My Little Red Riding Hood

Once upon a time there was a vivacious young girl who was loved by everyone who met her, but most of all by her grandmother, and there was nothing that she would not have done for her granddaughter. Once she gave her a little riding hood of red velvet, which she loved so much that she would never wear anything else; so she was always called 'Little Red Riding Hood.'

One day her mother said to her: 'Come, Little Red Riding Hood, here is a cake and a bottle of wine; take them to your grandmother, she isn’t feeling very well, and they will do her good. Set out before it gets hot, and when you are going, watch your step and do not run off the path, or you may fall and break the bottle, and then your grandmother will have no wine; and when you go into her room, don't forget to say, "Good morning". Be sure to stick to the path, and do not speak to strangers!’

'I will be very careful,' said Little Red Riding Hood to her mother, as she took the basket and waved goodbye to her mother.

Grandmother lived out in the woods, 2 miles from the village, and just as Little Red Riding Hood entered the wood, she encountered a wolf. She did not know what a malicious creature this particular wolf was, but her mother had warned her countless times of the ferocious and cunning creatures of the woods.

'Good day, Little Red Riding Hood,' said he.

'Thank you kindly, wolf.'

'Where are you off to so early?'

'To my grandmother's.'

'What have you got in your apron?'

'Cake and wine; yesterday was baking-day, so poor sick grandmother is to have something good, to make her feel better.'

'Where does your grandmother live, Little Red Riding Hood?'

'A good mile and a half more into the woods; her house stands under the three large oak-trees, you surely must know it,' replied Little Red Riding Hood.

The wolf thought to himself: 'What a tantalizing young girl! what a mouthful - she will be better to eat than the old woman. I must act craftily, so as to catch both.'

So he walked for a short time by the side of Little Red Riding Hood, and then he said: 'See, Little Red Riding Hood, how pretty the flowers are over here - why don’t you just step off the path over here and look closer?’

Little Red Riding Hood raised her eyes, and when she saw the sun shining through the trees and onto the flowers growing everywhere, she thought: 'Suppose I take grandmother a fresh-picked daisy; she would like that too, and it’s still early enough in the day I should have plenty of time to get there.'

As soon as the thought of stepping off the path to pick flowers with the wolf crossed her mind, Little Red Riding Hood remembered her Mother specifically telling her not to stray from the path. At that thought, she quickly declined the wolf and went on her way on the path to her Grandmother’s.
At this response the wolf became very angry, but being cunning, he acted calmly and replied with a simple `Alright then, I must be on my way, but perhaps we will meet again.”
The wolf watched as Little Red Riding Hood went on her way, sticking to the path as her mother had instructed. He then made a plan to sneak ahead of Little Red Riding Hood, and be waiting for her at her grandmother’s house.
Little Red Riding Hood was well on her way through the woods when she started to think about the wolf trying to get her to stray from the path, and that she had told him exactly where her grandmother lived. This thought began to frighten Little Red Riding Hood, worried that the wolf would be waiting for her there.
So, being an exceptionally smart young girl, Little Red Riding Hood concocted a plan to outwit the wolf, should he try to harm her, or her grandmother. Having travelled through the forest many times before, she knew a shortcut through the woods, off the path to get to her grandmother’s house quicker. Little Red Riding Hood took this shortcut and running most of the way, she made it to the house in no time, and the wolf was nowhere to be seen. However, Little Red Riding Hood was not about to let the wolf just come by the house and take advantage of her weak, sick grandmother. So, as soon as she stepped through the front door she locked it behind her, and ran throughout the house to make sure that all the windows and shudders were shut and locked up. Then, once the house was all secured, she went to her grandmother to ask a question that would surely shock her:
‘Grandmother, where is your shotgun?!’ –She asked urgently
‘Why would you need such a thing Little Red Riding Hood?’ Questioned grandmother
‘I am just being cautious, but I think we may be in danger of a very hungry wolf’
Grandmother then proceeded to tell her where she could find the gun. She told her it was out in the garden shed, located on the other side of the yard, about 50 feet away. The thought of going outside to retrieve the gun made Little Red Riding Hood quite fearful. However regardless, she knew it was a smart risk to take.
As she made her way out into the yard, she quietly snuck to the shed, and got the shotgun. As she began on her way back to the house, she saw the wolf trying to sneak in through a window! Gun in hand, Little Red Riding Hood called out to the wolf.
‘Stay away wolf! You will not harm us!’
The wolf quickly turned and ran at her, and as a matter of self-defense, Little Red Riding Hood shot him. It happened so fast she barely had time to aim, and she only managed to hit him in the ear, but the wolf, taken aback by the bold act, ran off into the woods to lick his wounds.
Little Red Riding Hood dropped the gun and ran into the house. She let her grandmother know that the wolf wouldn’t be bothering them and told her what she had done, and then turned her attention to the wine and delicious cake she had brought over. The two of them sat down at the table, and enjoyed their cake together.