Week 14 Story: Little Red Cap
There once was a young girl who always wore a little red cap. People knew her by the name Red, but nobody dared talk to the girl for they feared her notorious attitude.
One day, when Red was on her way to her Grandmother’s house with fresh baked goodies, she came upon a dark path through the forrest.
“Hmm, I know Mother always said to travel on our usual paths to Grandmother’s house, especially when I’m alone, but this path does seem like a shortcut...” Red thought out loud as she took her first step onto the dark path. Red continued to walk along the path quickly, not noticing glowing yellow eyes that were peering out of the trees to watch her.
As Red glowered and muttered under her breath about why SHE was the one to deliver the goodies to her Grandmother, a giant Wolf stepped out of the trees and onto the path in front of her.
“Hello, dear” smiled the Wolf as he crept closer to Red. “Those goodies smell mighty fine. Where are you traveling to today all by yourself? It’s dangerous on these woods, if I hadn’t come along something terrible could have happened to you.”
Red was angered that this creature had stopped her when she was almost to Grandmother’s house. How dare he think he could make casual conversation on such a busy day!
“I’m going to my Grandmother’s cottage, not that it’s any of YOUR business” sneered Red, as she stepped around the Wolf and continued on her journey.
The Wolf was shocked that he was received with such a poor attitude. He expected some fear, maybe even shock or disgust, but never did he expect to be met with anger from this little girl. He followed her as she walked, hoping to snatch some of her goodies from the basket she held.
“Don’t you think you could share just a little bit of your goodies? The hunting is quite scarce out here these days. You would be helping out a poor old wolf after all” he continued to speak, wishing for just one bite of the delicious baked goods.
“Why on Earth would I ever want to help such a vile, disgusting creature like yourself? Do me a favor and bother someone else next time, I don’t have the time or patience to deal with beggars!” Red exclaimed before she exited the woods, her Grandmother’s house only a short distance off.
The wolf was infuriated that such a small girl thought she could speak to him that way. He only wanted one treat from her basket, yet he was met with a snarky response instead! An evil plan began to form in his mind. He knew the perfect way to get revenge on this girl, he just had to make it to Grandmother’s house before she did.
Author’s Note: In the original story, Little Red Cap, the wolf was an evil creature who just wanted to eat people. He had no intention of helping and he ate everyone before getting cg copped to pieces later in the story. Also, Red was a sweet, naive girl who never deserved what the wolf did to her. Instead of keeping these same attitudes, I switched them so that the wolf was just a hungry creature who wanted a snack from Red, who was a mean little girl. When Red made those comments to the Wolf, he was so angry that he thought of another way to satisfy his hunger: eat Red and her poor old Grandmother! The Red in this story deserved to be eaten for sure!
Bibliography: The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales translated by D. L. Ashliman (1998-2013).
Hi Erin! This story is really awesome. I have done a few of the Grimm Brother's stories, and they are enjoyable to read, and write about. You did a great job capturing the story, and tying everything into your author's note. Really good job!
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