Week 10 Storytelling: #KnowTheOneYoureWith: Lesson One

(image of distressed woman)

You are forbidden to ever see him again, Brittany LaChelle and that is final! Do you understand me, young lady?! Brittany's dad, Earl howled at his then 20 year old daughter.

Brittany was so livid inside, after all that had happened with her brother passing away the year before, and her having to deal with that crazy psychiatrist that only wanted to brainwash her and take all of the family's money.  Brittany couldn't believe that her dad wanted to take away her one true piece of new found happiness.

Brittany had been with Brandon for 6 months now and was really starting to feel true happiness inside. And after all that she had been through, she was so grateful that Brandon had come along. At first, everything was fine when she first started to bring Brandon around the family, but then about a month ago, things started to change, and Brittany wanted to know why.

Daddy, why do hate Brandon so much!? What has he done? All you used to say is that you wanted was for me to be happy and to see your baby girl's smile again. Now that I'm starting to actually smile again, you just want to snatch that away again? WHY!?

Okay, first off you need to watch your tone. Don't forget who's house you're in and who you're talking to. Don't start acting like you done lost your mind. Earl sternly replied back. That boy is no good for you, and you probably are not going to understand that. But I was once that boy and I know how their minds operate. You gotta remember that I've been there and done that. I am looking out for you! You know I love you more than anything and I would never say or do anything if I didn't think that it was in your best interest. 

Brittany stormed off to cool down right after saying, "I don't understand why you would want to do this to me, but I'm about to go cool off before I disrespect you anymore."

Later that night when Brittany came back home, she overheard her parents talking in their room, right as her mom said, "Earl, why don't you just tell her the real reason? She deserves to know and has been through too much for secrets to be kept from her." 

"Brenda, I'd rather her be mad at me for a while instead of knowing that the boy she has fallen in love with is planning to marry some other girl without even telling her. She would never be able to trust anyone again if she found that out that way. If he can't be man enough to tell her the real reason he's going on this "vacation" next week, then she doesn't need him in her life. Period."

"Ok, honey, I understand that, I just don't want any irreversible damage to happen to y'all's relationship because of this."

"I know, baby, but it's gonna work out. I just love her too much to see her go through any more heartbreak."

And just like that, Brittany made sense of it all. She was devastated that Brandon would do that to her after all that they have shared with one another, and how he knew that she relied on him to help her get through these tough times. Then she became even more heartbroken when she thought about how she was yelling at her father earlier that day, and he was trying to do nothing but protect his little girl. Once again, Brittany was reminded that you never really "KnowTheOneYoureWith like you may think.


Author's note: This story is about a Native American story that really stuck out to me entitled, "Old Man Above the Grizzlies." In this story the Old Man (the father) has a daughter, with whom he lives with in a teepee high above the areas that the grizzlies live on. One day, the wind caught her by her hair and pulled her out of the teepee and blew her all the way down to where the grizzlies lived.
The interesting catch about this whole set up is that the grizzlies actually walk and talk just as humans do! So, when the mama and papa bear saw that this girl had fallen down to the home, the took her in and took care of her. She need up falling in love with their son and got married and had kids.
The mama bear decided to go up to the Old Man's house and tell him that his daughter was alive and well (Which I'm kind of surprised that he didn't go looking for his daughter when she first got sucked out of the house). So, the Old Man rushed down to the grizzly land and became livid when he saw that his daughter had reproduced with a grizzly. So to punish them all, he decided to curse them to no longer speak and to walk on all fours with their heads down. He took his daughter back up to his place where they lived from their on out. Probably wasn't happily ever after cause I'm sure she was pissed.
I decided to switch up the plot but keep the same orginal plot of an angry father protecting and rescuing his daughter from something that he thought wasn't a good situation for her. These characters are from and based upon a series of stories I have previously been working that all include the hashtag #KnowTheOneYoureWith in my portfolio.