Britta Wittmer

Once upon a time there was a girl named Britta who worked as a servant for a rich family. She grew up with her mom until the age of fifteen, having never met her dad. The day of her sixteenth birthday, her mom ate a poisonous apple and died.
Before she died, her mom urged her: “Go work with the Wuldric family, they are the richest family in town. They are your best choice; I promise you will be fine”. The day after her sixteenth birthday, she set out on her way to the family’s house. A great big palace awaited for her, with thick and cheerful rose gardens in the front and tall, crisp pines in the back patio.
The older sister greeted her in the entrance with a seemingly fake smile, almost an evil one. She proceeded to show Britta all of the main areas she would need to take care of, starting with the kitchen. Once the house tour was over, she walked her to her sleeping chamber. After briefly staring at Britta, she said with a toneless voice: “Here is where you will be sleeping. Now, dinner at 7pm sharp if you want to last long enough. No more, no less”. Britta quickly placed her belongings in her chamber and immediately walked to the kitchen to start cooking, for she was already running late. After a few hours came dinner time, and she brought dinner to the table. To her surprise, everyone had their eyes fixed at her, showing clear dissatisfaction.
“She is one minute late dad. She is useless, like all of the poor girls”, voiced the younger daughter out loud. The father demanded Britta to come up close. “Tomorrow you are going to clean my wife’s feet and nails. Maybe that way you will learn the lesson”, he whispered in her ear.
After dinner was over and she had finished her duties, Britta walked to her chamber and cried all night. The following years appeared to be alike her first night in the palace; miserable. Luckily for her, she was able to find consolation on the little birds that hided between the roses, or the squirrels which would relax on the branches of the firmly erected pines.
One day the family woke up to some big news: the prince was on the quest for his future bride. Given the family’s wealth and their high status, their older daughter seemed like the perfect candidate for him. One week later after the announcement, the prince visited the house and agreed to marry the family’s older daughter. The poor Britta, who at the time of the visit was washing the dishes, managed to peek through the kitchen’s door; she couldn’t believe how beautiful he was. That same evening, after finishing her duties, she went to chat with the birds in the front garden.

“How unfair was life for me. I wish I could marry someone like that prince and live happily ever after”, she exclaimed in tears. The birds listened carefully. They could feel all sadness and pity in their hearts.
“Call the squirrels”, said one bird to the other. When they arrived, they too could feel Britta’s sadness. After some mumbling and a brief argument, the leader pulled its skin coat and extracted a drop of dense, black blood. He put it in an empty hazelnut shell, mixed it with syrup extracted from the roses in the front garden and handed it to the poor girl.
“This essence will solve your problems, poor Britta. Whenever you feel necessary, rub it on your body”. As soon as she grabbed it, the squirrel got up close and whispered in her ear: “But be careful: your happiness will come at the expense of someone else’s”. Britta listened carefully, and after expressing her gratitude, she headed to her chamber.
Two weeks later, the older daughter and the prince were ready to marry. Britta was taken to the wedding to help as a waitress. As the sun was hiding under the sea, the guests started arriving. The richest families in town, the bourgeoisies and royal families from other kingdoms gathered for the special occasion. At about 8pm, the formal ceremony started. All the guests were asked to leave the buffet area and head to the main hall. Everyone at the party, with the exception of the workers and servants, was standing next to the red carpet, with the closest relatives closer to the altar. Meanwhile, the poor Britta was cleaning tables and shining floors. As if acting by instinct, she suddenly stopped cleaning and anxiously rubbed the essence in her body. She inadvertently dropped the shell. To her surprise, a few minutes had passed without nothing out of the ordinary happening.
The bells started ringing. The future princess arrived wearing a long and beautiful white dress. She walked through the red carpet all the way to the altar, where she stood awaiting for the prince. A few minutes later the prince finally arrived. He walked along the red carpet in tears of emotion, always setting his sight on the future princess. At about halfway through, he suddenly smelled a strong, arousing aroma which forced him to turn around, as if being pulled by a strong magnetic force. He saw Britta standing there, cleaning tables in her dirty uniform; he instantly fell in love. Suddenly, to everyone’s surprise, the prince turned around and started walking all the way to the other end of the room.
“What are you doing, darling?” asked the queen. “The woman in front of me is the love of my life”, he shouted euphorically. The prince turned around once again and looked at Britta dead in the eyes and asked her to marry him. The poor Britta, like everyone else in the room, was in shock and could not say a word. But the future princess, quick and clever like her mom, took advantage of everyone’s shock to sneakily grab hold of a knife from one of the tables. She quickly hid it under her dress and started walking slowly towards Britta on that same red carpet where her future husband had disappointed her a few moments ago. At about halfway, she pointed the knife straight to Britta’s face and started running towards her while screaming out loud. Unfortunately for her, she stepped boldly on the empty hazelnut shell, causing her to trip forward. The knife she was carrying penetrated her intestines like a hot knife cutting through butter; she bled to death in front of everyone.
Two months later the prince and Britta married in another bigger ceremony and lived happily ever after. However, this time the Wuldrics were not present.

 

WORD COUNT: 1,114

Image source: It’s now possible to have the ultimate fairytale wedding in Disney. (2016, May 02). Retrieved November 26, 2016, from http://www.fox29.com/trending/135719182-story

 

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