Mique Reads

    One-eye, Two-eyes, and Three-eyes is a strange Cinderella story right out of the twilight zone. Two-eyes is the protagonist. She is named this because she has two eyes. Her sisters (not step sisters), One-eye and Three-eyes, have one eye and three eyes, respectively. The story doesn't say how many eyes their mother has, but she and Two-eye's sisters form clique against Two-eyes. They think she isn't "special" because she has two eyes like normal people. Key parallels to Cinderella: Abuse/Enslavement- Two-eyes is a slave in her own household, but her situation is even worse than Cinderella because rather than being abused by a stepmother and stepsisters, she is abused by her own mother and sisters. They force her to wear rags and they only feed her their scraps. Fairy Godmother- Two-eyes is weeping over this one day and a wise woman helps her by giving her the words to cause her goat to magically lay a table with food out for her, and then to make the ...

    Donkey Cabbages is an intriguing,  sometimes bizarre, coming of age story. It features two young characters, who are mirror images of each other, the huntsman and the witch's daughter. They are both sheltered in opposite ways. The huntsman, who lives with his parents, and knows only kindness, is inexperienced. He trusts everyone. The witch's daughter, who lives in a remote castle in the forest also lacks experience with the world outside her home. She has been shown only cruelty by her abusive mother.       The story starts with the huntsman, who comes across an ugly old crone, who begs from him. He is generous to her, and so she gives him a gift in the form of a set of strange instructions. 1) Shoot into the midst of a flock of birds that are carrying a magical cloak, which will take him anywhere he wishes. 2) Take the cloak. 3) One bird will be dead from the shot. Swallow it's heart whole, and a gold piece will appear under his pillow ea...