The Little Mermaid

Tonight I told the little girls stories at bedtime.  I felt they deserved my yarn spinning talents since they were pretty good for Morgan while we went to the temple.  And I guess I didn't so much spin yarn as tell them the old classic tales in all of their gory details, not the fancied up Disney versions.  First came Little Red Riding Hood.  I used to tell a different version to Morgan and Malynn when they were little (it involved 3 little pigs and sword fights) and one of our favorite movies is Hoodwinked.  I figured they would know the basics of the story, but Sophie actually knew things and corrected me as I went along.  I said the wolf ate the grandmother in one bite.  Sophie said it was in one gulp, because a bite would have probably killed her.  Alison thought this was a twisted tale.  "But the wolf would have a huge stomach and how could he have pretended to be the grandmother?!  No.  She went on a walk or something."  Then when I told of how the woodsman slit the wolf's stomach open and they replaced Little Red and Grandmother with rocks, Alison shrieked, "Well, was he dead when they did that?!"
Despite the unsavory contents of the first story they wanted another one.  Someone shouted, "Tell us the story of Ariel!"  I asked if they wanted the real story.  "Oh, yes, yes..... we want the real story!"  The real story is sad, but is the story of how true love triumphs over selfishness.  Sophie got sidetracked by sea foam.  What is sea foam?  Well, it's the stuff that floats on top of the waves.  I compared mermaids turning into sea foam like our bodies turning into dirt when they are buried.  I could hear her muttering, "I don't EVER want to turn into dirt!"  Then she said, "What?  There are mermaid skeletons floating in the ocean?!"  Heidi was side tracked by the sisters cutting off their hair  to buy the knife.  I guess with her personal experience in these matters, hair loss is serious business.  "You mean the sisters were BALD?!"  Meanwhile, the story finished to silence.  Alison starts in with a shaky, almost crying voice.  "That is NOT the real Little Mermaid Story!" 
I guess I accomplished something tonight.  I destroyed the Disney bred innocence of three little girls.