Horribly Bertha

So, I wrote this short story for an English exam. I hope you like it.

Bertha was a very careful girl. She had learned to be careful, and she had done so because she was very anxious. She was worried she would be late, so she was careful not to be; she didn't want to offend anyone so she was careful not to; in short, she put a lot of care into being the best child in the world. 

All this, she did to please a certain boy she fancied, Alfred. She wanted desperately to please him but she dared not speak to him. And so, she tried to be the best in everything hoping he would notice her, hoping he would one day realize she was perfect. Because after all, she was perfect. Nobody could reproach her any faults.

Some people noticed her, of course. They noticed her perfection and praised her for it. Adults mostly but some of her friends as well. Yet to Alfred, it was as though she did not exist.

Bertha was madly in love with Alfred. She wished to marry him one day. Despite what she told herself, perhaps she would have settled for another boy if one asked her to be his girl but none ever did. She told herself it was for the better. After all, she did not want to break anybody's heart in case Alfred thought her cold and inconsiderate. 

She lived miserably, not because of lack of food or money, but because of a lack of love, romantic love. Even though everybody thought her to be the best child in the world, she was probably the saddest one. She had many friends but none of them were truly special.

One day, she received a letter from King Leopold inviting her to his Palace. Bertha had never been more frightened. Everyone knew that King Leopold only invited girls he wished to marry and have kids with. But he was a cruel man, especially cruel to his spouse, everybody knew that. Bertha couldn't refuse the invitation however. He was the King after all, but she couldn't marry him either. It was the only way her current situation could be worse and she was tired.

The final straw was when she saw Alfred kissing another girl. That was it for Bertha. She had always been careful in many a thing, but now it was too much for her to bear. One of the things, she had always been careful to do was never going into the woods for there were wolves inside. Now, Bertha knew one could get to the King's Palace through the woods, and so she took that path, knowing what the consequences would be. When the big, hungry wolf came for her, she welcomed it gladly. And when the wolf ate her, she did not cry out. When the wolf was finished, only the empty medals the common-folk had given Bertha remained. All their praise and compliments which in the end amounted to nothing.