Beyond the Forest

Through the woods

Welcome to a retelling of fairytales! I let my imagination run wild, hope you like it! Feel free to comment, or even vote;-)

Once upon a time, in a little town not so far away, lived a boy named Johnny B. Hood. Johnny was a small kid, and a scrawny teenager. He spent most of his growing years in his room, occasionally glancing out to the others playing outside. When he became older, he saw them hang out on the playground, laughing, sharing a stolen cigarette.

Johnny B. Hood didn't hate the outside, but he preferred the safety of his room. He was a lone wolf, as his mother used to call him. If he did have to venture out, he always dragged the hood of his sweater over his head, living up to his name. He ignored the others teasing him, bullying him. "Aww, it's Little Riding Hood. Off to see your grandmother? Watch out for the wolf, he'll eat you alive." Then they'd laugh and punch each other in celebration of their magnificent wit.

Today was one of those days. His mother had, funnily enough, asked him to deliver some honey jars to his grandfather. The honey came from their own backyard, his mother spent hours out there with her precious bees.

"Why can't you take them, aren't you going over to him on Friday to help him clean out the attic?" Johnny tried to whine his way out of the chore, but to no avail. "No, he'll be taking some of them to the marked tomorrow, he needs them today." She took a quick look at him. "And you need some fresh air. Maybe some D-vitamin." In response, Johnny dragged the hood over his head. His mother shook her head, but her eyes were filled with love as she watched her son retracting into his safe zone. "There, eight jars, that should do. Try the bag, is it too heavy?" Johnny had some trouble lifting it, but managed.

Others would have lifted their nose and marvelled over the blue sky and warm air; Johnny was safe under his hood, and the sun didn't find a way behind his dark sunglasses. Arctic Monkeys blared from his headphones, shutting him off completely. His grandfather didn't live far away, just a thirty-minute walk through the woods. He could have used his skateboard, taken the long way around; but his mother had said she didn't want him to fall with the jars in his bag.

He didn't notice her until the last second. She just stood on the trail, hand on hips. Johnny was momentarily struck by how beautiful she was-long, golden locks, and a blue dress. Her eyes had the same colour as the sky, if Johnny had managed to take his eyes of her and look up. He'd never spoken much with girls. He'd never spoken much with anyone, except on the internet. He took a step to the side and gestured for her to walk past him; she was obviously heading towards town. When she didn't move, he tried to make it clear that he wanted to continue, but she didn't budge. He slipped his headphones down to his neck.

"What do you have in your bag?"

Her voice was clear and bright. Johnny looked down at the bag, to shy to answer. She raised her voice an octave. "I said, WHAT do you have in your bag?"

Johnny stumbled back a step, what the fuck was going on? "Just some honey, chill down." The girl smiled and held out her arm. "Thank you!" Johnny looked at the girl and the arm, slender and summer kissed. Her smile slowly disappeared while he stared at her. "Are you stupid? Give me the honey!" Johnny B. Hood didn't understand a thing, was she trying to steal his mother's honey?

He shook his head, mostly in disbelief, but also in response to her lunatic request. "No."

Her blue eyes darkened, "Alright, this is on you then." She stepped off the trail, Johnny hurried to get moving, he had no idea they had these kinds of people in town. When he passed by, the girl put two fingers in her mouth and produced an insane loud whistling noise. Johnny slapped his hands over his ears, but they still rang with the sound. "What the hell was that? Hey, girl, go on home now, I have places to be." She cocked her head to the side and smiled. The smile would have been beautiful if it hadn't been for the mad look in her eyes. She looked like a drug-addict sniffing cocaine. Johnny held his hands in front of him, "Ok, calm down, I'm going now. Have a nice day." He walked fast and muttered "freak" under his breath. He dared a glance back, she just stood there staring after him. Another sound distracted him, there was some rustling in the bushes further ahead. Johnny frowned, what now? The noise had subdued when he reached the spot, there were bushes on each side of the path, some of them towering over him. He hurried through, scared of what had made the noise. Safely on the other side, he turned to see if the girl was following, but she was nowhere to be seen. So weird, Johnny thought to himself, before he turned back again and almost fainted. Ahead of him on the trail stood three bears, one bigger than the other. He closed his eyes, counted to five and opened them again. Still there. The smallest growled and stood up on his back legs, making him as tall as Johnny. The one in the middle moved an inch, letting him see the girl behind the bears. She held a delicate hand over her mouth as she giggled. "Told you. You should have given the honey to me when I asked."