LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD
Once upon a time,
there was a little girl who lived in a village near the forest. Whenever
she went out, the little girl wore a red riding cloak, so everyone in the
village called her Little Red Riding Hood.
One morning, Little Red Riding Hood asked her
mother if she could go to visit her grandmother as it had been awhile since
they'd seen each other.
"That's a good idea," her mother
said. So they packed a nice basket for Little Red Riding Hood to take to
her grandmother.
When the basket was
ready, the little girl put on her red cloak and kissed her mother goodbye.
"Remember, go straight to Grandma's
house," her mother cautioned. "Don't dawdle along the way and
please don't talk to strangers! The woods are dangerous."
"Don't worry,
mommy," said Little Red Riding Hood, "I'll be careful."
But when Little Red Riding Hood noticed some
lovely flowers in the woods, she forgot her promise to her mother. She
picked a few, watched the butterflies flit about for awhile, listened to the
frogs croaking and then picked a few more.
Little Red Riding Hood was enjoying the warm
summer day so much, that she didn't notice a dark shadow approaching out of the
forest behind her...
Suddenly, the wolf
appeared beside her.
"What are you doing out here, little
girl?" the wolf asked in a voice as friendly as he could muster.
"I'm on my way to see my Grandma who
lives through the forest, near the brook," Little Red Riding Hood
replied.
Then she realized how late she was and quickly
excused herself, rushing down the path to her Grandma's house. The
wolf, in the meantime, took a shortcut...
The wolf, a little out
of breath from running, arrived at Grandma's and knocked lightly at the door.
"Oh thank goodness dear! Come in,
come in! I was worried sick that something had happened to you in the
forest," said Grandma thinking that the knock was her granddaughter.
The wolf let himself in. Poor Granny
did not have time to say another word, before the wolf gobbled her up!
The wolf let out a
satisfied burp, and then poked through Granny's wardrobe to find a nightgown
that he liked. He added a frilly sleeping cap, and for good measure,
dabbed some of Granny's perfume behind his pointy ears.
A few minutes later, Red Riding Hood knocked
on the door. The wolf jumped into bed and pulled the covers over his
nose. "Who is it?" he called in a cackly voice.
"It's me, Little Red Riding Hood."
"Oh how lovely! Do come in, my
dear," croaked the wolf.
When Little Red Riding
Hood entered the little cottage, she could scarcely recognize her Grandmother.
"Grandmother! Your voice sounds so
odd. Is something the matter?" she asked.
"Oh,
I just have touch of a cold," squeaked the wolf adding a cough, at the end
to prove the point.
"But
Grandmother! What big ears you have," said Little Red Riding Hood as
she edged closer to the bed.
"The better to hear you with, my
dear," replied the wolf.
"But Grandmother! What big eyes
you have," said Little Red Riding Hood.
"The better to see you with, my
dear," replied the wolf.
"But Grandmother! What big teeth
you have," said Little Red Riding Hood her voice quivering slightly.
"The better to eat you with, my
dear," roared the wolf and he leapt out of the bed and began to chase the
little girl.
Almost too late,
Little Red Riding Hood realized that the person in the bed was not her
Grandmother, but a hungry wolf.
She ran across the room and through the door,
shouting, "Help! Wolf!" as loudly as she could.
A woodsman who was chopping logs nearby heard
her cry and ran towards the cottage as fast as he could.
He grabbed the wolf and made him spit out the
poor Grandmother who was a bit frazzled by the whole experience, but still in
one piece.
"Oh Grandma, I
was so scared!" sobbed Little Red Riding Hood, "I'll never
speak to strangers or dawdle in the forest again."
"There, there, child. You've
learned an important lesson. Thank goodness you shouted loud enough for
this kind woodsman to hear you!"
The woodsman knocked out the wolf and carried
him deep into the forest where he wouldn't bother people any longer.
Little
Red Riding Hood and her Grandmother had a nice lunch and a long chat.
~ THE END ~
