Stories and News No. 1193
History is teaching us. Short stories equally, but never as much as fairy tales.
Let's imagine, then. Let's imagine that Coronavirus has the boldness to infect also the vast realm of fantasy, proving to be just as fair as in the real world, making no distinction between tales, good and bad characters, undoubted protagonists and supporting actors.
Consequently, let's say that the notorious Covid 19 also spreads in the Little Red Riding Hood forest.
Well, I'm sure that mom would think twice about sending the little girl to bring sweets and medicine to her grandmother. Although she has certainly not worried in the past, given the presence of a ferocious and hungry wolf hidden in the bush. But I want to think positive. I always try to do it, and then we finally see the daddy in the picture. Since even in fairy tales the king's ordinance was needed to force him to stay at home.
Either way, this isn't the time for controversy, right? So, dad, mom and Little Red Riding Hood – which has now been renamed ‘Little Red Mask Staying at home’, get together on what to do: that poor old woman is alone in the woods. What if the virus infects her?
"I'll go get her," announces the father, finally on the field to take his responsibility. "I turn on the buggy, I fill up the horse and..."
"We have never had a buggy, dear..." his wife reminds him, the only person with a minimum of practical sense among the two.
"We could ask the hunter!" proposes Little Red Mask.
"Honey..." says Mum. “You can take that out at home. Besides, we’re not infected."
"Yes, but then how do they call the fairy tale?"
"You're right, my daughter."
"Anyway," says the father. "Little Red Mask is right."
"Daddy... couldn't you call me by my real name, for once?"
"Yeah," agrees the mother. "The thing is that... what's your name?"
"I see," the girl sighs, "let's move on."
"I said that Red is right, I hit him on the phone and..."
"What?" asked the other two in chorus.
"I take the telegraph and..."
"What?!" same as above.
"What about the Morse Code?"
"What are you talking about, dear?"
"All right!" her husband exclaims exasperated. "I'll send him a pigeon, is it good? Are racing pigeons okay?"
"Not at all, my love," his wife instantly chills him. “First, we don't have any pigeons. Second, even if we had them, given the queue at the market these days, we would do a better job cooking them than sending them around to carrying mails..."
"Mommy, what a cruelty!"
"Okay, okay, cancel the second one, honey. Third, I repeat third, the pigeon would never arrive to grandma , because that ravenous chasm disguised as a bad wolf would eat it in one bite, including the message for the hunter..."
At that moment there is a knock on the door.
"Who will it be?" asks Little Red Mask, Hiding Hood or whoever she really is.
"It could be grandma!" says the dad. "That old lady is really something..."
"No way, she's ninety-six, she's half-blind and has Alzheimer's in the fourth stage..." the mom reminds them.
"That's why the last time I went there she called me Gretel and wanted to eat me!" remember the little girl.
In short, all three go to the door and remain petrified, when in front of them they find the wolf standing upright, with a mask on its muzzle and a bundle of signs with sentences in sequence written above.
The scared woman is about to close the door, the man is moving back to grab the pitchfork he holds for security near the entrance, while the little girl is just very curious to know what the ferocious animal has to say.
"Wait," she says. "Let it talk."
The wolf nods to the girl, who responds in the same way, inviting the animal to show its message: we have been enemies by nature - we have also been enemies by the will of those who invented us - or only pitted us against each other to amuse the audience - but sometimes the moment comes when everyone's life depends on everyone's life - and when this happens, each one of us has the duty to forget about the character he was before - and the advantages that the story gave him - because only in this way we may succeed together.
So, it was up to the wolf to bring the precious basket to the grandmother and everyone survived happily ever after.
PS: Even if the old woman is still convinced that it was the Prince Charming with a strange fur and a two-day beard who brought her the gifts...
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Let's imagine, then. Let's imagine that Coronavirus has the boldness to infect also the vast realm of fantasy, proving to be just as fair as in the real world, making no distinction between tales, good and bad characters, undoubted protagonists and supporting actors.
Consequently, let's say that the notorious Covid 19 also spreads in the Little Red Riding Hood forest.
Well, I'm sure that mom would think twice about sending the little girl to bring sweets and medicine to her grandmother. Although she has certainly not worried in the past, given the presence of a ferocious and hungry wolf hidden in the bush. But I want to think positive. I always try to do it, and then we finally see the daddy in the picture. Since even in fairy tales the king's ordinance was needed to force him to stay at home.
Either way, this isn't the time for controversy, right? So, dad, mom and Little Red Riding Hood – which has now been renamed ‘Little Red Mask Staying at home’, get together on what to do: that poor old woman is alone in the woods. What if the virus infects her?
"I'll go get her," announces the father, finally on the field to take his responsibility. "I turn on the buggy, I fill up the horse and..."
"We have never had a buggy, dear..." his wife reminds him, the only person with a minimum of practical sense among the two.
"We could ask the hunter!" proposes Little Red Mask.
"Honey..." says Mum. “You can take that out at home. Besides, we’re not infected."
"Yes, but then how do they call the fairy tale?"
"You're right, my daughter."
"Anyway," says the father. "Little Red Mask is right."
"Daddy... couldn't you call me by my real name, for once?"
"Yeah," agrees the mother. "The thing is that... what's your name?"
"I see," the girl sighs, "let's move on."
"I said that Red is right, I hit him on the phone and..."
"What?" asked the other two in chorus.
"I take the telegraph and..."
"What?!" same as above.
"What about the Morse Code?"
"What are you talking about, dear?"
"All right!" her husband exclaims exasperated. "I'll send him a pigeon, is it good? Are racing pigeons okay?"
"Not at all, my love," his wife instantly chills him. “First, we don't have any pigeons. Second, even if we had them, given the queue at the market these days, we would do a better job cooking them than sending them around to carrying mails..."
"Mommy, what a cruelty!"
"Okay, okay, cancel the second one, honey. Third, I repeat third, the pigeon would never arrive to grandma , because that ravenous chasm disguised as a bad wolf would eat it in one bite, including the message for the hunter..."
At that moment there is a knock on the door.
"Who will it be?" asks Little Red Mask, Hiding Hood or whoever she really is.
"It could be grandma!" says the dad. "That old lady is really something..."
"No way, she's ninety-six, she's half-blind and has Alzheimer's in the fourth stage..." the mom reminds them.
"That's why the last time I went there she called me Gretel and wanted to eat me!" remember the little girl.
In short, all three go to the door and remain petrified, when in front of them they find the wolf standing upright, with a mask on its muzzle and a bundle of signs with sentences in sequence written above.
The scared woman is about to close the door, the man is moving back to grab the pitchfork he holds for security near the entrance, while the little girl is just very curious to know what the ferocious animal has to say.
"Wait," she says. "Let it talk."
The wolf nods to the girl, who responds in the same way, inviting the animal to show its message: we have been enemies by nature - we have also been enemies by the will of those who invented us - or only pitted us against each other to amuse the audience - but sometimes the moment comes when everyone's life depends on everyone's life - and when this happens, each one of us has the duty to forget about the character he was before - and the advantages that the story gave him - because only in this way we may succeed together.
So, it was up to the wolf to bring the precious basket to the grandmother and everyone survived happily ever after.
PS: Even if the old woman is still convinced that it was the Prince Charming with a strange fur and a two-day beard who brought her the gifts...
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