"Now isn't the time. I promise you that if you get me out of here, I'll tell you everything you want me to," the little elf said, with a pleading look in it's eyes.
"Pinkie promise?" I said, holding out my pinkie finger. The little Brownie held out its miniature pinky and pinky promised to tell me everything I wanted to know if I got it out of there. "Okay, but I have to finish my shift. That'll be done in half an hour, then I'll get you out. In the meantime, stay hidden!" I hissed, then stood up with a huge grin plastered over my face.
"What's with your face?" laughed a waiter about my age, called Simon. Simon had amazing brown hair; swept over one side of his face and kind of sweeping out a bit at the bottom. He was wearing smart black trousers and a large belt with a pair of smart black shoes. He also wore a white shirt with his sleeves rolled up just above his elbows. He grinned at me brightly. Out of work, Simon wore dark blue skinny jeans and a top with a patterned shirt over it. Simon was a right laugh, always making me giggle and smile.
I thought quickly, then pulled out my phone from my pocket of the skirt I was wearing. "I dumped my boyfriend," I told Simon, grinning crazily.
"...And why are you happy about that?" He asked, bamboozled.
"I've wanted to do it for ages, he was really getting on my nerves. It wasn't anything serious, but still. I'm glad I've finished with him."
"Oh, that's cool," Simon said, laughing. He still looked rather confused, and I laughed at his puzzled face.
"So, a crowd of us are going out for drinks once our shift finishes. Care to join?"
"Umm, sure," I told him, knowing he didn't finish his shift until nine tonight. I should have enough time to learn everything I knew from the Brownie by then. "Here, can I meet you in the staff room when you've finished your shift and walk with you?"
"Sure," Simon said, smiling happily. "I finish at nine."
"Cool," I said, and then took my order away to table 32. It was a starter of Salmon mousse, accompanied with Melba toast and a small salad. The other starter was prawn cocktail with warm brown bread and butter, with a small salad accompanying it. The Salmon mousse wasn't my cup of tea, but the Prawn cocktail was amazing! I loved it so much - Pierre, the head chef made the best Prawn cocktail in the world!
The rest of my shift passed by uneventfully. I smiled at Simon whenever we passed each other, and he grinned back, throwing me little looks every so often. I couldn't wait until I could rescue the little Brownie and get it out of here. I wanted to find out everything!
Finally, it was time for me to leave. I went into the staff room and grabbed my change of clothes. Locking myself in a changing room, I changed out of my black short skirt and white blouse into a pair of blue skinny jeans, knitted grey Ugg boots, a warm pink top, large grey hoodie and black and white striped scarf. I put my uniform in the washing basket that was always washed for the next day, which was quite an impressive feat.
Slying into the kitchen, I crouched down and slipped the Brownie into the pocket of my hoodie, and stood up then turned around, coming face to face with Simon again.
"Hey, what are you doing?" He asked me.
Yeah, just rescuing a Brownie, ain't I? I thought. No way could I tell Simon that's what I was doing - I'd be hospitalised into the crazy hospital!
"Umm, just come to say bye to you, 'cause that's me finished my shift. So I'll meet you in the staff room at nine tonight then, yeah?"
"That's fine," Simon said, smiling at me. I smiled and hugged him gently, trying to stop the Brownie in my pocket from being squished. Then I turned and left the restaurant; heading for the nearby forest where it was rumoured Betty met the Wise Owl in the legend of the creation of Brownies.
I walked cautiously into the forest and then, reaching the tree and the pond that was in the legend, I sat down, back against the tree and took the Brownie out of my pocket.
"Tell me everything!" I said.
"Okay," started the Brownie, "but you aren't going to like it."
"I don't care! What's your name? Do you have a name, or are you just 'Brownie'?"
"Okay, well, my name is Rach-nod. I know, weird name, huh? But it's quite a common name between Brownies. It's the equivalent to 'Rachel'," Rach-nod started. "Umm, well... you aren't going to like the truth. Us Brownies do exist, but we are an endangered species. The Wise Owl that is in the legend of the Brownies wasn't so wise. He hates all Brownie creatures because we... We accidentally stole his tree one day, and he didn't like the fact we wouldn't let him have it back, so he moved to this tree. He was intent on revenge. He's magic too, being so wise and amazing, and so he transformed himself into Betty's Gran, and told her to go to the Wise Owl. Then, when Betty sneaked out of the house, so did the Wise Owl and he flew to the tree and told Betty to twist and turn and ask the water to show her the elf. She looked in the water and there saw herself. Well, you know what happened after that. Betty went home and cleaned. However, that made the Brownie of that house redundant, seeing as there was no reason for them to be there, seeing as Betty cleaned the house for that Brownie. The Brownie cause spread all over the world, and Brownie's Worldwide started to loose their jobs. Now we have spiralled into poverty and the majority of us are unemployed. I managed to find that restaurant you work in, and I wash the uniforms by hand every nigh when no-one is there."
"But why don't you just find another job to do?" I asked, shocked by the news that the Wise Owl had betrayed the Brownies.
"Because that's who we are! We are Brownie's who lend a hand. That's what we live for. If we don't do that, then we get ill - really ill - and we die. We need to clean! It's what we are for, and without it, we are dead."
"Oh, my God," I whispered. "Do you mean to tell me that I have reduced a poor Brownie out there to death?"
"I'm sorry, Amanda, but with all the help you have given in your nineteen years of existence? You've caused more than one Brownie to die."
Shocked, I backed away from Rash-nod. No, it wasn't possible. It wasn't fair! A salty tear made tracks from my eye to the bottom of my chin and fell, cascading to the ground. "No," I whispered. More tears followed, and soon I was howling in pain from what I had done, unknowingly, but the point remained - Brownies had died due to my helpfulness. "What can I do to help? I can go to the Government! Petition for Brownie's to be changed, so it's more like Guides and Rainbows - so that they don't steal your jobs!"
"Then that would expose us and we would be hunted like animals, put in cages and sold for lots of money. There is nothing you can do Amanda. I'm sorry," Rash-nod told me, a look of sorrow on her face. I looked closely and found she too was crying.
"I have to be able to do something!" I cried, infuriated. "I'll kill that Wise Owl! I'll kill him!"
"Too late. We have captured him and use him for entertainment now. He's quite boring actually, but he can play the violin, cello, piano, flute, guitar and drums very well. We make him play for the crazy parties the Brownie teenagers have. They're annoyed he's never managed to learn to play the latest tunes in the Charts right now. They're debating killing him and ordering a docking station, iPod and laptop from Amazon."
"But how would they charge these things?"
"Trees actually work as plugs," Rash-nod told me, matter of factly. "We've actually progressed very far in the past three hundred years and even though some Brownie's are dying, we know how to have a good time. Amanda, there is nothing you can do for us. Just leave and... Can you please try not to help as much, nowadays? That would be appreciated."
"Yeah, yeah, sure," I said, dazed. Then, turning my back on the Brownie, I walked back into civilisation, ready to get totally drunk and try and forget this ever happened to me.
Sometimes, it's good to help out, but other times, lending a helping hand too much can cause more damage than you realise at the time.
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© Zoe A Proudfoot
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Old, Wise, Evil Owl, intent on Revenge. You ruined my life.
Start from the beginning
