The Untold Story of Red

Little Red Riding Hood retold story from the Wolf's POV

It was a mid-summers eve, the trees seemed to cave in on me. The dampness of the bushes leaves leaving moist, handprints on my fur. I shake off the droplets with an impatient growl, awaiting the morning sun. Which rose across the sky slowly, extending rays of warmth to countries far and wide. Stalking through the undergrowth that covered the forest. Eyes roaming the forest in hope that I could find something to eat. Something. Anything. It had been three days and my stomach was eating away at itself, clawing away at any smell. But there was nothing, there was always nothing.

But then came a soft rustle from the trees. My ears perk up, my eyes widen, my heart lifts. I bound across the grassy forest floor, wind whipping at me, trying to hold me back. But nothing could hold me back for I knew food was near. And finally breaking free of my wood prison, I see a girl. Young, walking through the forest, carrying a basket. Her red cape billowing out behind her in the wind. I inhale the sweet smell coming from the basket, letting it wash over me like a beacon of hope. A signal of life. A ray of sunshine in the dreary night.

“Where might you be going?” I hiss at the young girl.

The young girl stares at me with fright in her eyes, spreading forth like a plague. I give her my best toothy grin.

“Come now child,” I growl. “I do not bite you know. What is your name?”

“My na-name is Red. I-I am to see my grandmother. And bring her th-these cakes and butter,” the young girl stammers, fearfully holding up the basket.

I inhale deeply once more, my eyes traveling up into my skull as the aroma grabs at me. Taunting my already watering taste buds.

“And where does your grandmother live?” I snarl.

Red points over the mountain, past most of the forest way, where a small cottage lay. A spot that would take a young girl most of the day to get too.

“Would you like to play a game?” I bark out.

Red nods eagerly, “Oh please yes!” she exclaims. “The walk there alone will be boring! Let us play a game! I love games!”

“Good,” I breath. “Here is the game. You take this route here, straight from the forest, and I will go this way. And whoever gets there first will win, while the one that gets there last is in for a surprise.”

"Oh no, I don't think I should," Red says. "My mother wouldn't like it if I'm out past dusk, and that path is known to take all day."

My ears flicker and my breathing increases. I pace in a small circle around her. 

"But what if I told you that it was a shortcut and the stories are a lie?" I snarl, my tail swooshing behind me.

"Why would the stories lie?" she asks, tilting her head to the side and frowning. "Stories are meant to bring hope and be loved. No story is a lie."

"This one is," I hiss. "They wanted to protect something."

"What is it?" she asks.

Never before had my meal been so talkative. I did not like this amount of delay, my stomach howls, heard only by my own ears.

"A treasure," I lie. "So grand and so great they try to hide it."

"What is the treasure? Why would they hide it and not share?" she demands.

I yowl and leap forward, straight at her. She jumps away frightened, and I skid to a stop in front of her. "A river of gold, water so great it is said that it could cure any illness."

"A golden river? Such a thing is true?" Red asks.

"Oh yes, and us wolves are protectors of this river," I say. "That is why we're so ferocious and terrifying."

"Well then it must be true!" she exclaims. "Oh but my mother. What would she say? Me trusting the word of a wolf. I'd be laughed out of the village!" 

"Not if you befriended the spirits of the river and took their power back with you," I say. "Then you would be a hero."

"You're right!" she says with a smile.

"But to be a hero there is something that you lack," I explain. 

"What is that?" she asks.

"A villain," I snarl.

"Oh dear, you're right. Well there must be an creature in these woods that would be a villain just this once," she says. "Do you know someone who could help?"

"I could, even though we're such good friends," I say. "I'll even let you have a head start."

"Oh thank you!" Red immediately runs off, bolting down the pathway and dodging trees. My lip curls up into a smile of sorts, that is if a wolf could smile. I take off down the curved path, running as fast as one could. Just as the sun goes down, I see the grandmother's cottage. I turn around, just to see Red almost here. She was stomping down the final hill with such angry that it almost filled me with joy. With a growl, I bolt to the house. Knocking lightly on the door.

“Who is there?” the grandmother calls.

“It is Red, grandmother. I have brought you treats,” I say.

“Oh, Red you say! Such a surprise!” the grandmother says. “Hold on such a second. I will be right there.”

From inside, there was a cluttering, a fumble of feet, and finally a creak. I wait eagerly as the sound of a lock clicks. The door creaks open, and there the grandmother stands. I don’t give her a second, leaping at her, and sinking my sharp teeth into her flesh, tearing away as her blood gushed up. And when she was all eaten, I sit back and listen, the soft pattering of Red’s feet growing closer. My stomach growls at me once again, as I dive into the bed, it seems I was hungry once again.

Reviews

[barleygirl]

When you described where this was going (in byline beneath title) I was excited at your idea. Your storytelling is strong, your writing structure is well done, especially dialogue, but somehow I did not get the POP of having something new & different about this unexpected perspective. This pretty much sounds like the original storyline & I kinda expected the wolf to mix things up quite a bit more than this. But that was just my expectation & it's still a great story, well told & interesting. The first paragraph seems to have quite a few sentence fragments, but it might be intentional -- if so, it works to suggest a halting jumpiness from the wolf perhaps. Also, I felt Red was a little too easy as far as taking the trail without any discussion whatsoever. Give the girl a little backbone -- at least have her question what the wolf is trying to get her to do. Your story needs some tension. It goes along too prettily. We need a little bit of resistance from Red toward the Wolf, in my humble opinion. This is a perfectly good story, but I'm just in the habit of embellishing & dramatizing in fun (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie