Week 12: Storytelling: A Helping Hand

Brittany was not your average girl. She was strong-willed, determined, and destined for great things. Her father was a wealthy CEO of a Fortune 500 company. He knew his daughter was very bright, but he had always expected her to be a socialite who married into another wealthy family. Brittany, however, had a different idea.

"See you in a month, sweetheart!" her father called as he boarded their private jet.

He was on his way to Europe for business. Brittany had become accustomed to his long trips over seas and being alone. She was not really alone...She had her nanny, Gladys, who had taken care of her since she was little. You see, her mother died when she was very young. Ever since then, it was Brittany, Gladys, and her father.

The driver dropped Brittany back off at their very large mansion. Now when I say very large...I mean VERY LARGE. It was built on a hill top over looking the city. It was a castle in it's own right. There were many expensive things in the mansion and there was nothing that was off limit's to daddy's little girl. She was his only daughter. He was very protective of her.

Now Brittany, as I said before, was very strong-willed. She was also curious. This day, she decided to wander the grounds of her father's estate and see what new things she could find. She was taking her usual walk in the garden when suddenly, something caught the light and caught her attention. Brittany walked towards the overgrown vines and started to pull them away from the object. After about ten minutes, she revealed a large, antique mirror.

"Hmmm...what an odd place for a mirror." she thought.

She used the sleeve of her sweater and wiped the dust off of it. When she looked at her reflection in the mirror she was shocked to see what image it reflected. It was not just Brittany in the mirror, but many children in ragged clothes smiling and dancing with her in what looked like a small village. She knew she had to get out and make a difference.

"Gladys!"

"Yes, dear?" the nanny replied warmly.

"I want to leave the house. I have all of these dreams of helping people and I cannot do any of that here."

"Oh no! Your father would never approve of that. Come now, let's go get you ready. Your father has arranged for you to attend a party at the Smith's."

"Sighhhhh...I suppose you're right, Gladys. I'll go upstairs and shower."

Gladys absolutely knew it was never that easy to convince Brittany to do anything. Something was up and she had a very good idea what it was...

"IF YOU'RE GOING TO SNEAK OFF AND CHANGE THE WORLD YOU'RE GOING TO NEED AT LEAST A NAP SACK AND ACCESS TO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT, DEAR!"

Brittany stopped in her tracks and turned around to see Gladys running down the street after her with two suitcases in hand.

Brittany smiled and said, "I should have known you wouldn't buy my agreeable act...I can't say I blame you either. I have never been the most agreeable person!"

"No, dear, you haven't. But that, and your huge heart, is what makes you special. Besides, I am over due a vacation and there is no better person I would love to take one with than you."

And with that, the two made their way off to the nearest volunteer group in the city and dedicated the rest of their lives to helping others.

(Volunteers helping people at Greenpointe Soup Kitchen)

Author's note: The story I read this week was the Britomart Unit from The Faerie Queen. I definitely admired Britomart because she had her own kingdom, but instead of living the cushy life of a lady, she went out and saved people. Her father goes away from the castle for a while and Britomart and her nurse, Glauce', steal armor (that was originally stolen from a fallen enemy) from a war memorial in the church in their kingdom. They do this because Merlin left a Magical Mirror in the hands of Britomart's father. Britomart looked in this mirror and saw Sir Artegall who is a very noble knight and fell in love with him. She went to Merlin after crying for days over never meeting him and is told to go on a quest to find him in the land of the Faerie Queen. She and her nurse set of disguised as a knight and a squire and fight many foes. She goes out of her way to help many people in need and that is the aspect of her character that I chose to focus on in my story. I chose to rewrite the story in a modern setting because I think it makes it more relatable.