Once upon a time there was a little girl who just couldn’t seem to stay on the path that was assigned to her. Those who had power over her saw her as defective, and sought to be rid of the defect by beating it out of her mentally and physically. Unfortunately, no matter what they tried, they just couldn’t fix the ugly creature.
The little girl sought brief escapes from the torment by walking through the woods. It was an area that was dangerous but one that held the promise of freedom, so she armed herself with a knife and took the risk. It was during one of these walks that she was spotted by a wolf, who ran to meet her where the paths crossed.
The wolf introduced itself quite politely and asked where she was going. Returning the politeness, she told the wolf that she was merely enjoying a stroll through the forest. “Which path will you take for your little stroll then, my dear?” asked the wolf “the path of needles or the path of pins?” She thought for a moment, an idea creeping into her head. “Neither” she replied, “I think I’ll make my own path.” With that, she took out the knife. The wolf snarled and went to lunge at the girl, but stopped when she plunged the knife into her own flesh. The wolf watched curiously as she cut out her own heart and placed it on the ground as an offering. The little girl told all and promised more prey, in addition to the heart, if the wolf would only help her. The wolf accepted and was embraced by the girl as it consumed her heart.
Later that evening, she and the wolf returned to those who hurt her.
“Can’t you see our suffering?” they screamed
“My eyes are blind to it” she said
“Can’t you hear our torment?” they cried
“My ears are deaf to it” she said
“What of your soft heart?” they desperately pleaded
“My heart is gone,” she responded. “I gave it to the wolf as it was dead and doing me no good. You killed it in your efforts to improve me. Allow me to show you the same kindness”
With that, the girl joined the wolf in tearing into them.
As they lay dying, they couldn’t tell one from the other