Mutilated Fairytales
I've never written anything for X-men, so I'm still not sure how to keep the characters in character. You may have to bare with me…
Today I'll be trying to write something out of the wonderful mind of X-23! I'm very excited.
All of the fairytales (except for Little Red Riding Hood, because that one was too good to pass up) were found in Mother Goose, which was illustrated by Tasha Tudor and published by Random House. I don't own it!
Little Red Riding Hood is lost in the woods. No one is there to save her from the Big Bad Wolf. She will kick and scream, but no one will come. When the wolf is done ripping her apart, Little Red will be so broken she will decide to create something a little red of her own. Using the claws the wolf left for her, she will trace patterns into her own skin. Little red tears will spill, but Little Red will not cry. Her outsides will heal, but her insides will not.
Needless to say, she will never make it to her grandmother's house.
***
Laura never understood fairytales. She never even knew they existed, really. She had no childhood. When she overhears Shadowcat talking about them and is confused, the girl lends her a big book of Fairytales. Laura sits down and reads, turning every page as if in a dream…
Humpty Dumpty fell off of a wall. No one could ever fix all of his wounds.
Kittens lost their mittens, starving to death.
Blind mice had their tails chopped off, forever living with bloody stumps.
Babies fell from trees and cradles, never to cry again.
Old women living in shoes beat their children senseless, every single one.
A Jack and a Jill fell down a hill, never to bring home a pail of water.
Another Jack burned himself on candlesticks. He wasn't as quick as he thought.
Ba ba black sheep let the little boys go cold.
Bo Peep lost all of the other sheep. She froze to death, too.
There was no bone in the cupboard. The dogs went hungry again.
Miss. Muffet died of a spider bite. The spider died from eating curds and whey.
And then, of course, their was Little Red Riding Hood. She was eaten by a wolf and thrown back up again, left to live her days alone and full of holes.
After reading the entire book, Laura still doesn't understand. These are children's stories? They are violent. Cruel. They are something she would read for fun. Not bedtime stories for children.
Kitty asks her which one is her favorite. The answer is simple.
"Red Riding Hood."
"Why?"
"Because she is red."
***
Little Red bleeds and bleeds, and bleeds further still. She bleeds until her cloak is stained the same color as her shame. She doesn't know how to stop herself. The wolf has harmed her. She is no longer a little girl. She never will be.
She is red.
Did you like it? I hope everyone understood the whole "red" concept. I won't explain it, but it was a big focus point for me. You can think of the symbolism how you'd like. Tell me what you think of any of it!
And by the way, did anyone else love the way Laura saw the fairytales? If you think about it, they are really violent. I wonder why kids never notice… hmm.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Please review if you can.