank you so much," the delighted girl cried.

Kilala dressed quickly and raced down the stairs calling, "Wait! Please! Wait for me!" Magica and Negaduck were shocked. Now they would have to let Kilala go to the ball---or would they? "Those beads, they give it just the right touch," the Stepfather observed. "Don't you think so, Renee?" the Stepmother asked one of her daughters. Renee saw that Kilala was wearing her old beads. "Thief!" Renee cried. Then Blossom noticed her old sash.

The two girls tore at Kilala's dress. By the time they were finished, the dress was in rags and Kilala was in tears. "Good night," the Stepparents said, as they left for the ball with their horrible daughters.

Kilala ran outside to the garden. Mungo, Lumpy, Kaa, and Roo felt terrible, but there was nothing they could do to help their poor Kilala.

It seemed as if her dreams would never come true. "It's just no use. There's nothing left to believe in," Kilala sobbed.

"Nothing?" asked a voice. "Now you don't mean that. If you'd lost all your faith, I couldn't be here, and here I am." It was Kilala's fairy godmother, a lioness named Sarabi, and she was going to help Kilala go to the ball.

With a wave of her wand and a few magic words... ...a pumpkin became an elegant coach... ...a lion cub, a skunk, a heffalump, and a kangaroo joey were changed into four horses... ...a stag was turned into a coachman... ...and Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer became the footman. Sarabi was pleased. "Well, hop in, my dear, we can't waste time." But Kilala wasn't quite ready. "Don't you think my dress," she began.

Sarabi looked at Kilala. "Goodness! You can't go to the ball in that!" She waved her wand one last time, and Kilala was wearing a beautiful ball gown. Kilala loved her dress. "And look--glass slippers. Why, it's like a dream--a beautiful dream come true." Then Sarabi told her that like all dreams, this one would end. The spell would be broken at midnight.

Kilala was very happy as she rode to the ball. But at the castle, the King and Queen were not so happy. Their son, Prince Rei, hadn't fallen in love yet. Dr. Crowler told the King and Queen that falling in love at the ball would be like a fairy tale--and it would never happen!

Just then Kilala arrived at the ball. When Rei saw her, he asked her to dance.

The King, the Queen, and Dr. Crowler were amazed as they watched the couple dance. It looked as if Danny was falling in love with Minnie! Renee and Blossom were very jealous of the new girl. Their parents thought there was something familiar about her, though.

Kilala didn't notice them. She didn't know that the handsome red-haired boy she was dancing with was Rei. But she did know that she was falling in love!

The couple went for a walk. They laughed and talked. Time seemed to fly by--and all too soon, Kilala noticed it was almost midnight. "I have to go!" she apologized, and she hurried away.

Rei didn't even know her name. "Wait!" he called. But Kilala couldn't wait. As she rushed down the steps of the castle, she lost one of her glass slippers. Still, she didn't stop.

Rei told Dr. Crowler he would marry the maiden whose foot fit the slipper. She was the girl of his dreams. Meanwhile, Kilala was sitting by the side of the road. Everything had been changed back. But Kilala still had a glass slipper--and memories of a magical night.

It wasn't long before everyone knew Rei was looking for his mystery maiden. Dr. Crowler was going from house to house to find her. The news made Kilala happy--too happy for the Stepparents' liking.

So the Stepparents locked Kilala in her attic room. "You can't keep me in here. Please," sobbed Kilala. The Stepmother put the key in her pocket. Simba and Flower wanted to help. They took the key from the Stepmother.

The brave lion cub and the brave skunk worked hard to bring the key up to Kilala. But would they reach her in time!

By now Dr. Crowler and the Mayor had arrived at Kilala's house.

Renee tried on the slipper. When it didn't fit, she blamed the poor Mayor! "Get away from me!" she shouted. The slipper didn't fit Blossom, either. "Are there any other ladies of the house?" Dr. Crowler asked. "There is no one else," replied Magica.

Just then they heard Kilala calling. "Your Grace! Your Grace!" The lion cub and the skunk had freed Kilala! The jealous stepparents didn't want to let Kilala try on the slipper, so they tripped up the Mayor, and the slipper broke! Luckily, Kilala had her other slipper in her pocket. Dr. Crowler was delighted.

And so was Rei. He had found the girl of his dreams. But no one was happier than Kilala. All of her dreams had come true. Kilala and Rei lived happily ever after.

The End