Once Upon a Fairy Tale

0. Prologue

At exactly 7:49 P.M., Billy's eyelids began to droop.

Precisely five minutes and three seconds later, he let out a yawn and flipped the book he was reading over, the spine stretching and folding.

Then finally, right on schedule, Billy Reynolds fell asleep.

"Psst!  Red!  Wolfie!  The ship has sailed!  I repeat, the ship has sailed!"  A tiny voice rang out.

Seconds later, small, muffled heaving sounds were heard from under the book.  The upside down book began to move upward.  Then it snapped shut, tipping over to one side.

"Hunter!  I thought we agreed on left last time!"  From a young girl.  A quiet reply--an apology, probably--was barely heard.

They struggled mightily until, at last, a red hood emerged from the closed books' tightly shut pages.  Her face was crimson from exhaustion, but she reached her puny hand back in, yanking out an old woman holding a cane, then a wolf twice her size, and then lastly a man with a gun.

The curious entourage made their way across Billy's Buzz Lightyear print bed covers, scaling the moutains of his hand and chest.  When they got to the edge, the girl hopped on the wolf, who jumped off.  The man took a different approach--he climbed down the bedsheets, the old woman on his back.

The little girl slid off the wolf, rubbing him behind the ears while he made soft noises of satisfactions, his eyes closing.  The other two followed as a golden haired girl ran over with gauze-like pieces of cloth.

"Wolfie, are you all right?"  She asked, worry dancing in her clear blue eyes.  He dipped his head in answer.

The red hooded girl laughed.  "Old Billy fell asleep even before I got to Grandmother's house.  You can all come out now!"

"Could you be any louder, Red?"  The other girl glared at her.

Slowly but surely, one by one, the storybook characters slipped out of their respective books on the low wooden shelf. 

"Goldie..." Red hesitated.  "Are you sure you want to do this?  Billy's been good to us."

The head of yellow curls nodded.  "I'm sure.  Billy's growing up.  And we all are tired of living the same thing over and over again.  We may be the figments of authors' imaginations, but don't we deserve a chance to make our own stories?"

Red nodded too, understanding.

Goldie turned to her audience.  "Has everybody got everything?"

Sounds of "yes" and other impatient calls of affirmation bounced around Billy's hardwood floors.  Goldie peered around, pursing her lips.  This would be their last time in his bedroom.

"All right then.  Let's go.  Quietly, please."

She herself took an already sleepy Baby Bear in her arms as the storybooks characters filed out the barely ajar door.  Goldie was the last one out.  She looked back at Billy's sleeping form, drinking in his old bookshelf, the worn chair, the Spiderman backpack he'd gotten last Christmas.  

Thank you, Billy.

Goldie stepped out and shut the door.

Hello there!  I would absolutely love it if you or anybody left comments about a fairy tale they want to see rewritten with a twist.  I'd also appreciate if the stories are for children (not necessarily, just not too bloody or sad).  Thanks a bunch!