Read "A Real Cinderella" by Nina Rhoades online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
Some one was playing the Swan song from "Lohengrin"; it was very beautiful, but it sounded so far away. Gretel wanted to get nearer to the music. She tried to rise, but there was such a heavy weight on her feet that she could not move. Then the music changed to the roar of an elevated train, and she felt the hot sun beating down upon her head. Oh, how terribly hot it was, and she was so thirsty, too. If some one would only give her a drink of water, but when she tried to ask for it her tongue refused to form the words. The cruel sun was burning her up. There must be shade somewhere. She would cross the street and try to find it, but what would become of her bag? She was too tired to carry it any longer. How those elevated trains roared. She was afraid to move, yet she must get into the shade. She made another feeble effort to move, and then something soft and cool was laid on her forehead, and a voice that sounded as if it came from a great way off said --
"Lie still, dear; you are quite safe here."