September 2026

Granny… goodness, that resistant being

Who can’t for a fact see a thing

So mighty and so vivid as me:

A wolf.

Listen, I am a wolf, and she is a human.

I was born a flesh-eater, and she a woman.

It is the natural cycle of things,

The logical interaction within all beings.

Why resist me?

Why antagonize me for what has to be?

Why does the thought of me make you ache?

Have you never read ‘Tyger’ by William Blake?

But oh, pardon me, I forgot to fill you in

On what has put me at unease from within.

A month ago, a woman passed by—

White-haired and ancient and feeble-voiced.

To her I said: ‘Your time has come.’

And she stood there, motionless but poised.

Then she replied

(And this was what put me ill at ease).

She gave me an irresistible proposition,

Which had my patience teased:

She said that she was on her way to her daughter’s house,

To spend a fortnight with her and her spouse.

Said she would eat there like it’s a feast,

Transform her bony flesh into that of a beast.

Then she shall return to me.

And so I waited.

And waited,

And waited,

And waited.

I waited through the days and nights,

Through the weeks and the fortnights.

Then one day,

As I swallowed on a bloated empty stomach

And licked the fissured plum of my lips,

I saw a dot.

A dot in the horizon,

Rolling down the hill.

A dot that dilated into a blot

And thickened into a blob

And formed a figure.

A figure that became a pumpkin.

A pumpkin

With a tongue.

‘The sun is up and my time is down.

Down this hill I need to go.

Would you be so magnanimous, dear wolf,

And push me down the road?’

‘On your way down here, little pumpkin,

Did you see a pleasingly plump granny,

Of great breadth and width and height,

Of whom it’s difficult to lose sight?’

‘By God I haven’t seen.

On the same route as a woman have I not been.

I’ve only passed trees and flowers and a bush.

Now hurry up, wolf, and give me a push.’

And so did I roll down that pumpkin with my paws,

And so did it roll down the hill, over the many bumps,

Endlessly bouncing up and down,

Till eventually, hitting a big stone.

In a split moment, the prodigious pumpkin cracked from side to side,

An awful rift of a meter wide,

Revealing God’s greatest gift:

Granny—sent to me like Abraham’s sheep.

‘O granny, o granny,

Why can’t you see

You are meant to be

Eaten, by me.

Now come as time is tight.

It’s time for me to eat you with delight.’

‘O wolf, I’ve been in a pumpkin for days,

I stink and reek like a pack of rotten eggs.

You do know that if humans smell terrible

Their flesh will also be very bitter.

Besides, if in my last moments I smell stale,

My reputation in the whole village will be at stake.

Let me go home, take a shower,

Become a delicacy, so can you devour.’

I pondered and pondered and pondered.

And only because of her first point, concluded

That my wait needed to be rewarded

With the best version of my food.

And therefore did I walk with her.

Step by step,

Seconds after seconds,

Nearer and nearer

To the moment I much deserved,

To the moment that my starved stomach would rejoice,

To the moment I’d feed.

As we unhurriedly approached Granny’s village,

She put her hand in her pocket,

And before I could swim out the whirlpool of my confusion,

She turned around and fired a fist of salt onto my eyes.

‘YOU MONSTER!’ I screamed,

Louder and louder,

Crying and twirling around,

Prancing from left to right

And right to left.

Through my tears and hazy vision,

I saw a pack of villagers.

Their knitted brows and crescent lips spoke of anger.

‘YES! They’ve come to rescue me

From this monster of a resistant being.’

As our distance grew shorter and shorter,

I realized the scythes were not pointed at Granny.

‘They are attacking ME?'

'I was the one who was attacked!

I was the one who cried for help!’

Helpless, I had four legs,

I borrowed another four,

And immediately

Ran away.

I am beaten,

Confused,

But above all,

Indignant.

I wonder when these people will learn the nature of things.

But for now, all I can do is return to my usual place

With the great lake, dozens of deer, countless rabbits and many more.

The End.