At the end of the story, instead of the glass slipper fitting only Cinderella, it also fits one of her stepsisters. The prince is confused, but Cinderella steps forward and says that she doesn't want to be chosen just because of a slipper. She challenges the prince to get to know her and her stepsister better. The prince agrees and spends time with both of them. In the end, he realizes that Cinderella's kindness and intelligence are what he truly loves, and he marries her, while her stepsister also finds her own true love among the prince's friends.
The original ending has Cinderella marrying the prince. However, an alternate ending could be that when Cinderella is at the ball, she realizes that the life of a princess may not be for her. She leaves the ball early and returns home. There, she discovers that she has an inheritance from her mother that she can use to travel the world. She becomes an adventurer, seeing different lands and cultures, and is much happier than she could have been as a princess in a castle.
In the traditional ending, Cinderella marries the prince. But here's a different one. When Cinderella is about to leave the ball, she accidentally drops a different shoe, not the glass slipper. The prince tries to find the owner of this shoe but fails. Cinderella then decides to forget about the prince and focuses on building her own life. She starts a business making beautiful dresses for the ladies in the town. Years later, she is a successful businesswoman, and the prince, who is still single, sees her and realizes what he has missed. But it's too late, and Cinderella is content with her independent life.
In the original story, Cinderella marries the prince. But in my different ending, when the prince comes to find the owner of the glass slipper, Cinderella decides she doesn't want to be a princess. She tells the prince that she values her freedom more. She gives the slipper back to him and says she will stay in her small cottage, continuing her simple and happy life with her animal friends.
As Cinderella was running away from the ball, she dropped one of her glass slippers. But this time, the prince didn't find it. Instead, a kind fairy who had been watching over Cinderella all along turned the slipper into a key. Cinderella used this key to unlock a hidden door in her attic. Behind the door was a beautiful dress and a pair of wings. She put them on and flew to the prince's castle. When she arrived, the prince recognized her instantly and they got married, with Cinderella's stepfamily having to serve them for the rest of their lives.
In this new ending, Cinderella decided not to go to the ball at all. She realized that she didn't need a prince to be happy. Instead, she used her skills to start her own business in the village. She made beautiful dresses for the women in the village and became very successful. One day, the prince, while traveling through the village, saw Cinderella and was instantly smitten by her confidence and independence. He asked her to marry him, but she said she would only do so if they could rule the kingdom together as equals, and he agreed.
Just as the prince was about to put the glass slipper on another woman's foot, Cinderella's fairy godmother appeared again. She made the glass slipper disappear and then revealed Cinderella in her true form. The prince was overjoyed and immediately proposed to Cinderella. They got married and instead of living in the prince's castle, they built a new castle in the middle of a beautiful forest, where they could be close to nature and all the animals that had helped Cinderella during her hard times.
Rather than the prince marrying another woman, in this alternate ending, he realizes that he has feelings for the Little Mermaid all along. He goes to the ocean and calls out to her. The Little Mermaid surfaces, and they confess their love for each other. With the help of a friendly sea wizard, the Little Mermaid is given legs permanently, and she and the prince live happily ever after in a castle by the sea, with the mermaids often visiting them.
Gatsby doesn't die. Instead, he decides to leave the East Coast and all its false glamour behind. He moves to the West, starts a new life as a rancher, and finds true peace away from the chaos of the parties and the unrequited love for Daisy.
In the alternate ending, Elizabeth rejects Darcy's second proposal. She decides to focus on her own independence and travels the world. Years later, she returns to her hometown as a successful writer, still single but content with her life choices.
Well, start by thinking about the characters' motivations and arcs. Maybe introduce a new plot twist or have a character make a different decision than they did in the original ending.
One way to do it is to look for loose ends or unanswered questions in the original story. From there, build a conclusion that ties them up differently. Another approach is to introduce a new element or character late in the story to steer it in a new direction. Just make sure it makes sense within the story's world.