It just so happens I stumbled across a small cache of retold fairy tales in time for this edition of my column. First up is Goose Chase, which ties together stock elements from a number of stories, including the orphaned goose girl, the enchanted animals, and the fairy’s reward, to tell a tale that’s both new and familiar at the same time. Alexandria used to be an ordinary goose girl, until a fairy “rewarded” her generosity by granting her beauty, gold dust in her hair, and diamond tears. Now she has not one, but two men, a prince and a king, vying for her hand, and she wants nothing to do with either man. Locked in a tower for her own “safety”, Alexandria has different plans altogether, involving escaping and running away with her only allies, the twelve geese left in her care. Little does she know she’ll have ogresses, an evil baroness, and an awful king to contend with, and the unwilling and uncooperative aid of her unwanted suitor, Prince Edmund of Dorloo, to put up with. Secrets and twists abound in this fairy tale, and even those who think they can predict the ending will be surprised. Goose Chase is a bright and enjoyable example of how one can take pieces of old stories, and create something new from them.