Storytelling: The Hardworking Interns

Interns are always known for being at the bottom of the food chair no matter what company it is. Things were no different for Michelle and Rebecca, but they knew that going in. Their bosses were a sweet tag-team duo, Richard and Stephanie, who owned their own boutique clothing store. Mich and Becca were ready on their first day for anything and everything, whether that was fetching samples, making coffee or running down to wardrobe for extra pieces for inspiration. On their first day though, they realized they were kind of ignore. Sure they were asked to do a casual errand here or there, but for the most part they were left to their own devices.

As the day was winding down, Richard and Stephanie were obviously irritable. They had just started a new project for their fall line and had zero inspiration to get working on the trench coat that would get the look started. They left the office early in a depressed state and told all the employees to just head home early that day. Mich and Becca heard the defeat in their bosses voice and decided to stay and work late. They went over to the mannequins and after circling them a few times, they got to work. By 4 am, both the man and woman trench coats were done. They slept in the conference room until they were awaken by a scream of joy!

They went into the design room to see Richard and Stephanie in awe of the two beautiful trench coats. Neither of the girls mentioned that the work was theirs and neither Richard nor Stephanie asked anyone who had finished the coats. 

The rest of the day went as normal and with the trench coats done, Richard and Stephanie had a boost of inspiration and were working in a flurry all day. Towards the end of the day though, they got hung up on the boots that were meant to finish the looks. They were either too tall, too feminine, too bulky or just flat out wrong. Once again, both Richard and Stephanie left in a huff, dismissing their employees early yet again. 

Mich and Becca stayed back and brainstormed what the perfect fall boot would look like to finish off this beautiful look for the collection. They worked tirelessly all night, stitching, sewing, measuring until they were beyond thrilled with their work. Know they just hoped their bosses were as please as they were with the trench coats. They made their sleepy trek back to the conference room, but right as they laid down, they heard happy screams of their bosses. The bosses later announced that the line was finished and that there should be a big party the next day. Everyone was to go home and relax in celebration of the completion of the looks. 

They next day when Mich and Becca walked in the office, there were decorations everywhere and a big cake in the center of the room. As they got closer they saw there was a banner above it that read "Thanks Mich and Becca." They were stunned and turned around to face their bosses. Apparently, when Richard and Stephanie sent everyone home, they checked security footage and saw Mich and Becca were the one's finishing all the work. They were given full time positions and made heads of the fall men's and women's department. Mich and Becca were thrilled all their handwork had finally been noticed and appreciated. 

Rebecca and Michelle

Author's Note: 

I wrote this story as inspired from the Grimm Brother's story called The Elves. There are two elves who keep finishing all the shoes that the shoe maker starts but doesn't finish. In the middle of the night, while him and his wife sleep, they come out and make beautiful shoes which the shoe maker sells for a fortune the next day. One night, he and his wife stay up and see the elves working away. The next night they have clothes set out for the elves who are over joyed! I recreated this with the setting of a fashion company but instead of elves, the helpers are too under recognized interns. Eventually though, the bosses realize their hard work and reward them just as the man and his wife did. I wanted to keep the theme of hard work pays off and no good deed goes unnoticed. 

Bibliography: The Elves from The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales as translated by D. L. Ashliman (1998-2013).

Reading Notes: The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales Part B

I am continuing my reading of The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales.

The story about the fox and the cat was interesting to me because for once the fox seemed like he was actually going to do a good deed. While he was still fairly cocky when telling the cat that he had a bag of hundreds of tricks while all the cat could do was climb a tree, the fox did offer to teach the cat. However, I was not surprised when that back fired on the fox and the dogs got to him and not the cat. Sometimes we think we are big and bad when in reality we boast too much and ignore what is going on around us. I didn't like how short this story was because it seemed like there should have been more to it. It did seem to get the main point across though. I may rewrite this using humans.

The story of the little brother fish and the little sister dear broke my heart. It had a lot of common parts from fairy tales about princesses in it. There is a wicked stepmother who abuses and dislikes the children and bewitches them in some way. The cook could be compared to the huntsman or any number of subordinates who don't follow the wish of the evil step mother and do something to help the poor child or children instead. The peasant woman could be compared to the prince who does his best to rescue or save the person in trouble and the wise woman could be similar to a fairy god mother who works her magic to make things right again. I really liked all the parallelism in the story. Stories like this one feel like the recipe for a basic chocolate cake. It has the same common ingredients no matter what and the outcome is always the same except for maybe a few fancy details here and there.

Simeli Mountain was a kind of sad, messed up story. It made me think of Aladdin when he enters the cave and finds all those treasures inside it. The poor man shouldn't have become so greedy or have treated his brother so harshly and he would not have gotten stuck inside the cave. Sometimes we need to learn to appreciate good fortune in our lives. Whether its by a stroke of good luck that we gain immense fortune or just being grateful for what we have, greedy of any kind can corrupt and destroy your life. It could be interesting to create my own story about a tale where greedy nearly ruined a man's life, consuming him completely. I could get really creative with this.

Simeli Mountain

Bibliography:The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales translated by D. L. Ashliman (1998-2013).

Reading Notes:The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales part A

For this week I am reading The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales.

The first story of the cat and the mouse threw me for a loop in the beginning. It is much more common for the cat and mouse to be enemies or predator and prey but this story depicts them as sharing house together. As the story goes on though the sneaky nature of the cat is revealed and he takes advantage of the poor mouse being so understanding and kind. It reminds me too much of relationships both friend based and romantic, where one person is so willing to bend over backwards to please their friend and the other one abuses that kindness by taking advantage of them. I'd like to retell that story but where the mouse gets some kind of revenge instead on the cat.

Between the story about the mother with the 7 goat kids and Little Red Cap, I must say I liked the story of the goats better. At the end of that story, there was a kind of moral like listen to your parents. A lot of the times, parents tell us what we should or shouldn't do and we always back sass them. As I've gotten older, I've begun to realize a lot of that is because they have either made those mistakes themselves or they have seen someone else do it and they just want to keep us safe. It would be fun to retell this story in a creative way. Maybe not animals or humans, but instead it could be inanimate objects like food or something.

I liked the story The Elves the best. It was about good deeds being repaid and that always makes me happy to read about someone doing good for others. It was an interesting twist that the Elves were the ones to receive presents and they were so deserving of it after all their hard work. This could inspire a story about a kind act being done for someone who does good deeds and asks for no recognition for them. Especially with the holiday season, why not write a story about peace on earth, goodwill towards men and all that jazz right?

The Elves

Bibliography:
The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales translated by D. L. Ashliman (1998-2013).