Red Gone Bad

By Lucy Pireel

A small collection of twisted fairy tales in which the heroines are not what you might expect from them.

Once upon a time ...

Little Red Riding Hood took matters in her own hands

And the miller's daughter struck a flawed deal with Rumpelstiltsken

In these--and two more--twisted fairy tales there are no happy endings and you'll find out those heroines are not what you might expect

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lucy Pireel
• Release date: Nov 30, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301062607

Lucy Pireel

Lucy is an avid reader and likes to dabble in the kitchen when she's not writing or editing.She doesn't like to be confined to any kind of style or genre, which basically means she writes whatever comes up in her mind. Be it twisted fairy tales Red Gone Bad, horror, erotica, fantasy, or even regular fiction. Neither does she restricts herself to any kind of length. Her work ranges from flash fiction. (a double cover feature in Isotropic Fiction #3 called Cradle of Life and Life for a Trea) to full length novels. She has a manuscript in its final stage at the moment.

Book preview

Red Gone Bad

Fairy Tales or Not

By Lucy Pireel

Copyright 2012 Lucy Pireel

All rights reserved

Cover art by Lee Turnbull (Nineteen68)

Smashwords Digital Edition December 2012

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, trademarked products, events, and locations are fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any resemblances to actual events or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Acknowledgements

Red Gone Bad

Cinderella

Snow White Black as Night

Rumpelstiltskin

Flash Fiction Bonus

About

I would like to thank:

Kim, without you I would have never thought of publishing this myself.

Lau, for reading and being spot on in finding holes.

David Gilmore, for the great editing job you did for me and offering your valuable opinion on content, even if you say that is not your strong point.

Lee Turnbull(Nineteen68), for allowing me to use your picture as basis for the cover. A super cover which is crafted by a very helpful professional who doesn’t want to take the credit for his work.

Red Gone Bad

Once upon a time, three girls dreamed of their lives being better, but sometimes dreams turned into nightmares that one wished to wake from. Only one does not wake from life.

Lily, a maiden so pretty—the fairest of them all—dreamed of a man to enhance her beauty by his mere presence. He should worship the ground she walked on and make her the centre of his universe. She would be his sun and moon, his breath and life. Without her, he would not be.

Cindy, the girl who wanted all without a drop of sweat and nobody could deny her anything. The one exception was her father; he made her clean the house and forced her to go out onto the streets to earn a living. She dreamed of a man who would give her her heart’s desire without even expecting a kiss in return.

And then there was poor little Rosie who nobody ever noticed. Apart from that horrendous red cape which her father made her wear when going outside, the girl was quite unremarkable. She wished she had a little of what her friends had in abundance. Beauty, wealth and admirers.

Once every fortnight, the girls would meet to drink tea and exchange their experiences since they’d last met. Mostly, Rosie listened to the others boasting of the incredible things that had happened in their lives. That day, Rosie sat at their regular table and waited for her friends who arrived fashionably late, as usual. Rosie did not mind the waiting; she dreaded people waiting for her. Besides, this time alone gave her pause to think. What to tell her friends about the past weeks? Nothing worth mentioning had happened. That alone made her a little more glum with every passing meeting.

Rosie thought about Cindy and Lily. They always had something to recount. Her lips thinned and she furrowed her brow. The stories never changed much; a new man, flowers delivered from an anonymous admirer, a gorgeous new dress recently procured, expensive jewels or trinkets received and so on. All very exciting when new. Lately, Rosie couldn’t stand it. None of those things ever happened to poor Rosie. Rosie wanted to be seen for once; to feel the undivided attention of a man directed at her. Instead, Rosie had to listen to and admire her dear friends. Rosie’s presence made others shine more than they would without her.

Lily arrived; full of news that she talked about before she sat. I am so happy! Lily cried out the moment she entered the cafe. Rosie plastered a grin on her face as Lily sat and finally looked at her. It was about time my Prince Charming came along! Do you know he actually wanted to have a long engagement? Not really expecting an answer from Rosie, she raised her hand to flag the waitress. "Of course I didn’t agree to that. No mister, I told him, we will marry as soon