A desperate hag stood on the step.
As Hezbella opened the door, children spilled outside in a game of chase. “Can I help you?” Hezbella, a generous person, really meant this.
“Take her back. Please.”
“Do I know you?” Tugging at Hezbella’s skirts, a small child made a hiding place.
“I have your first born.”
Hezbella tried hard to remember, but so much had happened. “That was ages ago. Something about arugula?”
“I can’t keep up with her.”
“Teenagers can be tough. But you have so many advantages, being a witch and all.”
“Wicked young crushes wicked old every time.”
Monica's Monday Morning Flash 
Reading your fairy tale take-downs, I realize how much one has to have read or heard in childhood in order to understand them. I am reading fairy tales to my 4-year-old granddaughter as fast as I can find them, but more and more I’m stuck with the Disney version – not at all the same. I don’t mind leaving out the red-hot shoes for Cinderella’s evil stepmother to dance in at her wedding, but I hate what’s been done to “Rapunzel” and “The Snow Queen.”
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Absolutely! That’s why I seldom tackle tales from other cultures. I’m out of my depth with those.
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