Fairy Tale Gone Kaput

Little Red Riding Hood is feeling lost in the woods.

She wandered into the woods alone despite being warned by mommy. Mommy had said, “Don’t befriend any stranger. Evil lurks everywhere.” Mommy had especially warned about the Big Bad Wolf.

Little Red Riding Hood wished to see the world, through her own eyes. She pondered over mommy’s preaching and chose to ignore them. “Generation gap”, she concluded. She believed how could she know the world if she didn’t befriend strangers in order to create her own space in the social jungle. So she happily greeted and met numerous strangers. To her credit, she did made many good friends.

She met many wolves, some nice and a few bad. Those few bad wolves failed to dampen her spirits. She thought mommy was unnecessarily concerned about the troublesome Big Bad Wolf and she believed he didn’t exist.

Then trouble knocked at her door. The Big Bad Wolf was here. But Little Red Riding Hood failed to recognize him! Can’t blame her! He was good looking, articulate, gentle and knew the jungle well. She believed he was her Prince Charming, just like the ones in the lives of her friends Cinderella and Snow White. It appeared to her that only he could understand her real emotions, taking good care of her in every little way. She adored him, put him on a pedestal. She had found her soul mate, or at least that was what she chose to believe.

So much in love was the naïve girl that she ignored all the signs of trouble even though those were very clear. Deep down she had desperately hoped that the Big Bad Wolf would mend his ways, just for her. She thought her true love would win over his heart. So she overlooked the danger signs. The signs of heartbreak. And she went on giving everything to please him, her ‘Great Love’.

But the heartbreak was imminent. She saw the signs and tried hard to stop it. And she failed miserably. The Big Bad Wolf got what he wanted… and he moved on. Poor Little Red Riding Hood! Adding salt to the injury, he left a note to her which read like this:

“Hi Little Red Riding Hood,

Do not cry over split milk. I had never committed anything to you. So you should not have dreamed about something which I had not promised. You should have known that this is social jungle and all wolves are like this.”

Thus, very articulately (typical of the Big Bad Wolf) he puts the blame on her for her own heartbreak! He makes her realize how foolish or rather childish she was to invest trust in a stranger. He made her see the reality, the reality which her mommy had warned about.

Now Little Red Riding Hood was lost, really lost in the fast lanes of the social jungle. She is now scared of every wolf coming her way. She sees the image of the Big Bad Wolf in everyone. Poor Little Red Riding Hood! Love has become a four letter insult for the heartbroken soul.