Little Hoodie searched the concrete jungle
for her pimp and dealer — Mister Wolf.
She turned some tricks on sleazy johns,
but what she needed most (a fix), she knew
that only Wolf could give. At last she found him
(gutted belly up) behind a dumpster — dead.
Beside him stood a clean-cut cop who said
“Your Granny sent me here to bring you back”,
But Little Hoodie, she was wrecked from
abstinence and syphilis; she grabbed his gun,
and shot him dead and then she hanged herself,
while Granny drowned a flask of gin and left.
An unfairy tale for Sherry at toads.
—
October 12, 2018
Björn Rudbergs writings 
A gruesome tale all too often happening in real life.
Well, that’s quite the spin on that tale, Björn. I kind of like that breaking the expectations of the reader by introducing something familiar and taking it in a different direction. You’ll have to tell me if in the line “she was wrecked from abstinence and syphilis” if you really meant abstinence there. My mind kept trying to insert Absinthe instead. I could see her suffering from withdrawal from lack of use, but I had a hard time picturing her having self-restraint.
I really liked the line of the cop, that her granny sent him to “bring her back,” which implies more than her physical location. Sad ending. Great piece, Björn. A lot of reality pulled into a fairy tale.
How dark perfectly molded by bits of realism :O
Whoa! A tale that is being told too many times these days. Thanks for joining in, Bjorn. Powerfully done.
A terse little tale. Sad but true. A dismal fractured fable
Even grimmer than the original — and sadder, too, because this tale could be true.
Wow, such a dark take of the fairytale. Very well done though.
You had me within the first two lines… as consummate a story-teller as you are.
😉
You always tell a story so well, I look forward to your next piece.
This is AWESOME!!!
Whew. This is a modern Brothers Grimm(er),on steroids. And cocaine. Goodness. Well done, Sir.
Oh, that is the sordid tale of exploitation — the violence and tragedy of this situation is perhaps not surprising. You set the mood so wonderfully in that beginning — the grimness of it is too real.
Very unfairy tale.
whoa!
I can’t believe that we both span off Red Riding Hood, Bjorn, you for this prompt and I for the tritina. As you can see, it’s taken me from Thursday to Sunday to get around to reading and commenting – I promise you I didn’t know that you’d written this until now. I love the way you’ve turned the story around and made it even darker in its modernity.
Your mind is wonderfully creative . . . and a little dark at times.
I like your a Hood better than mine. This was so deeply dark, that it was the antithesis of fairytale. Splendid!