Susanrella Read Along

Narrator: This is the story of Susanrella. 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 Susan Test. When she was a child, her mother, Didi Pickles, died. Her father, Stu Pickles, found a new wife who had two daughters the same age as Susan. But after Susan's father died, the Stepmother found a new husband. They were very cold and cruel to Susan. The kind girl was forced to work as a servant in her own house. Still, Susan was always cheerful. Sure that one day her dreams of happiness would come true, she started each day with a song.

Susan was always busy cooking, cleaning, and serving her stepmother, Penelope Spectra; her stepfather, Mr. Denzel Crocker; and her stepsisters, Courtney and Bridgette. One day while Susan 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, Woody Woodpecker. He handed Susan a letter.

Penelope and Mr. Crocker were giving Bridgette and Courtney music lessons. Susan knocked at the door. "We warned you never to interrupt!" barked Mr. Crocker. Then Susan showed him and Penelope the letter. It was an invitation to a royal ball for the Prince! "By royal command, every eligible maiden is to attend," Penelope read.

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

Susan went up to her room in the attic and found an old dress in a trunk. "It was my mother's," she told the animal boys, as she twirled around.

"It's a little old-fashioned," admitted Susan. "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. "Susan!" "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," Susan'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," Susan said. "Do them again!" ordered the cruel teacher. The Stepparents planned to keep Susan so busy that she would never have time to work on her dress for the ball.

The plan worked. Penelope, Mr. Crocker, and their two daughters kept Susan so busy that the sweet girl didn't have a moment to work on her dress.

"Poor Susan," a heffalump named Lumpy said to his new friend Roo. "Work, work, work. She'll never get her dress done."

"Hey! We can do it!" exclaimed Augie Doggie. "We can fix the dress for Susan." The other animal boys thought it was a wonderful idea.

Lumpy and Roo scurried to find some new trimmings for the dress. Bridgette and Courtney were throwing things away. "I wouldn't be caught dead in that sash," Bridgette said, while Courtney kicked aside her old beads. So the heffalump and the kangaroo joey scooped up the discarded items.

Lumpy and Roo had to sneak past The Chameleon. It wasn't easy, but they did it! The animal boys were proud of Lumpy and Roo. All the animal boys began to work on Susan's dress.

The animal boys and reindeer measured and cut and sewed. They all sang as they worked. They couldn't wait to surprise their friend Susan. But would they finish in time!

Soon it was eight o'clock. "The carriage is here," Susan told her stepparents. "Why Susan, you're not ready," said her stepmother, sounding surprised. "Aren't you going, child?" "No, I'm not going," Susan 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 Penelope had kept Susan from going to this one.

Susan told herself the ball would be frightfully dull, but in her heart she knew it would be completely wonderful. Slowly, Susan walked up the stairs to her attic room. When she entered her room, she couldn't believe her eyes. "Surprise! Surprise!" shouted the animal boys and reindeer. "Happy birthday!" cried a confused Roo.

The animal boys and reindeer 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.

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

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

Susan ran outside to the garden. The animal boys felt terrible, but there was nothing they could do to help their poor Susan.

It seemed as if her dreams would never come true. "It's just no use. There's nothing left to believe in," Susan 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 Susan's fairy godmother, a tigress named Master Tigress, and she was going to help Susan go to the ball.

With a wave of her wand and a few magic words... ...a pumpkin became an elegant coach... ...a heffalump, a kangaroo joey, and two mice were changed into four horses... ...a dinosaur was turned into a coachman... ...and Poochy the dog became the footman. Tigress was pleased. "Well, hop in, my dear, we can't waste time." But Susan wasn't quite ready. "Don't you think my dress," she began.

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

Susan was very happy as she rode to the ball. But at the castle, the King and Queen were not so happy. Their son, Prince Gil Nexdor, hadn't fallen in love yet. Cosmo 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 Susan arrived at the ball. When Gil saw her, he asked her to dance.

The King, the Queen, and Cosmo were amazed as they watched the couple dance. It looked as if Gil was falling in love with Susan! Courtney and Bridgette were very jealous of the new girl. Their parents thought there was something familiar about her, though.

Susan didn't notice them. She didn't know that the handsome high schooler she was dancing with was Gil. 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, Susan noticed it was almost midnight. "I have to go!" she apologized, and she hurried away.

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

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

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

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

The brave heffalump and the brave kangaroo joey worked hard to bring the key up to Susan. But would they reach her in time!

By now Cosmo and Woody had arrived at Susan's house.

Courtney tried on the slipper. When it didn't fit, she blamed poor Woody! "Get away from me!" she shouted. The slipper didn't fit Bridgette, either. "Are there any other ladies of the house?" Cosmo asked. "There is no one else," replied Penelope.

Just then they heard Susan calling. "Your Grace! Your Grace!" The heffalump and the kangaroo joey had freed Susan! The jealous stepparents didn't want to let Susan try on the slipper, so they tripped up Woody, and the slipper broke! Luckily, Susan had her other slipper in her pocket. Cosmo was delighted.

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

The End