For many the heap of blankets I listened to the storm pass through.

The force grown in the wind, hail rattled against the wood-plank roof, and my mother huddled

against me, telling me a fairy tale that I already did by heart.

Once upon a time, they lived a brave queen and her son, the handsome young prince.

They lived in a cabin deep in the woods because the brave queen had a terrible secret.

The young prince's father was secretly a terrible demon.

He could fool the rest of the world, but not the brave queen.

She knew that while he looked and spoke like a man, he was really a demon in disguise.

That's why she escaped from the palace with her young prince and hid him away somewhere

where the demon would never ever find him.

What did the demon look like, I always asked, even though I was terrified as I was fascinated

by the answer that was coming?

Well, my mother began.

Her paws filled by appeal of thunder.

His skin is as gray and rotten as an old dead tree.

He has six fingers on each hand, and his nails are as sharp as hothon needles.

His smile is as wide as a grinning deer skulls, and when he opens his mouth, it's big

enough to swallow a little boy whole.

But nobody else can see it.

To them, the demon is another person, just like you or me.

He's very clever.

It wasn't easy for the brave queen and her handsome prince to get away.

...