Lilly sighed heavily and threw the flowers to the ground.

Her plans hadn’t gone exactly the way she intended. The wolf had been the easy part. The spell she had gotten from the old woman in the village had worked exactly as promised. She had stood around in the woods with a basket of raw meat for a few hours before the smell had attracted the large beast. Within minutes he had been hers to control.

They had gone over the plan for three days before they began. She had set off to her Granny’s house with a basket of cookies, and met the wolf on the trail, just like they rehearsed. A single word sent him off to Granny’s cottage. He was supposed to eat her, and Lilly would have been able to take possession of the cottage—the insurance money would have made her comfortable for the rest of her life.

What she hadn’t counted on was Granny. How was she supposed to know that the horny old woman was a cradle-robber and had seduced the woodcutter? No one had told her that he was shacking up with her grandmother!

The wolf had barely escaped alive, and Lilly, who hadn’t even had time to take off her red cloak, had been forced to leave the cookies behind for the two who were now sharing the bed that should, by all rights, have been hers.

The very thought made Lilly shudder.

She sighed and turned to the wolf. “So, tell me more about the three pigs who are building those cute little houses with the great view…”

(c) 2017 - dustygrein

"So, there we was in the woods, all by ourselves cuz our bastard-ass parents couldn't be bothered to take care of us." Hansel told the room. "I mean, what the fuck?! Aren't parents supposed to sacrifice for children instead of sacrificing the children?"

"What Hansel is trying to say," continued Gretel, "is that we were faced with the unexpected challenge of being prematurely independent."

Hansel gave his sister a weary look, but let his twin continue. They were in a therapy session, after all, so perhaps her diplomatic way of speaking was better...for the moment.

"We had kind of expected that we would be faced with such a challenge, so I brought along bread crumbs in my pocket, but alas, birds came and ate them, so we had to mature more quickly."

"Bastards!" Hansel erupted and Goldilocks giggled, looking at him slyly under her blonde lashes. He sure did have a potty mouth, but he was way cute, nonetheless. Perhaps after session, they could-

"Right," Gretel nodded, her auburn curls bouncing as she spoke and the freckles upon her crinkly nose making Jack Horner Jack Horny. "But we soldiered on until we came upon this house made of wonderful confections."

"Candy," the gingerbread man intoned, knowingly, and shuddered.

"We was hungry, of course, so we started eatin' off it. I had just started on the most delicious-ass taffy windowsill when some doctor came out of the house. Bastard started talkin' 'bout all this candy ain't good to eat at one time...Ass-hole! Why the fuck did he build the house if we wasn't to eat off it? Dumb-ass fuck!" Hansel's bottom lip curled at the memory and he ran a hand through his shoulder-length auburn hair. His nose was missing Gretel's freckles, but Rose Red still thought he was a most delicious dish to look at. Maybe after group therapy was over-

Gretel nodded and picked up the tale. She was trying very hard to impress the therapist, Peter Pan, with her soft way of speaking, but he seemed to barely be paying attention, as his eyes were on Tinkerbell, but she kept going, nonetheless.

"Well, it turned out that the doctor was actually a nutritionist and he'd built the house as a way of drumming up business. He led us inside with promises of treats that were just as delicious but better for us, nutrition-wise."

"Tofu? Fuckin' TOFU? He called that a treat?!" All heads turned as Hansel threw a chair across the room. Fortunately, Tom Thumb had stormed out earlier, so he wouldn't be missing his seat, which now sat in a broken heap in the corner.

"Hansel, please!" Gretel coughed and eyed Mr. Pan, who had finally looked up. Her brother muttered apologies and Gretel kept going, now that Peter was attentive.

"The tofu was rather bland and left much to be desired, as did the soy milk and kale, but still we gave it a try."

"And?" the big bad wolf said. "Sucked to high heaven, didn't it? I don't know why you wanted the candy so much, either, though. Meat is the way to go." He nodded and went back to eyeballing the match girl.

"You're right, Mr. Wolf; it did suck to, uh, high heaven, as you say."

"So what'd you do?" asked the frog prince. He was enraptured with the fine young storyteller and hoped his attentiveness would draw her away from that chump, Pan.

"What-choo think we did? We kilt the bastard!" Hansel smiled for the first time, as this was his favorite part of the story.

"Yes. We tricked him into climbing into the industrial-sized confection – confection with an ‘f’ - oven and then we lit him afire."

"Fortunately, our friend, Pinocchio, was able to get us off, claimin' self-defense.” Hansel nodded, satisfaction on his face.

“And then we took control of the cottage. Now, we let anyone who comes along eat to their fill. I’ve become quite the baker and am able to replace parts of the house in no time...with Hansel’s carpentry help, of course.”

“And once we’ve got’em fattened up, we sell'em a seasoning Gretel came up with that you sprinkle on your food and it helps you to lose all the weight you put on.”

“It’s called ‘Weight No More’ and is only $19.95 for an 8-ounce bottle.” Gretel smiled her most charmingly.

Session over, Hansel walked off with Goldilocks and Rose Red, the better to try his newfound Bouncy-Bounce mattress with. Gretel was saddened to see Peter still hovering over Tinkerbell, but the frog prince, Navee, whispered in her ear, telling her tales about his long tongue, and Pan was quickly forgotten.

~~~~~~ The End ~~~~~~

The high-pitched giggle of the young woman echoed in the empty room as she blushed furiously, covering her face with her hands. She couldn't help herself; the Prince who came to visit her each day was just so handsome. Not that he ever paid her any mind, she thought with a pout.

"Don't give up" whispered a voice in her ear, as the woman battered her eyelashes and stared seductively at the Prince.

"You know you want him. Be bashful. Be coy." The voice continued.

But try as she might, the Prince didn't spare her a second glance before leaving the room.

"Hmph," the woman slouched in her seat, folding her arms.

"I don't need him anyway," she said, tossing her ebony black hair over her shoulder.

"That's right. You are so much better than him. He is nothing." A second voice hissed in her ear.

The woman leant back, raising her head towards the voice.

"You are the most beautiful woman in all of the land. You should be worshipped. No one compares to you, especially not the Queen."

A mood as dark as her hair descended upon her at the mention of her step mother.

The voice switched to a low grumble, spitting the words out with venom.

"She is a vile person. She stole your father from you. She poisoned you. She doesn't deserve to live to see the morning."

Fury welled up inside her, causing her to see red. Still, the voice continued.

"Your mother and the Prince should die for treating someone like you this way. Kill them. Tear their heart out and eat it."

The woman grinned a devilish smile, baring her teeth.

"Then I could take the Queen's place. Dad would be focused on me again." Another voice began to talk, " That's right. You want what she has. Your father's attention.The kingdom. You envy her. Let's take it from her."

The woman clapped her hands together, and let out a laugh of euphoria.

"Think of all the things of the Queen's you could take. Her jewellery and her clothes. You could have it all" a new voice said, snaking around her.

The voices died out as the woman entertained the idea of murdering the Queen and the Prince.

A softer voice spoke this time, "Or save yourself the trouble. Get someone else to do it. You don't need to get your hands dirty."

The woman's mood shifted, "I suppose you're right, Sleepy. It is a lot of work. I could hire a hit-man, to hunt them down. Dad would be so happy with me. She is a terrible wife for him."

A seventh voice joined in, "Who cares? It's about what you want Snow. Don't worry about your dad; he doesn't matter. Only your happiness does."

All seven voices began to argue with each other, and the young woman, Snow, started to scream to drown out the noise.

At the same time, just on the other side of the door, an older couple stood side by side, holding hands as they comforted each other. Eyes rimmed with tears; they watched through the one-way window as their once beautiful daughter screamed her lungs out and threw herself around the room. Her porcelain skin was almost translucent from the lack of sun, her ebony black hair matted and wild, and her blood red lips were pale and cracked.

"Are you the one who brought her in?" the doctor asked.

"Yes, I slipped sleeping medicine in her food. She was trying to hurt herself, and me. I didn't know what else to do." the lady looked with pleading eyes from her husband to the doctor.

Nodding, the man added, "It's okay, Queenie. She was never the same after her mother's death."

"It's a good thing you did," the doctor said as he looked over his notes, "From what we've learnt so far, she has several different 'people' who talk to her. She calls them her seven dwarves. She is living in an alternate state of reality. She thinks she is the princess who has to get rid of her wicked step mother, the Queen."

With pleading eyes, the pair looked at the doctor, "Please, Dr Prince, bring our Snow-White back to us."