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Dressed To Kill
Once upon a time there was a sweet young girl. All that saw her instantly loved her. Her grandmother lover her more than anything in the world and couldn't give her enough. One day she gave the girl a red cape with a hood. The girl loved it so much that she wore it all the time and people called her Little Red Riding Hood. One day her mother asked her to bring some food to her grandmother who was sick. "Take this soup and medicine to help make her well and I'm sure just seeing you will just perk her up since she absolutely adores you. Just seeing you will brighten her day." "I'd be glad to mother." "Leave early and don't leave the path so you don't drop anything. Also don't forget to say good morning to your grandmother and don't forget to say please and thank you and for gosh sakes don't go snooping around in the corners." "Yes mother." Grandmother lived in the forsest about a half hour's walk from the village where Red lived with her mother. When Red entered the forest she met a wolf. She didn't know how wicked he was so she wasn't afraid of him. "Good day Little Red Riding Hood." "Good day mister wolf." "Where are you going so early?" "To my grandmother's house." "What are you bringing her in that basket?" "Some soup and medicine for she's sick and feeling wealy." "Where does your grandmother live?" "Oh she lives about a fifteen minute walk from here. Her house is under three big oak trees. You can tell you've reached it by the hazel bushes." The wolf thought to himself that she would be just perfect and the grandmother would make a nice snack. He came up with an idea to delay the girl. "Little Red look at all the pretty flowers. Take your time to pick some for your grandmother since they always help sick people feel better." Red looked around and saw how the rays of the sun seemed to be dancing among the trees and there were flowers everwhere. That's a good idea I'm sure grandmother will perk up if I get her some flowers. It's still early so I guess it couldn't hurt to take some time to enjoy this beautiful day." So red skipped into the woods to pick some flowers. She walked deeper and deeper into the forest filling up her basket. The wolf ran to the grandmother's house and knocked on the door. "Who is it?" "It's Little Red Riding Hood and I've brought you soup and some medicine." "Just open the door dear for I'm too wear to get up." The wolf opened the door and walked inside. He walked over to the bed and ripped her throat out. Since he knew Red would be coming soon he put grandmother in the closet so he could finish his snack later. There was some blood on the sheets so he tore them off the bed. He went to the dresser for a nightgown and cap but didn't have time to put on a new sheet. He was able to get into bed and pull the covers up before a knock came on the door. Meanwhile Red had filled her basket and walked the rest of the way to her grandmother's. She found the door open which she thought was odd but walked in anyway. She figured that her grandmother had the door open to let in a breeze since it was so hot. As she stepped inside a chill ran through her and thought about leaving bu she heard a noise so she walked over to her grandmother's bed which had the curtain drawn around it. "Grandmother are you ok?" She pulled back the curtain and saw that a glass had been knocked over. Her grandmother had her cap pulled down really low which Red found odd. "Oh grandmother what large ears you have!" "The better to hear you my dear." "Oh grandmother what large hands you have!" "The better to knit you clothes with." "Oh grandmother what big teeth you have." "The better to bite you with my dear." He jumped out of the bed and bit Red. Red passed out so the wolf placed her on the bed and went to the closet. He opened the door and pulled grandmother out and started feasting on her. Red came to and found the wolf eating her grandmother with his snout all smeared with blood. He was so focused on eating that he didn't notice her slip out the door. She ran through the woods until she tripped and fell. She laid down on the ground and burst into tears. The wolf finished his meal and saw that Red was gone but since he was a werewolf he had a wicked sense of smell and he could smell her blood from the bite he gave her. "I love a good chase. She'll make a wonderful mate. I can just picture us roaming the forest under the light of the moon. Red had left a trail of blood that flowed from her wound so it was very easy to find her and her scent filled his nostrils which sent a thrill through him. When he came across her she was in the throes of transformation. Hair was sprouting all over her body as she changed into a wolf. "What, what did you do to me?" "Don't you know my sweet. Why I've turned you into a werewolf and you're to be my mate." By this time the moon had risen and she started howling. From that point on anyone that tried to go into the woods was greeted by a kindly old woman dressed in white warning them away. Those that ignored her warning were never seen again. At each full moon howls rang through the forest and screams were heard but many were too afraid to approach for fear that they would never be seen again.
By Barbara Desmond
The Kiss
Once upon a time in the midst of winter the time of year when snowflakes drifted down from the sky blanketing the ground in whiteness a queen by sewing at her window. She was looking outside when she pricked her figner and three drops of blood dripped onto the snow. The red looked so beautiful on the pure white that she thought if I only had a darling child with skin as white as snow and ruby lips and hair the color of this ebony window frame. Shortly after she gave birth to a daughter that she called Snow White but soon after her birth the queen died. A year later the king had remarried another woman. She was a beautiful woman but she was proud and arrogant. She couldn't stand to be around anyone that was more beautiful than she. She had a magic mirror that she would often go to and stand in front of admiring herself and say, "Mirror, mirror on the wall who in this realm is the fairiest of all?" The mirror answered her, "You my queen, are the fairest of all." Hearing this would content her for she knew the mirror always spoke the truth. In the meantime, Snow White grew more and more beautiful. When she was seven she was as beautiful as the day is clear and more beautiful than the queen. One day the queen asked her mirror, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who in in this realm is the fairest of all?" The mirror answered her, "You, my queen, may have a beauty quite rare but Snow White is a thousand times more fair." The queen grew enraged and green with envy. From that point on her hate for the girl was so great that her heart jumped and turned in her chest each time she saw Snow White. The envy and arrogance grew so much that she had no peace day or night. One day she summoned a huntsman and told him to take the girl into the forest. "I never want to see her again. You must kill her and as proof of her death bring me back her lungs and liver. The huntsman took the girl into the woods but he wasn't able to do it especially when she pleaded for her life so he let her go. He was relieved because he didn't have to kill the girl although he knew that she'd end up killed by a wild animal. A boar ran by him so he killed it and took its lungs and liver and brought them back to the queen. The queen was elated when she saw the lungs and liver. She fried them up and ate them and enjoyed every bite just imagining the horror of the girl as she was killed. She had a smile on her face for the rest of the day. In the forest the little girl had no idea what to do so she started running and ended up running into evening. It was just starting to get dark when she came upon a cottage. She went inside and found that everything was so tiny. It was a neat place with a table with dinner laid out for seven and seven beds were against the wall. Snow White was so hungry that she nibbled and drank from each of the place settings and afterwards got into bed and fell asleep. When it was dark the seven dwarfs that lived in the cottage went home and were going to sit down for dinner but noticed that someone had been inside their home. They found Snow White sleeping in the bed looking so beautiful that they didn't dare disturb her. They quietly ate their dinner and went to bed. In the morning when Snow White woke up she found herself surrounded by the seven dwarfs and was frightened. They were friendly though and asked her what her name was. "My name is Snow White." Each of the dwarfs then introduced themselves with strange names thought Snow White to herself but she just smiled. "Why are you in our house?" She told them the story about her stepmother ordering the huntman to kill her but how he took pity on her and allowed her to go. "Ok you can stay but keep the house for us and cook and you can stay with us and we'll give you everything you need." "Yes thank you so much." She turned to each dwarf and hugged him and kissed him on the forehead and each blushed to be kissed by such a beautiful girl. When they went off in the morning they warned her to be careful and to not let anyone in. The queen who thought she had eaten her competition's liver and lungs went to her mirror positive that she was the fairest in all the land. The answer she got was totally unexpected. The mirror answered her, "You, my queen have a beauty so rare but over the mountains where seven dwarfs dwell, Snow White is thriving, and this I must tell that within this realm she's still a thousand times more fair." The queen was shocked to hear this and knew that it wasn't a lie which meant that she had been decieved. She ordered her guards to track down the huntsman and to bring him to her. They found the man heading up into the mountains and dragged him back and before the queen. They pushed him to the ground and she rose from her thorn sneering down at him. "So you killed the girl named Snow White?" "Yes yes my queen I did" the huntsman stammered. "You lie. How dare you defy me!" She grabbed a knife that was lying on a table and slit his throat from end to end so that it looked like a smile. The blood gushed out and the queen smiled. She ordered the floor to be cleaned before it was stained and that if it wasn't clean she would have their heads cut off. She went back up to her secret chamber to figure out what to do next. She knew that she couldn't trust anyone else to do the job so she decided to do it herself and pay the girl a visit. So the queen diguised herself as an old peddler with scarves and belts and went to the cottage where Snow White lived with the dwarfs. She knocked on the door and Snow White looked outside the window and called, "I can't allow anyone in. Who are you?" "Why I'm just an old peddler selling beautiful scarves. Would you like to see? Come on I won't hurt you." Snow White looked at the old woman and figured it wouldn't hurt since it was just a kindly old woman selling stuff. She let the old woman in and bought a scarf. The woman offered to help her on with it telling her about the many ways she could wear the scarf. She put the scarf around Snow White's neck and began to pull it tight and knotted it. Snow White was turning blue from lack of air and passed out. Thinking that she was dead the queen left laughing knowing now that the girl was finally dead. Not too long after the queen left the dwarfs came home and found Snow White lying on the ground. They saw the scarf tightly knotted around her throat so one of them drew a knife from his scabbard and cut it loose. Snow White started gasping and the dwarfs helped her up. The dwarfs told her that the old woman was actually the wicked queen in disguise. "Please don't allow anyone in when we're not here!" The queen went to her mirror as soon as she got home and asked the mirror who the fairest in the land was. The mirror answered her the same as before. Upon hearing this she was so upset and realized that Snow White once again had escaped the jaws of death. "I won't fail again!" In her secret chamber she made an apple. An apple so perfect and ripe and red and white inside that she knew the girl wouldn't be able to resist eating it. Just one bite and the person would drop dead. Once again she disguised herself as a peasant and went to the cottage. She knocked on the door and Snow White came to the window. "I'm sorry but I'm not allowed to have visitors." "Not a problem my dear I'm sure I'll get rid of my apples but please take one as a gift. See how ripe and red they are." "No thank you." "My dear are you afraid that it's poisoned? I'll cut the apple in two and eat half myself. You can eat the red part and I'll eat the white part. She took a bite of the white part since the queen knew that the red was the only part of the apple that was poisoned. Snow White saw the old woman eating the apple so she took a bite. She fell to the ground and the queen danced around her cackling with glee. She left laughing all the way knowing that this time the brat was finally dead. "Skin like snow, blood red lips, and hair like ebony! You won't be able to come back to life this time" As always she went to the mirror on the wall and asked it, "Mirror, mirror on the wall who in this realm is the fairest of all?" The mirror answered, "You my queen are the fairest of all." This answered pleased her for she knew for a fact that Snow White was really dead this time. The dwarfs came home and found Snow White lying on the ground and she wasn't breathing. They are unable to revive her. They did all they could but nothing worked finally they washed her up and cleaned her hair and combed it and made her a coffin. They couldn't bear to bury her in the ground so they made a beautiful glass coffin and put her inside and pulled it up the mountain. There she lay for years with one of the dwarfs by her side at all times. She looked so beautiful and never decayed staying the same. Tales of the beauty in the coffin reached a prince who found out the whole story and went to the queen's palace. He knocked on the door and saw the queen who was responsible for that girl in the coffin. She was much older but still retained her beauty and he was so furious. He grabbed her by the throat and sank his fangs into her and drained her dry. He wiped his mouth and started looking around the room. He wanted to see if there was some way to revive the girl. He came across the mirror and recognized it for a magic mirror so he went up to it and asked it to show him the beauty in the coffin. She appeared in the mirror and she was truly beautiful that it was love at first sight. "She's a true beauty." "Yes she is and only you can save her." "What did the queen do to this girl." "The queen has always been jealous of those more beautiful than she and Snow White far surpassed her that she gave her a poisoned apple but I was able to make it so she only appeared dead. She must be kissed by a prince to revive her and the dwarfs did their part by placing her in that coffin for she wouldn't have been able to be saved if they had buried her." "Thank you magic mirror. I must know how to get there and fast for I must wake this vision of loveliness." "Just step through the mirror and you'll be there." The prince stepped through and found himself on the mountaintop. The dwarf was startled by the man appearing out of air and raised his axe. The prince raised his hands and told him that he meant no harm. He told him what the mirror had told him and the dwarf helped take the lid off the coffin. The prince just looked at her for a while before he reached down and bit her on the neck feasting on this beauty's blood. As he was drinking she opened her eyes. Her eyes were the bluest blue he had ever seen. He sliced his wrist open and held it over her mouth. After a few drops went into her mouth she reached up and held onto his arm drinking. Finally he pulled her off his arm and sealed his wound by running his nail across his wrist. He lifted Snow White up out of the coffin and the dwarf led them to the cottage. The dwarfs were thrilled to see that their beautiful Snow White was alive and well. The next evening Snow White and the prince left to go home where she'd be his bride. Although the dwarfs were saddened to see her go they knew that she was going to be happy so they wished her well. Snow White with tears in her eyes waved good bye to the dwarfs who had been so good to her. "Since we're to be married I think it would help to know your name. "Yes it would my dear. My name is Eric." "I also would like to know if that was a dream I had about becoming a vampire." "Yes you are as am I. Would you like to change your little friends?" "No I want them to remain where they are. They belong there." Arm in arm they walked over the mountains to the palace where the queen had lived. "Don't worry dear the nightmare with the queen is over for she is dead. Why don't we make this our kingdom and you can be near your little friends." "It's a whole new world that is just waiting to be tasted." Later on a hooded figure went into the chamber where the mirror was and asked, "Mirror, mirror on the wall who in this realm is the fairest of all?"
By Barbara Desmond
The Slipper
Once upon a time there was a rich couple with a daughter. Sadly the wife grew ill and died. The daughter visited the grave every day and wept. By the following spring when the sun had melted the snow that blanketed the land the man had married a woman with two daughters of her own. They were beautiful with fair features but underneath lay wicked hearts. The two sisters ganged up on their stepsister and thought she shouldn't be allowed to sit in the parlor and must earn her food. So they took away all of her beautiful clothes and dressed her in an old gray smock with wooden shoes. "Look at the princess all dressed up," they mocked her. Still laughing they took her to the kitchen. She was expected to work from morning till night so each morning she was up before dawn. Her sisters did everything they could to make her life miserable like pouring peas and lentils into the hearth and making her sit there and pick them up. They even took away her bed and forced her to sleep by the hearth in the ashes so she always looked dirty and dusty so they started calling her Cinderella. One day the king decided to throw a ball and invite all the beautiful young girls in the kingdom so his son could choose a bride. When the two sisters learned that they were invited they called for Cinderella and gave her a list of demands to do to help them prepare for the big night. Cinderella did everything they asked but she cried because she wanted to go to the ball too so she asked her stepmother for permission to go. When the sisters heard this they said, "You! You're all dirty and have no clothes. Do you think you can win the prince when you don't even have shoes and can't even dance?" Her stepmother emptied a bowl of lentils into the ashes and told Cinderella that if she could pick them out in two hours that she would be allowed to go the ball. The little time Cinderella had was spent under a big sprawling tree and she fed the birds and made friends with them. She called for them and two birds flew in and pecked out the lentils well before the two hours was up. Cinderella was thrilled so she went to her stepmother thinking that now she'd be allowed to go. But her stepmother still wouldn't let her go because she had nothing to wear or even knew how to dance. She turned around and left with her daughters. Cinderella went to her tree and started crying. "Oh dear girl stop crying for I am here to help you." Looking up Cinderella saw a beautiful woman standing before her with fluttering gossamer wings. "Who are you?" "My dear I am your fairy godmother and I'm here to grant you a wish. So what do you want?" Wiping away her tears she said, "I really wanted to go to the ball but I have nothing to wear and I can't even dance." "Wish granted." With a wave of her wand Cinderella was surround by sparkling lights and when she looked down she found herself in a beautiful ball gown that matched her eyes. She was wearing beautiful slippers that glistened like diamonds. "All ready for the ball and now you need a way to get there." With another wave of her wand a coach appeared with four shining white horses and a coachman. "My dear have a wonderful time but be gone by the stroke of midnight. If you aren't in the coach the spell will be broken and you'll have no way to get home." Cinderella thanked her and got inside and went to the ball. At the ball beautiful girs were anxiously awaiting the prince's arrival. Just before he arrived Cinderella walked in but her stepmother and stepsisters didn't recognize here and assumed that she was some foreign princess. The prince's presence was announced and in he walked. His eyes immediately were drawn to Cinderella and he smiled as he walked towards her. As he walked by the two sisters they both tried to get his attention but he walked on both not even noticing them. He stood in front of Cinderella and offered her his arm and asked her if she would like to dance with him. They danced the night away. The prince only had eyes for Cinderella but when the clock struck midnight she dashed outside and barely made it home before the spell was broken and she was back in her tattered dress. The prince called out to her but she shot out of the hall like a rabbit but in her hurry she left behind one of her slippers. He made a vow to find her and make her his bride so he took the slipper with him. The second she stepped out of the coach it disappeared along with the horses and the driver. She still had the slipper so she went to her special tree and thought about the magical evening she had just had. She hid the show away and went inside. Shortly after her stepmother and stepsisters got home. They were as mean and vicious as ever telling herabout the evening they had had and how she had to stay at home all alone while everyone who was anyone was at the ball. Their laughs and taunts threw her into a rage. She raced outside with their laughs following her. She went out to the woodshed and grabbed an axe. She decided to once and for all to get rid of those bitches that had made her life miserable. With a firm grip on the axe she went back inside and started swinging. The laughs soon turned to screams. She showed no mercy and soon it was quiet with no demands or tuants being screamed her way. Cinderella now had the place to herself since her father had died in a hunting accident years ago. Meanwhile the prince was trying to track down the owner of the slipper. He started going from house to house and having all the young women try the shoe on. He finally reached Cinderella's house and knocked on the door. By this time Cinderella had gathered a bunch of wood and built a funeral pyre and dragged over the pieces of her former family. If a piece was too heavy she used the axe to make them smaller and easier to carry. She had started the fire and hadn't had a chance to clean up when the knock came Cinderella decided to ignore it in the hopes that whoever it was would go away. The prince was persistent and opened the door and went inside. He called out to see if anyone was home when he smelled smoke.He went out back and found a girl covered in blood with an axe lying by her and standing in front of a funereal pyre. He walked over to her and asked her if she was all right. Stunned to see the prince there she just nodded. He knew that this was the woman who had run out of the ball so he took the slipper out and asked her to try it on and it fit perfectly. "You will be my princess if you consent to be my wife." Cinderella was so stunned that she couldn't even speak. He took her inside the house and helped her clean up. Blood was all over the house but all she saw in his eyes was love. He sat her down and she told him the whole story. "You don't want to marry me now that you know what happened?" "No my sweet for I know of these three and all they've done. The mother finds a newly widowed man that she marries and there's always a daughter which they treated as a slave and would work her to death. The husband would usually die in a hunting accident. So you see you did the right thing and of course I want to marry you." She agreed and he took her to his castle where a big wedding was planned and they lived the rest of their days there.
By Barbara Desmond
The Curse
In a time long, long ago there lived a kind and queen who both desperately wanted a child but never did. One day when the queen went out to bathe she came across a frog that had hopped ashore and said to her, "Your wish will be granted so before the year is out you will give birth to a daughter." The frog's prediction came true so the king decided to throw a feast in honor of his beautiful daughter. He invited everyone including the wise women in the hopes that they'd be generous to his daughter. There were thirteen wise women but the king only had twelve gold plates so one of them was forced to stay hom. When the feast was ending the wise women came up and gifted the child with virtue, beauty, wealth and so on until they had given her just about everything a person could wish for. When they had finished the twelfth one came into the hall without greeting anyone and cried out, "When she turns fifteen she'll prick her finger and from that point on your lives will never be the same." She walked out leaving everyone horrified. Hoping to avoid the curse since her voice had a sinister note when she spoke he demanded that all the spindles in the kingdom were to be burned. They tossed them all on a huge bonfire that was built outside the palace. Everyone adored Aurora and eventually the curse was forgotten about and life went on. When Aurora turned fifteen her parents were out so she was all alone and she took the time to explore the place going in rooms and chambers. She came across an old towere that had a narrow winding staircase. When she got to the top she saw a door with a key in the lock so she turned it and went inside where she found an old woman spinning flax on her spindle. "Good day," said Aurora. "What are you doing up here?" The old woman looked up at her with a smile and said, "Why my dear I'm spinning?" "What's that thing that keeps bouncing up and down in such a funny way?" She wanted to spin too but the second she touched the spindle she activated the spell and fell to the ground. The old woman along with her spindle and the old tower disappeared. Aurora woke up her in own bed with a great hunger. She got out of bed and started wondering around the palace. She came across a guard and a change came over her. She grabbed the guard and snapped his neck. She sat down and ripped the guard apart limb from limp. She gnawed on a arm and once it was free of flesh and only the bone remained she tossed it away and started on the other arm. She left the head for last plucking each eye out with a squish and popping it into her mouth and eating it as if it were the finest delicacy. She saved the brain for last and relished every bite. With hunger overwhelming her she went through the palace eating everyone she came across. The twelfth wise woman saw that the thirteenth wise woman seemed very pleased with herself and suspected something was up. She went to her room and got out her crystal ball and saw that Aurora had somehow activated the curse. To protect the rest of the kingdom from the flesh eating princess she put her into a deep sleep along with those that were still alive in the palace. Over time a brier hedge grew around the palace and completely surrounded so nothing was seen of it. Tales were told about the Sleeping Beauty and princes throughout the years tried to get inside so they could kiss her and cure her of that terrible curse that made her crave human flesh. A century had passed and a brave young prince approached and to those who watched were surprised to see that a pathway was open for him. No one was allowed to follow him but he continued as the path became clear before him. He finally reached the castle and walked inside and was led to her room by following path that was opening up for him for the briers filled the castle inside as well. He went into her room and found her lying on the bed and was awestruck by her beauty and doubted the tales of her eating human flesh. He stood there and watched her as she slept looking like an absolute angel. All of a sudden her eyes popped open and he leaved over for a kiss. The kiss never came for she reached out for him and was able to bit off a piece of his ear but he was able to pull away. "Hungry," was all she said. The prince was horrified and drew his sword. Aurora was drawn to a nearby guard who had fallen under the sleep spell and was just waking up. Just as she was reaching out to grab him and break his neck the prince crept up behind up and sliced her head off. It rolled and landed down the hall with the eyes staring as if they could still see him. When Aurora died the curse was lifted and the brier hedge faded away leaving the castle in plain sight. The head of the Sleeping Beauty was put on display in a glass case and the body was burned. The head remained the same and the point of it being there for all to see was the appearances can be deceiving and to never ever spurn a wise woman because you never know what will happen if you piss one of.
By Barbara Desmond
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