10,000 Words Part 48: Formula

The little girl was willful. This was a bad thing.
She was also kind. This was a good thing.
She had a saintly but absent father and a mother conveniently dispatched by consumption. She was looked after by a cruel, repressive woman who punished her flaws (willfulness). However she had one friend: a kind, patient mentor who saw her good points (kindness) but who suffered a non-specific affliction with angelic forbearance. However this friend languished and died (possibly under the care of aforementioned callous guardian) leaving our heroine suitably chastened, docile and no longer in need of any external repression.