In A Land Far, Far Away…
Fantasy Fiction This or That Challenge
When I was a little person, I enjoyed a good fairy tale or two. From time to time, I altered endings, especially when I was around seven or eight years old. That was when I decided Cinderella needed to add cayenne pepper to her stepsisters’ breakfasts and knock all the heels off their shoes.
Those “bugly itches” deserved some take-downs.
I also wanted Alice (in Wonderland) to get put in a corner for being such a whiner. Again, this was when I was pretty little. In high school I had to read the actual books, not the Disney versions, as a lesson in British Literature and the art of satire. I still wanted Alice to stop sniveling. But understanding the satire was enlightening, and still pretty timely — which is sad, don’t you think?
I was dumbfounded by a world where repeatedly calling your baby a pig could turn it into a literal pig — dumbfounded and frightened, frankly. If nothing else, reading that scene colored all my future interactions with children. No name-calling. No one was ever allowed to call each other stupid in my house. It DOES mean something.
Too bad I didn’t learn that lesson sooner — before I called my sister a name. She’s never forgotten it, and I am SO DAMNED SORRY. (We were little kids, but that doesn’t matter. I was a…
