The Helper Who Cried Wolf
Exploring voice and POV through Enneagrams - #2 The Helper
This is an experiment in point of view and character voice. In this series, I’m using the Enneagram personality system to explore how core fears, desires, and motivations shape the way a character experiences and narrates their story.
For writers, it’s a tool to deepen character psychology and craft more consistent inner lives.
For AI users, it’s a way to refine prompts and emotional tone—especially when writing complex or conflicted characters.
For readers, it’s a path to better understanding character motivation—and maybe even yourself—through stories told from the inside out.
Let’s find out what changes when we tell a familiar tale through a different emotional core.
🐺 The Original Fable: The Boy Who Cried Wolf
A young shepherd boy grew bored watching his flock and thought it would be fun to cry, “Wolf! Wolf!” to trick the villagers. They came running, only to find nothing.
He laughed. He did it again. More villagers came. No wolf.
Then one day, a real wolf came. The boy cried out, but no one came to help. The wolf scattered the flock and left the boy weeping.
Moral: Liars are not believed even when they tell the truth.
📝 Retelling: The Helper as the Boy Who Cried Wolf
I just wanted them to see me.
Not because I was lonely—though maybe I was—but because I thought if they looked, they’d remember I mattered. That I wasn’t just “that boy with the sheep.”
The first time I cried “Wolf!” and they came running, breathless and wide-eyed—I felt important. Needed. Like maybe I was part of the village again.
I told them I made a mistake. That I thought I saw something. They forgave me, of course. Kind people. Busy, but kind.
The second time, I knew it wasn’t true. But they’d smiled at me afterward—patted my shoulder, reminded me to be careful. Someone even asked how I was doing. No one ever asks how I’m doing.
So I called again.
And they came. Not all of them, not like the first time. But enough. Enough to make me feel seen.
The third time, I didn’t call.
But the wolf came anyway.
I shouted. Begged. Screamed until my voice cracked. I could see the rooftops in the distance—so close. But no one came. The sheep scattered, hooves beating the dirt. The wolf didn’t even hurry. It knew. It had time.
Afterward, I sat in the grass and wept, not just for the sheep. Not just for the hunger in the wolf’s eyes. I wept because I’d broken something.
They don’t come anymore.
Even when I wave from the hill, even when I call out good morning—they nod, polite. But they don’t meet my eyes.
I never wanted to lie. I only wanted to matter.
📚 If You’re Enjoying These Fable Retellings…
You might love my speculative short story collections under the Echoes of Aesop series.
Each book takes one of Aesop’s ancient fables and explores its themes through original speculative fiction—experience these timeless stories from the viewpoint of mermaids, vampires, ghosts, and aliens while they struggle to survive in settings that include desert caravans, space stations, haunted mansions and alternate realities.
Available now on Amazon.
💡 Enneagram Type 2 – The Helper
Core Desire: To be loved and needed
Core Fear: Being unwanted, unloved, or unworthy
Additional writing prompts, including AI prompts, are available for paid subscribers:
Narrative POV Style: An Enneagram Type 2: The Helper tells a story like a love letter wrapped in service. Their voice is warm, attentive, and emotionally attuned to others—often at the cost of their own needs. Expect self-sacrifice, nurturing energy, and deep emotional intelligence... until resentment bubbles up. Their conflict often hides beneath kindness.
💬 The Helper POV Prompts for AI Writers
Your Enneagram Type 2: The Helper character is giving, emotionally intuitive, and fears being unneeded. Ask: What happens when they help too much? When they need help and don’t ask?
Write in the voice of an Enneagram Type 2: The Helper—warm, relationship-centered, and attuned to others’ feelings. Let their need to connect be both their strength and their struggle.
Rewrite this [line of dialogue] with the care and sensitivity of an Enneagram Type 2: The Helper. Make it generous, emotionally present, or quietly self-denying.