Little Red Riding Hood

 Little Red Riding Hood

Once upon a time, in a village deep in the mountains. There lived a girl who was adored by everyone, but no one adored her as much as her grandma does. She was given a red hood by her grandma, thus people called her Little Red. She was a kind-hearted little girl and a little bit naive. She always tries to find goodness in people’s hearts.

One day her dearest mother sent her out on a journey to visit her grandma who was sick and frail. Little Red happily agreed and brought the basket her mother had told her to bring, which was full of delicious food as well as tea. The mother told Little Red to be careful on her way there and derailed from her original path. Little Red listened and happily took off.

On her way there, she encountered two paths, the first path was the designated path and the second path was the path that takes more time to reach her destination. However, on the second path, there are flowery meadows. When Little Red saw the meadows, she thought that it was a good idea to stray from the path a little bit. While she was thinking about it, a big scary wolf appeared because of the scent of Little Red’s delicious basket. The wolf said, "Good day Little red. What is that in your basket ?” Little Red then hesitantly answered, “Good day to you Mr Wolf, why I brought delicious food and some tea for my ill grandma that lives deep in the woods. My mother told me to bring these to make her feel better.” The wolf seemed surprised and told little red, “Oh, how kind of you. But before you go to your grandmother’s house why don’t you pick some flowers in the meadows over there. Surely your grandmother would be happy to receive them. And when you are done you should be careful.” Little Red agreed to what the wolf said and decided to stray from the designated path, the wolf on the other hand continued on his merry way.

After she plucked a few flowers and turned them into a beautiful bouquet for her grandma, she decided to continue her journey. Along the way, she met a huntsman who was wandering around in the woods. Little Red asked him “Dear sir, what are you doing at this time of day? It’s almost noon. Shouldn’t you be taking a break ?” The huntsman then said “Have you heard the rumors that have been going on lately? The one about children going missing in the woods,” Little Red nodded. The huntsman then said, “Well Little Red, I am just patrolling the area to help people who are lost.” At that moment the huntsman offered her his service and protection. Little Red, who thought he was a trustable man, kindly accepted his offer.

Hours passed and finally Little Red reached her destination while accompanied by the huntsman. But before Little Red went in, she saw the wolf near her grandma’s house. She immediately rushed in and saw that her grandma’s house is not like it used to be. She was shocked and devastated when she saw that on the bed was her grandma’s decapitated body. It looked like she had been dead for a week but no one noticed it. Little Red then vomited and questioned the wolf with a loud tone “Did you do it? Was it you who killed my dearest grandma ?” The wolf swayed his head and said “No, it was not me. I am friends with your grandma. I just recently arrived to go check up on her since I haven't seen her in a long time.” Little Red said “Liar, since when are you friends with my grandma? My grandma would never befriend someone as scary as you” The wolf was struggling to explain, but then a gunshot was heard.

A bullet has been shot into the wolf’s leg, it paralyzed him. The huntsman came and told Little Red to hide. But the wolf told her to run instead. The wolf had realized something and said, “Run Little Red run! Go back to your village and tell them that.…'' Before the wolf had finished his sentence, another bullet was shot and this time it killed the wolf. When Little Red saw this, she told the huntsman to have let the wolf finish his sentence. The huntsman immediately changed the topic and suggested giving her grandma a burial place. Little Red agreed and started to dig. While she was digging, she saw another dead body. At first, she shrugged it off but then she found another and it started to get weird. She realized that those dead bodies were the bodies of the missing children. She freaked out and assumed that it was the wolf’s fault but she reflected on what the wolf said and started to shrug it off again.

After she made a grave for her grandma and had placed the bouquet she made, the huntsman said something quite alarming. The huntsman said, “May your grandma and the other children who were buried may rest in peace.” This shocked Little Red since she never told him that there were children buried on the ground, so how did he know that there were other dead bodies. 

Little Red started to grow wary of the huntsman and quickly ran but it was too late. The huntsman knew what Little Red was doing and so he quickly chased her. No matter how fast she ran, she was no match for the huntsman. The huntsman finally caught Little Red and asked “Why were you running Little Red?” Little Red answered “It was you. You were the one who had kidnapped those missing children. You were also the one who killed my grandma. Am I correct?” The huntsman laughed and said “Very clever. No one alive has ever figured this out and I planned to keep it that way.” Little Red was then killed by the huntsman. In her dying breath, she regretted that she not only did not believe the wolf because he was scary but also trusted a stranger in an instant.

Written by: Gracia A/ X MIPA 4

Reference: http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/LittRed.shtml