{"id":1362,"date":"2023-03-21T07:08:59","date_gmt":"2023-03-21T11:08:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hexliterary.com\/?p=1362"},"modified":"2023-03-21T07:09:00","modified_gmt":"2023-03-21T11:09:00","slug":"red-riding-hood-in-the-court-of-law-by-avra-margariti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hexliterary.com\/?p=1362","title":{"rendered":"Red Riding Hood in the Court of Law by Avra Margariti"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>(Scarecrow jurors made from twigs and grass; homunculi witnesses molded out of forest loam. Red Riding Hood, dwarfed like a shrub among pines, defendant without attorney. Behind the bench, stomach distended, skin rippling, the wolf in a judge\u2019s robes, the judge\u2019s flesh between his teeth.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Tell me, Red\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Didn\u2019t you wear a scarlet cape when you met me\u2014that is to say, the wolf? A beacon amid the dull, dark firs and ferns, the color flashier than a vixen\u2019s foxfire coat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Didn\u2019t you Tweet from your main account about the romantic appeal of monsters? A rhetorical question, for haven\u2019t I the printed proof right here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Didn\u2019t you post that polarizing 55k fanfiction on your blog about\u2014what was it? Ah\u2014consensual non-consent? Full of oxymorons, aren\u2019t you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Didn\u2019t you find a long teratoma patch on your body: hair and teeth emerging like a wolfing, a mutant flower in bloom? Didn\u2019t you try to hide it under turtlenecks and makeup? Dear, have you always been this bad at denial?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Did I\u2014that is to say, the wolf\u2014find you, stalk you, chase you, or did you call out to him, a matador\u2019s cape enthralling, ensnaring the beast?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Didn\u2019t you label yourself a lesbian, but lusted after that boy in the werewolf mask last Halloween? You say you wanted to <em>be <\/em>him? But did you procure any proof of that in my court of law?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Didn\u2019t you acquire a taste for blood, poking at your sore gums, the growing aches of wisdom teeth? And what about the small bones in your jewelry box? Did you find them buried in the garden, the owl\u2019s pellet, meat-dressed and gathering flies on the side of the road? Or did you pare bones out of bodies yourself?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>(Scarecrow guts flying every which way, homunculi melting under a yellow-eyed glare. Red Riding Hood breathing wildly, claws and teeth bared. And the wolf so very tall still behind his bench, carrying so many meals inside him\u2014grandmothers, hunters, judges\u2014so many tongues with which to lie and deceive.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Really, Red\u2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">are you that different from the wolf\u2014that is to say, from me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Avra Margariti is a queer author&nbsp;and poet from Greece. Avra\u2019s work haunts&nbsp;publications such as <\/em>Baffling Magazine<em>,<\/em> Wigleaf<em>,<\/em> Best Microfiction<em>,<\/em> <em>and <\/em>Best Small Fictions<em>. You can find Avra on twitter (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/avramargariti\">@avramargariti<\/a>).<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>(Scarecrow jurors made from twigs and grass; homunculi witnesses molded out of forest loam. Red Riding Hood, dwarfed like a shrub among pines, defendant without <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/hexliterary.com\/?p=1362\" title=\"Red Riding Hood in the Court of Law by Avra Margariti\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hexliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hexliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hexliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hexliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hexliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1362"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/hexliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1387,"href":"https:\/\/hexliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1362\/revisions\/1387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hexliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hexliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hexliterary.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}