For the sake of this piece, I choose the version of Little Red Riding Hood most familiar to me: Girl meets Wolf, Wolf eats Girl, and then the wolf is justly gutted by a marauding huntsman with impeccable timing. Reflecting on this series of events, I wonder about the minutes following the conclusion. Dripping, sticky epilogue stranded in the middle of a stranger's bedroom, didactic purpose fulfilled and awaiting burial. Useless pile in woman's clothing - how novel.

Novelty, here, describing a situation so familiar yet utterly unpredictable. Little Red Riding Hood illustrates the consequences of different approaches to ambiguity: unflinching curiosity, conniving dishonesty, and, crucially, intervention. Whether you see punishment or reward for the cast depending on when you choose to turn away.

Paying attention always costs you. Cough it up.

In the spirit of novelness, this piece was constructed under the condition of not repeating any single word.

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little red riding hood