The Hare's Not-So-Spiky Hedgehog (Grimmer Fairy Tales) by Lee Hayton

Author:Lee Hayton [Hayton, Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fairy Tale
Publisher: Pronoun
Published: 2017-04-08T22:00:00+00:00

Thank you for reading!

I hope you enjoyed this instalment in my Retold Fairy Tale series, Grimmer Fairy Tales. If you’re looking for another story, please feel free to continue reading the first chapter of “Cinderella’s Not-So-Ugly Stepsister” below.

Chapter One - Cinderella’s Not-So-Ugly Stepsister

I’m Zelda, though you may have heard differently through the ages. Rumors of my name have been greatly exaggerated. Honestly, I worry about the world sometimes. As if any woman would allow her daughter to be called ‘Drizella.’ My mother wouldn’t have named the most disgusting pig in the trough something as dismal as that.

I have a story for you. One that is perhaps as familiar to you as your own family motto. More likely it’s a tale you only think you know, and you’d be entirely wrong in that assumption.

Once upon a time . . .

But oh, how dull and how misleading. That’s the way to start a boring fairytale. One where the brave heroine arises from the shadows to marry a devastatingly handsome prince.

My story is not a fairytale. Nor, to say it plainly, is my stepsister’s. People do like to burden the simple truth with a gilded edge of lies. Especially, when the facts don’t fit their flights of imagination.

So, I’ll tell you straight and relate every detail I remember. You can shake your head and turn away—there’s no blame for doing so—but at least it’ll be a conscious choice. In these brave new times, or even the old days of yore, that’s a type of opportunity seldom given.

History condemns me as a heartless monster. Maybe not the worst person, but certainly not the best. Cinderella is set upon a pedestal as the highest woman in the land.

Neither of those preconceptions matters a jot to me.

My mother wasn’t a crown jewel of goodness, but she was nowhere near as bad as my stepfather. My stepsister didn’t end up on her hands and knees in horrifying conditions after we arrived. The poor thing was like that when we got there.

Men follow that path with their children sometimes. They’ll happily raise a soldier to fight their battles for them or a slave to fetch them every comfort. The gender gap may be sorted out where you live but in my wonderful world roles are fixed in place along a well-worn line.

After my father died, now that was a good man for you, my mother had no choice but to remarry. As for the money he set aside throughout his life so his daughters wouldn’t have to settle for the first limp dick on offer. That inheritance went straight to my grandfather.

What’s that? Doesn’t make sense?

No. But when did sensible thoughts ever carve themselves into the bedrock of common law?

A patriarchy can’t survive if you start settling fortunes on women. Any male-dominated society worth its salt understands that point as a founding principle. Money must, therefore, follow gender. It’s generational, to be fair. If my dad had a brother or nephew, then it would have been settled on them.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.