{"id":1500,"date":"2017-09-04T11:17:40","date_gmt":"2017-09-04T18:17:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/?p=1500"},"modified":"2017-09-04T11:17:40","modified_gmt":"2017-09-04T18:17:40","slug":"little-red-by-christina-sng","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/?p=1500","title":{"rendered":"Little Red by Christina Sng"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Little Red,
\nMotherless babe,
\nTaught to be self-sufficient
\nAnd brave at a young age.<\/p>\n

She gathered fruit,
\nHunted squirrel, trained herself
\nTo be a sharpshooter
\nWith the wooden crossbow she made.<\/p>\n

Werewolves in the forest,
\nThe local rumors howled.
\nLittle Red was unperturbed.
\nShe had no fear at all.<\/p>\n

She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d fought off snakes,
\nOutrun grizzlies,
\nShot alligators
\nWhile spearing fishes.<\/p>\n

“But this is new,” her ill Gran said,
\n“This is a cross between a wolf and a man.
\nHe’s wily, wicked, and dangerous too.
\nI worry he might outsmart you.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

“Fear not, dear Gran,” Little Red said.
\n“I’ll fetch the doctor. Go back to bed.
\nMy aim is true. If he causes trouble,
\nI’ll take care of it.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Through the woods she walked,
\nEyes ever watchful,
\nThis fragile little girl,
\nCloaked in a velvet red hood.<\/p>\n

Predators stayed away,
\nFearful of Little Red’s spear.
\nOnly the new ones in the wood
\nDared to venture near.<\/p>\n

A soft woosh betrayed his presence.
\nLittle Red sent two shots his way.
\nA yowl of pain from the south.
\nLittle Red sent four more that way.<\/p>\n

Out leapt the werewolf,
\nDripping blood like bread crumbs.
\nThat furry crazy-eyed wolf thing,
\nAt Little Red he lunged.<\/p>\n

She stepped artfully aside,
\nShot him another two times:
\nOnce in the head,
\nOnce in his eye.<\/p>\n

Another two for posterity,
\nAnd he was down
\nSplayed and drunk
\nLike a sheep skin rug.<\/p>\n

Little Red rushed home,
\nDoc in tow.
\nGran was sitting up,
\nUnnaturally flushed.<\/p>\n

Her smile revealed
\nStalactites in the snow.
\nShe tore the good Doc in two
\nWithout so much as a hello.<\/p>\n

Little Red stared in dismay.
\nFor the first time, she could not aim.
\nScarecrow-still, she watched
\nGran turn, face elongating,<\/p>\n

Arms sprouting fur, like
\nSeedlings in slow-motion.
\nGran’s nails and teeth
\nGrew like rabid weeds.<\/p>\n

In her eyes,
\nA familiar crazed expression but
\nNone of the love nor recognition
\nLittle Red used to see inside.<\/p>\n

She swung her new talons
\nAt Little Red’s head, unfroze her
\nWith the knowledge
\nThat this was no longer Gran.<\/p>\n

Gran would never
\nRaise her hand
\nAt her beloved granddaughter.
\nThis was truly some other monster.<\/p>\n

Twin head shots
\nDispatched that alien thing.
\nLittle Red wept with sadness and rage
\nAs she carried Gran’s body for burying.<\/p>\n

Now marked
\nA new era for Little Red.
\nIt was time to grow up;
\nTime to hunt predators instead.<\/p>\n

Illustration is “Red Riding Hood Meets Old Father Wolf”, Gustave Dore, 1864<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Little Red, Motherless babe, Taught to be self-sufficient And brave at a young age. She gathered fruit, Hunted squirrel, trained herself To be a sharpshooter With the wooden crossbow she made. Werewolves in the forest, The local rumors howled. Little Red was unperturbed. She had no fear at all. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d fought off snakes, Outrun grizzlies, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1500"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1504,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1500\/revisions\/1504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}