ONCE UPON 24 TIMES - STORY VII

Story the Seventh

0 - Innocence (The Fool)

Red Riding Hood (The Mock Grandmother)

Congratulations! Today is your day;

you're on your first errand, you're up and away!

With your feet in your shoes and your brain in your head,

and that bottle of milk and that bun of fresh bread...

And, when you reach a fork, should you go left or right...?

Or right and three quarters, or maybe not quite?

You'd stay safe on the primrose path, of hardships bereft;

and thus, after quick thinking, decide to head left.

And when you've reached your goal, you're so calm and so sure

that a slight rapping knock of yours' will open the door.

So you may help yourself to red wine and red meat;

of what's been prepared for you you'll heartily eat...

And that wine's weak and salty... after us the flood;

will you e'er you know you consumed your own flesh and blood?

Shooed away, Granny's cat sauntered off as she hissed;
in vain you heard her warn of this dark Eucharist...

Skirt and corset and blouse, everything feeds the flame;

still, when all dressed up like Eve, you feel no shame.

(Only the blood-red, fire-red cowl is spared from the fire

for a nightcap)

And the one you call Grandmother lulls you to bed,

clad in nought but thin air and your hood so bright red...

And such dark-hairy hands, as if covered with fur...
and such sharp pointy ears, that so rarely occur...

"The thick hair on my limbs will keep you snug and warm,
and these keen ears will, ere you hear, warn us from storm..."

But, when push comes to shove, and you see that deep maw,
framed in bayonet fangs, at first you reel in awe...
(Down that throat you'll slip, raw!!)

In the end, wit and courage surge back into you,
and you ask "her," "May I please go out to the loo?"

"For the odour's too strong for your nose (you think 'snout')!"
So a ribbon's tied round your foot ere you walk out...

And, relieving yourself, in the shade of a tree,
you tie your leash around the trunk and dart off, free!

But what will Mum say when she finds you like that?
Will she wonder why you're only wearing your hat?
Will she understand if told by Grandmother's cat?
Will you ever find out what you ate
and what you drank that day, when it's decades too late?

Here the story breaks off, and the curtain will fall;
Werewolf, Girl, Mum, and Granny at the curtain call.

You've had an experience! Today is your day!
The real world is waiting; so get on your way!