A girl in a red hood skips along the forest path. A wolf beholds, entranced. His mouth waters.

He never hears two little pigs sneak up.

The pigs drag the unconscious wolf away, discuss rebuilding their flattened homes. They can afford brick now; the girl’s grandma has paid them well.

Maura Yzmore is a Midwest-based writer of short fiction and career nerd. See more at maurayzmore.comstories/ and Twitter: @MauraYzmore.