23 Comments
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Margaret Lesh's avatar

Always thought Jack was an ass. This confirms it. Well done, Jane.

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Jane Dougherty's avatar

Glad you enjoyed this version. I never understood how it was fine to wander into someone’s home, steal what you fancy, get the owner killed, and go down in history as a hero.

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Margaret Lesh's avatar

Right. He was never intended to be the hero, was he? An early example of failing upward.

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Jane Dougherty's avatar

There are plenty of those now.

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Ingrid Finch's avatar

Serve him right the little sh*t! The way you had him gleefully telling the cow she was going to the knackers.

Sad for the villagers though. I suppose nowadays he would claim to have ADHD or childhood trauma for his despicable behaviour, not that his mother was much of a role model.

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Jane Dougherty's avatar

Nor his father. You note, he didn’t have one. The whole world suffered because of idiots like him. No more friendly giants regulating the climate for us :(

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Geoffrey Gevalt's avatar

a tale for the times. loved it.

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Jane Dougherty's avatar

I’m glad!

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K.M. McKellar's avatar

Great retelling, Jane! Nice twist on the ending. Beautifully written too.

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Jane Dougherty's avatar

Thank you! There’s a lot of meat left on those familiar stories, and so much we can do with them.

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Merril D Smith's avatar

Well-done! A cautionary tale, indeed. I think there are a lot of people like Jack and his mother around.

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Jane Dougherty's avatar

Yes, I fear you’re right :(

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Douglas Bruton's avatar

I love how you twist the original story and then twist it back again - very clever and it breathes life into the old tale. Loved it! xx

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Jane Dougherty's avatar

Thank you! There’s a lot of backstory to fairy tales. Much of it is a mystery.

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Rostislava Pankova-Karadjova's avatar

I kept reading, wondering when the twist would come. Yeah, and the message of this new story too. 👏👏👏

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Jane Dougherty's avatar

There has to be a message, doesn’t there? I think the old message, that robbery and murder are quite okay if the person you murder isn’t like you, has had its day.

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Poetry Kitt's avatar

I really love this re-telling for all kinds of reasons 💪💪♥️ beyond even those here cited .

"...whistling a tuneless tune." Again, a fine hand at showing character !

" ... a hail of beanshot" rather than peashot !

Fine story-telling. Thank you Jane ♥️♥️♥️

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Jane Dougherty's avatar

Glad you like it. With a few tweaks, yesterday’s dubious morality becomes today’s unacceptable behaviour. For some of us, anyway.

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Ali Isaac's avatar

Pity that everyone else had to suffer, though, Jane... that's a bit harsh! But I guess that's what you get for raising boys like that.

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Jane Dougherty's avatar

Exactly. Ma wasn’t exactly an enlightened spirit, was she?

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Liz Gauffreau's avatar

This retelling took a turn to the unexpected! I enjoyed it.

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Jane Dougherty's avatar

Jack getting his comeuppance felt so satisfying to write :)

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Liz Gauffreau's avatar

I can imagine!

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