Deep in the forest,
There can be seen,
A flash of red,
And a girl of ten.

With skin like petals,
And face like nectar,
She was a rose,
In a fragile vase.

Basket in arm,
And staff in hand,
To her grandmother’s,
Was where she went.

T’was a long walk,
Through swamp and forest,
But on the path she stayed,

Down a winding path,
That led to a meadow,
It was sanctuary

…Or so she thought

A breeze swept the meadows,
The trees waved at her,
She was a flower,
Swaying in the wind.

Suddenly drowsy,
She sat on the grass,
“Where’s the harm?”
She silently thought,
And curled up to sleep.

She dreamt of roses and birds,
A peaceful clearing,
Of otters and swans,
A shimmering lake.

It was a good dream,
Filled with innocence,
That only a

Child

Could ever have.

Yet…

Something lingered,
Growing in the dark,
The rose wilted,
And the birds silenced,
From within the darkness, 
Tendrils of thorns
Reached forth,
Like craving.
  Desperate.
   Arms.

She woke in cold sweat,
As she looked around,
She found herself chained,
To a nearby wall.

The room had no windows,
And only one door,
One bulb hung from the ceiling,
And
horrors
it showed.

All around the room,
Were

Bodies

of children,
They were all breathing,
But everyone was silent.

Weeks turned to months,
And months to years,
Soon the once blooming rose,

withered
with despair.

Every day there was a man,
Who stood over her,
Unspeakable things he did,
And the fragile vase,
  Began to crack.

For just to
survive,
She had to sell,
Not only her body,
But also her
Mind.

Alas she escaped,
With the help of a hunter,
Who was nearby,
When he heard the screams.

Leaving her on a path,
The hunter departed,
So here was Little Red Riding Hood,
Abandoned
once again.

To grandmother’s she went,
But all that she found,
Was an

abandoned

clearing,
With an empty house.

So back to society
She went,
Alone and afraid,
She wandered the streets,
With no food nor friend.

But wait,
That’s not the end,
For you see,

By that point in time,
The vase was
shattered,
Leaving the little girl,
A rose without
water

Here in the city,
Alone and friendless,
Hunger,
Was a companion.
And
Fear,  
A constant shadow.

Every night she slept,
Nightmares besieged her,
No longer did the sun shine,
And the city transformed.

Glorious skyscrapers,
became towering men,
And the beautiful streets,
Ran
Red
With
Blood,

Until one morning,
A woman found her,
Brought Riding Hood to a shelter,
And became her
Miracle.

It took many years,
Through
trials
And
hardships,
No longer was fear
Her lingering shadow.

Riding Hood grew,
From a child to a woman,
Slowly but surely,
The vase began to mend.

But she never told anyone,
None would believe her,
Until one day,
Her mind finally
B R O K E.

From the highest building,
Little Red Riding Hood flew,
For an instant,
A moment,
She was
free.

A splotch of red,
The screaming of sirens. 
For Little Red Riding Hood,
Was. No. More. 

Once again the vase shattered,
Because no one knew,
That although the vase was fixed,
The rose,
  Can never.
   Grow.
Back.