The young woman and the mean door

A true story in the guise of a fairy tale. About a young woman with a mental disability looking for a job.

Once upon a time in a land by a mighty river, there was a town known for its pirate castle. In it lived Astrid Bechersturtz, a young woman in the prime of her life.
Astrid Bechersturtz had been looking for a good, steady job for a long time.
She had tried everything! She had worked for a gravedigger, helped a stonemason and worked in a hospice. But it all came to nothing… One day, as Astrid Bechersturz was walking through the rainy alleyways of the cold and foggy town, a fairy godmother with an angel´s heart came flying and whispered into Astrid Bechersturtz’s ear: “Walk across the great sacred field, listen to the songs of a thousand men and women, look for the fortress emblazoned with a skull and crossbones. There you will find your happiness.”

Astrid Bechersturtz heeded the fairy’s advice, followed the calls of a thousand men and women, ran across the great sacred field and found the fortress with the skull and crossbones. When she entered the fortress, she was greeted warmly by the Princess of Eckstein. Astrid said to the princess: “Do you have a job for me?” The princess replied: “Yes, I have work for you. But you have to do three things for me:
1) You must put all the treasures in our treasury on the right shelves.
2) You have to make sure that no one steals our treasures.
3) You have to carry the treasures through the mean door.”

“No problem,” said Astrid Bechersturtz and set to work. She put the treasures on the shelves. Among them were robes, harnesses and scarves. All were decorated with the skull and crossbones symbol. Every day Astrid Bechersturtz arrived at work on time, worked diligently all day and kept getting better and faster.

To ensure that no one else could steal the treasures, Astrid Bechersturtz cast a spell on all of them . The spell caused the treasures to start screaming as soon as thieves tried to steal them from the treasure chamber.
The princess was very pleased with Astrid Bechersturtz’s motivation, work performance and reliability.

Only the final task lay ahead of her.

With her hands full of treasures, she approached the mean door. Suspecting nothing bad, Astrid opened the door and with a loud bang the thousand screaming men and women stood before her. Astrid was afraid of so many people and quickly closed the door again.

As the door slammed shut, the door began to laugh at her maliciously. “Hihihi, you’ll never make it. You have far too much social anxiety”

Astrid replied to the door: “Yes, I’m afraid of strangers, but despite my fear, I’ll keep trying!”

And with all her courage, she approached the door once more and opened it. Again, there was a loud bang and the thousand men and women stood in front of Astrid Bechersturtz. This time, however, the thousand men and women were not as loud. Nonetheless, Astrid stood petrified in front of the open door and was unable to go through it. The door slammed shut again and she laughed: “Hihihi, you’ll never make it! You don’t have enough self-confidence!”
Astrid replied: “Yes, I don’t have much self-confidence, but I’ll keep trying and getting stronger and stronger!”

Astrid took a deep breath and approached the door one more time. The door opened with a loud bang and Astrid saw the thousands of men and women talking to each other in a friendly manner. She took a step towards the crowd, but her knees began to buckle and before she could cross the threshold, the door closed in her face again. The door started laughing again: “Hihihi, you’ll never make it. You’ll never get through me, you’ll give up!”

Astrid then closed her eyes, gathered all her courage and remembered that Princess von Eckstein had promised to give her a job if she managed to get through the door. Astrid drew strength from the thought of how much she enjoyed working in the treasury. Why should this door determine her live and stop her from wanting to work?

Confidently and with all her courage, Astrid tucked the treasures under her arm, placed her hand on the door handle and slowly pushed it down. The door opened with a soft squeak that sounded distantly like a “Hihihi…”, and from then on, the door was no longer heard. Astrid Bechersturtz walked through the door with a firm step, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

In the room behind the door, Princess von Eckstein was waiting between the men and women, smiling proudly at her. The princess said: “You have fulfilled all three tasks and mastered them with flying colours. Now you belong with the pirate castle.”

Astrid Bechersturtz was delighted. And she worked happily ever after.