Little Gay Riding Hood
This is post 18 of Section I. To begin at the beginning, go here. "Little Gay Riding Hood" begins here.
“But the trouble was, around this time the boy had been growing, as boys will, and growing in a way that was quite alarming. The hood had definitely gotten too small, and he found he could see off the path again, and the longing to meet wolves grew so strong he couldn’t stand it. At last, some nights he began jumping out the window and running off pell-mell into the forest without his cloak, and in the morning he would wonder if he had dreamed his adventures or really had them, but he just pulled his cloak as far as he could over his face and set off on the straight and narrow path to work. He was used to it, and now his wife and child were depending on him.”
Robert nodded understandingly.
“So it went on,” Jack continued, “until one day when he was home alone with his little son the boy suddenly pushed back his father’s hood and said, ‘Daddy, you’re not like the other daddies.’
“‘Oh?’ said Little Straight Riding Hood, startled because the innocent was saying the truth he had always suspected. ‘In what way?’
“And the boy reflected, for he was not very old, and he said, ‘You have big, sad, wandering eyes.’
“‘ Nonsense, my boy. My eyes are just looking out for danger off the path and opportunities on it.’
“But the boy was not convinced, and he said,‘And your feet. You have quiet, graceful feet, and you’d rather go walking in the woods with me than play baseball at the park up the straight and narrow path, like the other boys’ fathers.’ And he added, for he was a kind boy and didn’t want to hurt his father’s feelings—‘But that’s o. k. I don’t like parks and baseball, anyway.’
“Little Straight Riding Hood was about to protest, but the boy had been thinking, and now he said, ‘And one more funny thing.’ The boy leaned close and whispered into his father’s big, hairy, pointy ear. ‘You have a long bushy tail! It kind of swings when you walk.’”
(Robert laughed.)
Continue
“But the trouble was, around this time the boy had been growing, as boys will, and growing in a way that was quite alarming. The hood had definitely gotten too small, and he found he could see off the path again, and the longing to meet wolves grew so strong he couldn’t stand it. At last, some nights he began jumping out the window and running off pell-mell into the forest without his cloak, and in the morning he would wonder if he had dreamed his adventures or really had them, but he just pulled his cloak as far as he could over his face and set off on the straight and narrow path to work. He was used to it, and now his wife and child were depending on him.”
Robert nodded understandingly.
“So it went on,” Jack continued, “until one day when he was home alone with his little son the boy suddenly pushed back his father’s hood and said, ‘Daddy, you’re not like the other daddies.’
“‘Oh?’ said Little Straight Riding Hood, startled because the innocent was saying the truth he had always suspected. ‘In what way?’
“And the boy reflected, for he was not very old, and he said, ‘You have big, sad, wandering eyes.’
“‘ Nonsense, my boy. My eyes are just looking out for danger off the path and opportunities on it.’
“But the boy was not convinced, and he said,‘And your feet. You have quiet, graceful feet, and you’d rather go walking in the woods with me than play baseball at the park up the straight and narrow path, like the other boys’ fathers.’ And he added, for he was a kind boy and didn’t want to hurt his father’s feelings—‘But that’s o. k. I don’t like parks and baseball, anyway.’
“Little Straight Riding Hood was about to protest, but the boy had been thinking, and now he said, ‘And one more funny thing.’ The boy leaned close and whispered into his father’s big, hairy, pointy ear. ‘You have a long bushy tail! It kind of swings when you walk.’”
(Robert laughed.)
Continue
posted by Hobbes at 7:56 PM
6 Comments:
This, of all so far, gave me the clearest mimagery and at the same time made me want to laugh the laugh that stays inside.
imagery.... i blame the word verifier
Thanks Alice. I find your comments very kfmubv.
I had always thought that it was mothers that caused boys to turn gay due to some guilt trip over some OEdipus Complex thing. Somehow, I missed the Father's role in the equation. It's getting interesting.
Now they say there's a genetic component and that brain scans show differences in the brain. I have no idea.
It's kind of especially touching that it was the son that brought it up. No wonder he speaks French.
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