It was originally intended to be a children's story, wasn't it?

Well, in the same sense that the original Little Mermaid story was, I suppose -- you know, the one where every step she takes with feet feels like walking on knives, and the prince doesn't marry her and she turns into... sea foam, I think? And that's a happy ending.

Well, it was a Disney DVD so I sort of thought the Matchstick Girl's story would be likewise Disneyfied. The Little Mermaid gets her man by sacrificing her voice, instead of giving up her comfortable life, her loving family and enduring stabbing pain with every step to dance at the wedding of the man she loves--who won't give her the time of day. Only to die in the end.*

The Little Match Girl's frozen corpse at the end of the cartoon wasn't upsetting for ME because I'm familiar with the story but I think younger kids would ask what was going on if they saw it.

*Yes, she gets an opportunity to gain a soul as a Child of the Air, etc., and all that inspirational yaddacakes. Which, I suppose is the meaning of The Little Match Girl--who sees wonderful visions of love and warmth by burning her matches and whose soul is taken to heaven by her dead grandmother in the end. Heathen that I am, I just see frozen corpse and seafoam at the end of these stories.

Open the e-mail, honey. Otherwise it will just taunt you with its unreadness.

Okay, fine, but you're the one who has to deal with me after I read it, you know.

Hans Christian Andersen wasn't that big on happy endings, was he?

Okay, fine, but you're the one who has to deal with me after I read it, you know.

Well, it's that or work. I've got my e-mail open and my cell phone on.

Yeah, they hired someone else. Oh, well.

I'm sorry, shrift.

Okay, time for porn jokes at Playboy's expense.

They missed an opportunity, shrift. Condolences.

Hans Christian Andersen wasn't that big on happy endings, was he?

Consider that people didn't feel quite as inclined to pamper and protect children from the harsh realities of life back before the Industrial Revolution, when said harsh realities included "You'll most likely die of some infection before you reach adulthood, but if you're lucky you'll get to work like a drafthorse for 30 or 40 years, cold, dirty, and hungry all the while."

Although it would have been hilarious to say I worked there, I did get the feeling it might have made me insane due to the hinting at "difficult personalities" during the interview process.