Little Red

By: Ada Heller

Let’s make one thing clear:
there wasn’t a big bad wolf.
Not in my story.
There was no screaming
and running of little girls.
This is an old story;
One where
the structure of power
that had devoured
the generations of women
that came before
lay in my bed,
asking me
to let it take one more.
This is the story
of a little girl
who finally told him no
and the whole world
turned red.

Oh my, what big teeth you have.