The Queen quickly and suddenly thrust her head into the open window.
“All alone, my pet?” she asked.
Snow looked up from her work, clearly spooked by the sudden appearance of an old woman before her.
“Why, yes, I am, but—” the sweet girl answered.
“The little men are not here?” the Queen asked.
“No, they’re not,” Snow replied.
The Queen leaned forward and sniffed around the cottage.
“Making pies?” she asked.
“Yes, gooseberry pies.”
Sweet.
Sickening.
Time to die.
“It’s apple pies that makes the menfolk’s mouths water,” the Queen said. “Pies made from apples like this!”
She pulled the brilliant red apple from her basket and showed it to Snow White. The girl was hesitant, but the Queen used every persuasive bone in her frail old body to convince her to take a bite. Snow White looked enraptured by the apple, and she reached out to take it and pull it close to her lips.
Then suddenly, the Queen found herself attacked by what felt like a hoard of bats. But they couldn’t be bats—it was midmorning. She felt the creatures pecking at her and swatting her with their wings, talons tearing at her skin, and vicious beaks reaching hungrily for her eyes. She was lashed by feathers.
Birds!
She was being attacked by flocks of them. She raised her arms to block them and dropped the apple.
Snow White quickly came to her rescue, emerging from the cottage and chasing the birds away. The Queen quickly grabbed for the apple and checked it to assure that it wasn’t damaged in any way. Snow White came to her side and apologized, and the Queen seized the opportunity to be invited into the cottage by complaining of a weak heart and expressing the need to sit down.
Snow went over to the far side of the cottage to fetch the Queen some water, and as she did so, the Queen pulled out the apple and formulated her plan. Then something unexpected…She couldn’t do this to her little bird. Her heart ached.
Weakness.
Shove it away!
She buried the impulse deep within herself along with her grief, and focused on the matter at hand.
“And because you’ve been so good to poor old Granny, I’ll share a secret with you. This is no ordinary apple. It’s a magic wishing apple,” the Queen said.
“A wishing apple?” Snow White asked.
The Queen got up from her seat and started moving toward Snow White with the apple extended before her.
“Yes! One bite and all your dreams will come true.”
“Really?”
The Queen moved in closer.
“Yes. Now make a wish and take a bite….”
Snow looked apprehensive, and began to back away as the Queen advanced toward her with the apple extended.