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Stronger than Man - a retelling of a Grimm's fairy tale


Wolf always talked out of his backside, and Fox was getting really sick of it. It had started when Fox was telling Wolf how he’d nearly died after encountered an animal called ‘Man.’
‘Ho ho, we’ll see just how fearsome he really is!’ Wolf had chortled. ‘If you lead me to this ‘Man’ of yours, then I’ll show you how a real animal deals with danger!’
As you can imagine, Fox was mightily pissed off.
‘Come with me then,’ he said. ‘Show me how great you are.’
He led Wolf to the road that cut through the forest. The two waited until they heard slow, heavy footsteps.
An old soldier came limping by. He stank of old sweat and gunpowder, and was missing an eye.
‘Is that a man?’ Wolf asked.
‘No,’ said Fox, ‘that was one. Keep watching.’
The next to come along was a schoolboy with a bag full of books.
‘Is that a man?’ Wolf asked. ‘If so, than what a tasty morsel he is!’
‘No,’ Fox replied, ‘but give him time, and he will become one.’
After an hour or so, Fox finally saw what he wanted. A tall, muscular huntsman strode down the road, a musket over his shoulder and a knife hanging from his belt.
‘Now that’s a proper man,’ Fox said, ‘and he is terrifying.’
‘We’ll see about that!’ Wolf snarled.
He leapt out of the bushes, his hackles raised and a deep throaty growl rumbling through his jaws. The hunter yelled in surprise, and Wolf pounced forward, teeth bared and ready to rip out his throat-
BANG!
As soon as the dust cleared, Fox saw Wolf lying still on the road, and the huntsman standing erect with his musket pointing forward.
With a stifled whine, Wolf staggered to his feet. Luckily for him, the hunter had run out of bullets.
‘It’s gonna take more than that,’ he said. He lunged forward again, knocking the musket out of the man’s hands.
The huntsman reached for his knife and struck the wolf several times, each time drawing blood. Howling with pain, Wolf scampered back into the bushes, tail firmly between his legs.
‘Oh dear, is poor little Wolfie-kins hurt?’ Fox asked. ‘Did the big, bad Man give you a boo-boo?’
‘Shut up,’ Wolf growled as he licked his wounds. ‘You saw the whole thing. He had an extra arm that went boom, right in my face, and then he took out a claw and gave me the most awful scratching. I don’t think the scars will ever fully heal.’
Fox smiled.

‘A real animal, eh?’ he said.

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