Page 196 - Nuts to You - The Nutcracker Retold

For the death sentence immediately presented a problem. What sort of execution should she carry out? Then she realized, here was her chance to have a bit of fun!
Sometimes villains are so unimaginative. Ever notice how when they finally have the good guys in their grasp and are ready to do-them-in, and then – oh wait! The villains stop and begin to twitter and wonder, “Why solve all my problems and get on with the business of being bad – when I can enjoy a bit of nastiness before I wipe ‘em out?” And that, my friend, is the downfall of so many villains in so many stories. And why should the Mouse Queen be any smarter? In fact, despite all the sugar and spice this Queen consumed – there wasn’t anything nice about her, at all.
And now, because she wanted to crow a little (for what mouse doesn’t want a chance to crow rather than squeak?), the Mouse Queen had a fantasy moment, imagining all sorts of horrid things she could do to rid herself of the one threat to her power – and keep Krakatuk forever safe and under her control.
I do believe roasting over fires and popping into pies had a lot to do with her fantasies. For after all, the Mouse Queen was a mouse and a mousey fantasy is all about food. So for a while, visions of sugar-plummed parts danced in her head.
But reality sets in after all fantasies – and the Mouse Queen was faced with a set of toothsome realities – belonging to the Nutcracker.
For although the Mouse Queen wanted to thrash the Nutcracker into oblivion, she wasn’t exactly thrilled by the size of those jaws. She worried that even Krakatuk might
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