"Vaaaaaaaaaaaait!" You whined, calling out to your parents who were slowly fading from your line of vision.

"What is it now, ________?" You mom sighed.

"You guys didn't read me a bedtime story!"

Your mom sighed again. "Sweetie, it's late. Can't you go one night without a story?"

You shook your head stubbornly, water blurring your vision.

"Okay… fine. I'll go get my book."

"Nooooooooo! I vant Daddy to read his stories to me!" You yelled.

"What?" You mother said, shocked. You'd been doing this quite a bit lately, asking for your father, Ludwig (whom you got your accent from, seeing as how your mother didn't have one), to read stories to you. That used to be her thing! It made her kind of jealous…

"Luddy, what book are you reading to her?... It's not one of the ones I found in the closet, is it?"

Your father's face turned bright red at this. "No, liebling. I got rid of those, remember?"

Lies. But that was another story for another day.

"Vat books is mommy talking about, daddy?" You asked, genuinely curious.

Both your parents turned bright red.

"You uh… you should get to reading… whatever it is you read dear." Your mom said, walking away awkwardly.

Ludwig motioned for you to wait a second, and he left the room briefly before coming back with the book, "Grimm's fairy tales".

He then proceeded to read you many tales from the book; because of course one was never enough. He told you of 2 poor kids, a brother and sister, left to fend for themselves in the woods before running into a giant gingerbread house! Of course, it was inhabited by a cannibalistic evil hag…

Then he read you a tale of a little girl with some sort affinity for the color red, who just wants to visit her grandma in the woods… but her grandma has been eaten by a wolf! And the wolf eats her too!

Then he read you a story of a father who unwittingly promised his daughter to the devil. Since the girl was so pure though he had to settle… for her hands.

Of course, these stories all have happy endings. The kids burn the witch (YGOTAS, anyone?) in the fire she made for them, the grandma and her granddaughter are cut out of the wolf's stomach, and the innocent girl was given new hands by God.

Still, your mother, who lied about going to bed in favor of listening to these oh so interesting stories Ludwig was telling you, couldn't help but find these stories… well, disturbing. Even with their happy endings.

It seemed to work though; soon you were on a pleasant trip to dreamland. Your father smiled at the sight, giving you a kiss on the cheek.

"Ich habe dich lieb." He whispered, getting up and making his way out the door.

He was startled to see his wife out of bed, much less outside the door. But before he could say anything, she cut him off.

"Our daughter… would rather hear those stories than 'Good night, Moon' and 'Where the wild things are'?"

He sighed. "Ja, it appears so…"

"… I swear, she's gonna be just like you when she grows up; a sadist."

Your dad said nothing, but couldn't help feeling an odd sense of pride at the idea.