Once upon a Time

Once upon a Time is a satire of children's stories. The story begins "Someone has written to ask me to contribute to an anthology of stories for children." The setting of the story is not one of a typical children's story, which indicates satire, but the final paragraph is what solidifies the satirical tone. I mean, seriously? The kid hears a bedtime story and then gets shredded trying to reenact it? It's definitely a good satire. It's almost funny how ironic it is, in a weird, gruesome way. The narrator's point is that a children's story is usually pictured as a fantasy, but the true story of a child is never a fantasy.