Storytelling: The Twins

Once upon a time there lived two twin girls who lived in an attic of a beautiful mansion. They were the servant girls of a horrific woman and her three daughters. The two twin girls lost their family long ago to a car accident and found themselves with no place to live and no money. The girls, Sarah and Tara, accepted jobs as maids in order to support themselves and gain a place to live. Their boss made them do ridiculous tasks just because she had to the right to. She had a tight leash on them because she knew that they had very little money and would not survive on their own. 

One day when Tara and Sarah were cleaning the homeowner’s closet, they came across something quite peculiar. Tucked away in a corner, was a plethora of gold bars. The girls had never laid their eyes on anything as precious and valuable as this. They were overcome with mixed emotions as they pondered what to do. Sarah thought they should leave it alone as the mother might notice they were gone, but Tara suggested they take a bar to pawn. As the argued quietly over what to do, they came to term that taking one bar in that moment would not be noticeable. They came up with a plan: to take one bar every other week to pawn and eventually get enough money to live on their own. 

Six weeks went by and the girls had taken and pawned three bars. They were close to their minimum goal to move out, and the mother had not noticed a thing. By the eighth week, Tara and Sarah were ready. As they were readying for their departure, Tara grew malicious. She knew they had enough money in that moment, but eventually they would grow poor again, so she came up with an idea. Tara went behind Sarah’s back and snuck back into the mother’s closet. She stole every single bar. Tara and Sarah packed up all their belongings and escaped their former life. 

A week into their new lives, Sarah noticed that Tara had been on edge the whole time. Suddenly, there was a loud continuous banging on their door. Sarah jumped at the surprise. Tara came out of her room and ran to the door, she flung it open and there was their old boss standing in the doorway. Fuming with rage, she let herself into Tara and Sarah’s new apartment slamming the door behind her. She walked with a stride that could kill anyone who got in her way. She made her way to the couch and ordered Tara and Sarah to sit. Tara was on the edge of her seat sweating for she knew she was getting what was coming for her. The lady knew all of her gold bars were stolen, she threatened the twins that she would go to the police and have them arrested if they did not leave immediately and reclaim their jobs with her. 

In an instant, their entire wealth was taken away from one millisecond of a decision to act in a way of greed. 

Author’s Note: I chose to retell “The Golden Goose” from the Jataka Tails. I chose to follow the same moral of the story, while changing the plot and the characters. In the golden goose, there was a mother and daughter who were poor. They came across a goose with golden feathers and would pick one at a time to sell in order to live comfortably. The mother grew greedy and picked off all the feathers without the Goose’s consent. If that is done, the feather as no value. Therefore, the moral is to get greedy for more wealth and take just what is given. I chose to follow that as well. Tara grew greedy and stole more than what was needed and it was all taken away suddenly. The mother and daughter in the Jataka Tails were left with nothing, just as Tara and Sarah were left with their former life. 

Gold Bars