When I was a little kid (of the human kind — I kid you not), one of the stories I most disliked was The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids.
In case you have forgotten, the story told of a wolf who came a-knocking when Mother Goat was out. He used a variety of cunning tricks to entice the kids to open the door and let him in.
The things I didn’t like about the story were many and include:
- that the mother goat left the kids at home on their own
- the tricks that the wolf used
- that the kids were tricked into letting him in
- that the wolf ate the kids
- that the mother goat cut the wolf open
- that when the mother goat cut the wolf open, the kids popped out alive and well (what an awful experience)
- that the goats filled the wolf’s stomach with stones and he drowned in the well.
Overall, I found the story very distressing and mean. Even then I preferred themes of kindness in my stories as much as in the world.
According to the original Grimm’s story, food was all the wolf was after, but is it possible he had another scheme in mind?
This week at the Carrot Ranch, Charli Mills challenged writers to In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story that includes kid gloves. A prop in the hands of a character should further the story. Why the gloves? Who is that in the photo, and did he steal Kids’ gloves (of the Kid and Pal duo)? Consider different uses of the phrase, too. Go where the prompt leads!
Perhaps you already know where I’m going with this.
Kid Gloves for Sale
Wolf covered his sinister smile with a pleasant facade as he organised a stall between Little Red Hen’s Home-Made Bread and Pig Brothers’ Home Improvements. Dinner could wait. He was hoping for a killing of another kind — monetary — selling his home-made kid gloves.
When an unlikely pair of cowpokes enquired about the origins of his leather, he was evasive. When asked his whereabout the previous week, he attempted to flee; but the recently deputised Pal and Kid were too fast and snapped on the hand cuffs. “We arrest you for the disappearance and suspected murder of seven little kids.”
Thank you for reading. I appreciate your feedback. Please share your thoughts.
Norah Colvin 