"Audrey Banks! You're the lucky winner!" Were the six words I had been repeating in my head for the past hour. It all just seemed like a dream. Your a winner. You have a shot at becoming a Disney character.  You have an escape from the nightmares, a distraction from the everlasting pain...My thoughts wandered to a stop. To far I mentally scolded myself and steered my thoughts in a different direction. In Disneyland no cops were allowed. I smiled to myself at the thought. Maybe it was a dream.  I took a deep breath and started packing up the little belongings I had. This could be my new start. No one knew who I was in Disneyland. This was my new beginning. I slung my things over my shoulder in a beaten up old backpack that was covered in dirt. It didn't exactly live up to Disneyland standards but it would have to do. It was the only one I had.  I cautiously looked up and down the street for cops even though I knew they never even came around these parts of the city. Throwing my hood on I raced a couple buildings down trying to have the shadows cover me as much as possible.  I slid silently into the station, and hopped onto the train. Normally I would have used the cargo hold, but Disneyland was strictly prohibited. No one would be able to catch me now. I was saved. I sat in silence lost in my own thoughts through the train ride.  It wasn't like there was anyone to talk to anyway. When the train screeched to a stop, three figures in gray cloaks identical to mine greeted me. 

"Hello sweetheart. Looks as though we match." She and the other two figures started to walk away at a brisk pace, and I figured I would have to follow them, to get anywhere.  So I did. I ended up in a courtyard already full of kids my age. I was the last one, so the weird person in the impractical bear fur cloak, lead us away before I had a chance to make acquaintance with anyone. Not that I wanted to. I entered my trailer and found a tall woman.  She had odd greying heart shaped hair, and a permanent scowl of disapproval plastered upon her face. 

"Oh how lovely!  I can already tell we were meant for each other.  I know about your parents, Audrey.  So from now on, call me stepmother!  And I will call you stepdaughter!"  Stepmother announced voice dripping with falseness.

"Okay."  I replied quietly, worried.  What kind of person could know about my parents and think we were meant for each other?

"Well, step into the bath."  Stepmother commanded.  This woman was coated in a thick layer in self importance, and falsity.  Is that a word?  I don't think it is, but you know what I mean. She obviously expected everyone to follow her every order without a thought.  Not thinking now a good time to offend such a person,  I turned on the water.  It came out steaming and I was afraid that I would burn myself, so I pushed the cold water button.  It came out slush, half frozen, and I was afraid of catching a cold so I turned on the hot again and stepped in.  The water was warm, the perfect temperature, the same as the last time I had had a real bath.  I sighed, and sank below the surface, it felt so good. I popped up to the surface with a gasp, and let the jets massage me. A timer buzzed, and I figured I was supposed to get out. I stepped out, and grabbed one of the lovely fluffy white towels. I wrapped the towel around my body, resisting the urge to nuzzle it.  These were the kind of towels I used every day before it happened. Two girls rushed into the room. One was a cutesy redhead, with large sparkling eyes and rosy cheeks. The other was a sort of ugly black haired girl. She had a huge nose, small beady eyes, and they constantly flicked back and forth in suspicion.

"Hello!" The redhead said happily.

"Hi." The black haired one said grouchily.

"The woman you talked to before, was our mother, so call us stepsisters! The redhead demanded.

"Fine." I answered, quietly.

"Come on! You've gotta get dressed!" Said the redhead.

"Can I wear what I was wearing before?"

"No!" The redhead lead me to a wardrobe full of gowns, and I stared at the ugly things in silence.  "Neext wardrobe!" She sang, and dragged me to the next wardrobe. She opened it to show a bunch of frilly dresses. "Here wear this blue one!"

"No."
"What did you just, say to me, stepsister?" Stepsister asked, her big blue eyes flashing scarily.

"Fine." I honestly didn't care what I looked like. I dug through the back of the closet until I found a gray cloak like my old one. I threw on the dress, and the cloak over it.

"Come on let's do your hair! It really is such a pretty color!" The redhead sat me down in a chair, and pulled out some scissors. 

"Wait, what are you doing?" I asked.

"Cutting your hair. It's uneven." I sat and stared at the ground, watching little bits of my dark brown tips float to the ground. Stepsister, the quiet, black haired one, took out a straight iron, and started to straighten, then curl my hair. When she finished, Stepsister said, "Time for makeup!"

"No."

"What-"

"No makeup!" I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head. "They won't be able to see my face anyway."

"Well, take this pin. You have to if you want to participate." Said the black haired one, pushing her bossy twin to the side.  I took off the ruby brooch holding my cloak together, and pinned it closed with the parrot pin instead.

"Fine."

"Can you at least look at yourself first?"  said the black haired stepsister.

"Fine." I gently pulled down my hood, and looked in the mirror. My straightened hair was curled at the tips. My brown skin was flawless, other than a big, ugly scar on my right cheek. I was wearing a gray cloak over my clothes pinned with Jeffar's parrot.   I pulled the hood back over my face. "I'm ready to go."

"Okay! Let's go!" Stepsisters lead me to the door. "Wait here and count to ten." When I stepped outside, three cloaked figures greeted me. They lead me silently to where the rest of the group waited.  It was pretty obvious now, if it wasn't before, that my stylists and my guides were one and the same.