The Helpers

Hello, reader. This week, I wrote a modern fairy tale based on Hans Christian Andersen's Snow Queen. I hadn't expected to start writing about the Lapland Woman and the Finland Woman, but that's what happened. I guess I'm too old to identify with the children protagonists anymore. Enjoy!

Sometimes the kindest people live in the most desolate places.

When people are in trouble, they come to me. I've made my home in the coldest reaches of this land, where cell signal doesn't reach and the wifi is spotty, but some still find their way to my house. It's not that I don't like helping people. On the contrary. But the years have not been kind to me, and I can't do everything I once could. Getting involved too much in other people's adventures is draining in more ways than one initially realizes.

When a little girl on a reindeer ran to my house one day, I knew it was something serious. For one thing, parents no longer let their children leave on epic quests, so for this child to be so far away from anyone's house, I knew it had to be serious. I met her at the door and brought her inside.

"May I come in too?" the reindeer asked.

I stepped back in surprise. It had been many years since a quest with a talking animal had arrived at my door. This was serious. "Of course," I replied.

The reindeer did its best to shake off the snow before it came in and stamped off all the snow it could on the doormat. It was more polite than some of the human guests I've had.

"Where are your parents?" I asked the little girl. Because in times like these, that's the question you must begin with.

"They're back home," she said, unzipping her coat. "Do you have hot chocolate?"

I always did. Even if I hadn't bought any, it was simple enough to conjure some for this little girl. "Do you want me to call them for you?"

"No. I have to save my friend."

One of those quests. I gave the reindeer some ice, got the little girl her hot chocolate, and settled in with my tea.

The girl's name was Asia and she'd been on a quest to save her friend, Darius, from a mysterious woman who had taken him from their city. Asia didn't seem surprised by the magical help she'd received on her quest, just grateful for it. I wondered if she was too tired to think about that, or if the quest itself was taking too much of her attention. So many times in this era, adventurers didn't think through how odd their journeys were until they were home and able to convince themselves it didn't happen that way.

As Asia talked, I realized she fell neatly into the type of quest where it is her goodness that saves her friend. She didn't need anything from me, just somewhere to stay. It was easy enough to see what would work when you've been helping people for hundreds of years. One part of Asia's story did catch my attention. "I'm sorry dear, what was the name of that old woman who tried to keep you at her house?"

The girl scrunched her face. "Granny Hedwig," she remembered.

I nodded. Not all of us continued to help those on a quest. After so many years seeing these kind people blow through our lives, some of us tried to keep them. I would need to pay Hedwig a visit after I sent this girl on her way. Sometimes, we could be talked back from the edge before we became the monsters we'd been fighting for so long. I returned my attention to Asia's story.

When she was done, I asked, "So you're looking for Darius to bring him home?" I wanted to be sure I hadn't missed anything important.

Asia nodded. "He started to get mean before he left, but I can't just let some woman snatch him up."

Definitely a good-hearted heroine. "You can stay here tonight, since it's night time anyway. Tomorrow, I'll send you to my sister and she can tell you how to get to him."

"Really?" Asia perked up. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome," I told her. "Now, there's only a little left to do to make dinner, but would you like to help me?"

"Sure," Asia said, "but I don't know much about cooking."

It turned out that Asia was a quick learner and we got dinner on the table pretty quickly. Fortunately, I already had something her reindeer could eat, so I didn't have to conjure anything for him. I tried not to use magic unless I needed to. My dishes had already been enchanted to give strength and clarity of mind to all who ate off of them, so at least I was still able to give Asia more than she asked for.

I set her and her reindeer up in the guest room soon after dinner, and she was asleep quickly. Poor child. No one should have to go on these quests. Asia might only be trying to get her friend back, but if someone didn't take care of that icy sorceress soon, I might have to do it myself.

I picked up my landline and called my sister.

"Hello?" she asked.

"I've got another adventurer coming your way tomorrow," I told her. "A little girl, pure of heart, who's trying to rescue her friend."

My sister grunted in acknowledgement. "Heading toward the ice sorceress?"

"Yup."

My sister sighed. "This little girl isn't going to take care of the problem, is she?"

"Would you expect her to be a killer?"

"No. Not one like her. Fine. I'll help her tomorrow, but the next person through her better take care of that sorceress."

"Or we'll have to," I finished.

My sister grunted again.

"Good night," I told her.

"'Night," she replied.

There were times my sister was downright talkative, but this clearly wasn't one of them. I settled down in front of the fire to repair an enchanted sled that had made its way to me. It wouldn't be ready by tomorrow, but someone would need it eventually.

The next day, Asia was up just after I was. Her reindeer followed soon after, and headed into the yard. We ate a quick breakfast, and I gave Asia directions to my sister's house. "Take heart," I told her, "your quest is almost done."

Asia gave me a watery smile. "I hope so. I want to bring Darius home."

I watched the reindeer carry her away for awhile before turning back to my home. It would probably be awhile before I had another adventurer come through, and the moon was right to go out and gather supplies tonight. I set my coat, gloves, and other winter gear near the fire and whispered a soft spell that over the course of the day would put the heat of the fire into them. I was getting too old to go traipsing across the snow without some way of keeping warm. But while I kept myself busy around my house, I waited for my sister's call to tell me that Asia had gotten Darius back. I hoped he was able to break his spell so he could be nice again before they went home.