Ella's Ballgown
When Ella bargains to attend the Samhain ball, she plans to wear her mother's silk kimono, but her stepsisters destroy it while she's gone, leaving only the obi (sash) and hair comb intact. Grainne and the faerie seamstresses at Rahivea build a dress of purple butterfly wings over the ruined kimono, but because they need to hurry, the dress is held together by magic, not thread, and will fall apart by midnight, leaving her with only the kimono rags again.
“My mother brought it when she moved to Canada from Japan to marry my dad.” I traced a painted dragon on one wide sleeve. “She wore a white dress to her wedding and this one to the reception. It was passed down from my grandmother.”
“Have you ever tried it on?”
“When I was little, my mom used to let me try it on and look in the mirror. She would tell me tales of the ryū, the Japanese dragons, and I would make up my own stories about the little dragons coming to life and playing with me. But when she died, and it became mine...I haven’t been able to wear it. And besides—”
“Ella! I dropped a cup, and there’s, like, glass everywhere. Can you come clean it up? I don’t want to cut myself or something.” Madison stood right at the door. Heart pounding, I threw my pile of clothes over the kimono.A strangled moan escaped my lips. There, on the ground, lay what remained of my mama's kimono. The bottom hem had been completely ripped at the knee and the sleeves hung on by threads. The entire thing was covered in rips and what I hoped was fake blood. Although part of me wouldn't have minded if she had been attacked by wolves.
“What did you do to it?” I shrieked, gathering up the pieces. The obi looked mostly intact but the kimono itself didn't have a piece bigger than my hand without a stain or rip.
Grainne looked at it and whistled. “Well, you obviously can't wear this to the ball.”
“I know.”
“Tell her your idea.” Amber elbowed me in the ribs.
I pulled out my sketchbook and laid it on the table. Immediately, a crowd of little faeries swarmed around it, flipping pages.
“Now.” Grainne rubbed her hands together. “Let's work some magic, shall we?”
Tiny faeries moved around me in a blur of speed, first removing my dress, leaving me in my underwear and a fae-made bustier, which was far more comfortable than any bra I owned.
“Do you have proper shoes?” Grainne looked pointedly at my booties.
“Oh, yes!” I ran over to my bag and pulled out the glass slippers.
The little faeries oohed and aahed over the sparkling shoes as I stepped back up onto the wooden stool. Then they wrapped me in a swath of fabric from Mama's kimono and secured it with a silk cord around my waist.
“Um…” I looked down at what amounted to a strapless, knee length sheath of ragged, stained silk.
“We don't have time to sew this from scratch,” Grainne informed me while directing a crew of piskies who were flying a piece of sparkling tulle over to me. “And a magic dress, constructed in such a hurry, has a time limit.”
I could barely see the little faeries as they tucked and pleated the fabric, whispering words of enchantment and tapping pleats in place with motes of sparkling magic.
“We'll be able to stretch it a little longer than usual tonight. Samhain is rich with magic, so it should hold until midnight.”
“What happens at midnight?” I asked.
“Everything we've added on by magical means comes undone.”
“So it will all…fall off?” I watched as the faeries attached another layer of skirt.
“Essentially, yes.
I gasped when I saw my reflection. The purple gown was more beautiful than anything I could have sketched. The bodice of layered silk wings draped perfectly before being cinched in by Mama’s obi. I ran my hands down the pink silk obi and over the gold cord holding it in place. The skirt flared as I swayed. It was full with layers of tulle under a skirt made of more wings, painted in purples and pinks to mimic the patterns I had seen on the wings of the forest piskies. The entire gown shimmered, trailing motes of sparkling gold when I moved, like the flower fish I had watched with Tiernan in the lake.
“You came.” His warm breath stirred my hair. “I was getting worried.”
“I was told that I had arrived at the perfect time to make an entrance,” I teased.
He laughed. “That is certainly true. But in that dress, you would have stood out no matter when you arrived.” He spun me out, the wings of my skirt flaring. Then he pulled me back in, my back against his chest for a moment.
“The tailors did do an exceptional job,” I agreed as he spun me back into place.
“I'm sure they did, but I've seen enough of your sketches to recognize an Ella design when I see one.”
The clock chimed a third time, and I finally fled. My dress hadn't begun to unravel, but that hardly mattered when my heart already lay in pieces.
***
When I reached Amber’s house—red nosed and barefoot, wearing only the rags of Mama's kimono—Isobel answered the door.
From The Books:
I knelt beside my bed. “I do have one cool dress. I didn’t sew it, though. It was my mama’s.” I slid out the long wooden box, pushing aside my pumpkin-shaped cookie jar of saved money. Amber sat down beside me on the cold concrete, and I flipped back the lid, reverently folding back the tissue to reveal hand-painted red and pink silk.
“Whoa! Can I?” Amber touched the silk gingerly. When I nodded permission, she lifted the kimono and its pink, patterned, obi sash out of the box and spread it on the bed by my clothes.
The kimono’s deep red silk faded to pale pink at the hem with golden dragons peeking around blossoms and falling petals. I unfolded a sleeve to reveal the kanzashi comb with its pink silk sakura blossoms and lacquered prongs.
“My mother brought it when she moved to Canada from Japan to marry my dad.” I traced a painted dragon on one wide sleeve. “She wore a white dress to her wedding and this one to the reception. It was passed down from my grandmother.”
“Have you ever tried it on?”
“When I was little, my mom used to let me try it on and look in the mirror. She would tell me tales of the ryū, the Japanese dragons, and I would make up my own stories about the little dragons coming to life and playing with me. But when she died, and it became mine...I haven’t been able to wear it. And besides—”
***
“Ella! I dropped a cup, and there’s, like, glass everywhere. Can you come clean it up? I don’t want to cut myself or something.” Madison stood right at the door. Heart pounding, I threw my pile of clothes over the kimono.A strangled moan escaped my lips. There, on the ground, lay what remained of my mama's kimono. The bottom hem had been completely ripped at the knee and the sleeves hung on by threads. The entire thing was covered in rips and what I hoped was fake blood. Although part of me wouldn't have minded if she had been attacked by wolves.
“What did you do to it?” I shrieked, gathering up the pieces. The obi looked mostly intact but the kimono itself didn't have a piece bigger than my hand without a stain or rip.
***
Grainne looked at it and whistled. “Well, you obviously can't wear this to the ball.”
“I know.”
“Tell her your idea.” Amber elbowed me in the ribs.
I pulled out my sketchbook and laid it on the table. Immediately, a crowd of little faeries swarmed around it, flipping pages.
***
“Now.” Grainne rubbed her hands together. “Let's work some magic, shall we?”
Tiny faeries moved around me in a blur of speed, first removing my dress, leaving me in my underwear and a fae-made bustier, which was far more comfortable than any bra I owned.
“Do you have proper shoes?” Grainne looked pointedly at my booties.
“Oh, yes!” I ran over to my bag and pulled out the glass slippers.
The little faeries oohed and aahed over the sparkling shoes as I stepped back up onto the wooden stool. Then they wrapped me in a swath of fabric from Mama's kimono and secured it with a silk cord around my waist.
“Um…” I looked down at what amounted to a strapless, knee length sheath of ragged, stained silk.
“We don't have time to sew this from scratch,” Grainne informed me while directing a crew of piskies who were flying a piece of sparkling tulle over to me. “And a magic dress, constructed in such a hurry, has a time limit.”
I could barely see the little faeries as they tucked and pleated the fabric, whispering words of enchantment and tapping pleats in place with motes of sparkling magic.
“We'll be able to stretch it a little longer than usual tonight. Samhain is rich with magic, so it should hold until midnight.”
“What happens at midnight?” I asked.
“Everything we've added on by magical means comes undone.”
“So it will all…fall off?” I watched as the faeries attached another layer of skirt.
“Essentially, yes.
***
I gasped when I saw my reflection. The purple gown was more beautiful than anything I could have sketched. The bodice of layered silk wings draped perfectly before being cinched in by Mama’s obi. I ran my hands down the pink silk obi and over the gold cord holding it in place. The skirt flared as I swayed. It was full with layers of tulle under a skirt made of more wings, painted in purples and pinks to mimic the patterns I had seen on the wings of the forest piskies. The entire gown shimmered, trailing motes of sparkling gold when I moved, like the flower fish I had watched with Tiernan in the lake.
***
“You came.” His warm breath stirred my hair. “I was getting worried.”
“I was told that I had arrived at the perfect time to make an entrance,” I teased.
He laughed. “That is certainly true. But in that dress, you would have stood out no matter when you arrived.” He spun me out, the wings of my skirt flaring. Then he pulled me back in, my back against his chest for a moment.
“The tailors did do an exceptional job,” I agreed as he spun me back into place.
“I'm sure they did, but I've seen enough of your sketches to recognize an Ella design when I see one.”
***
The clock chimed a third time, and I finally fled. My dress hadn't begun to unravel, but that hardly mattered when my heart already lay in pieces.
***
When I reached Amber’s house—red nosed and barefoot, wearing only the rags of Mama's kimono—Isobel answered the door.
Fun Facts
Creator: Grainne and the seamstress faeries
Previous Posessors: Ella
Current Posessor: None, it was only temporary
Magical Properties: trails golden sparkles
Previous Posessors: Ella
Current Posessor: None, it was only temporary
Magical Properties: trails golden sparkles
Article by Hanna Sandvig