There's not that big, grand tale to tell about Little Red Riding Hood. First of all, she had a name. Her name was Rose.
Yes, she brought her grandmother food everyday. She met a wolf that ate her, but was later slayed and she, freed? I guess you could say that. It wasn't exactly a wolf, but she did battle with it in the process. But, you ask, was she at least going to her grandmother's house when this happened? No. Well, sort of. Let me get to the ((cough cough John Green cough cough)) point. The story was a metaphor.
When Rose's grandmother got sick, Rose devoted her life to taking care of her. She didn't really need to go to school. She was very smart.
Her grandmother got worse and worse until one day when she died. Rose was devastated because her grandmother was the only family she had left. Her father was a drunk, and him and her mother died in a car accident.
Rose felt like she didn't have a purpose after her grandmother died. After grieving the passing for weeks, Rose decided she would go back to school and find another purpose. It was a terrible idea.
Her old friends had moved on. She had no one to talk to. No one really cared. People started making fun of her because she was still wearing her red cloak. Life got hard.
Rose was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. She didn't want life anymore. She started self-harming. Over time, a previous self-harmer named Alexis found out about Rose and befriended her.
One day, Rose decided that there was no meaning to life anymore, so she told her friend goodbye. Alexis didn't understand and rushed over to Rose's house as fast as she could. She climbed through an open window and found Rose laying on the floor, wrists bleeding, blade in hand. She bent down and felt Rose's pulse. There was still time.
She dialed 911, but realized they would get there too late, so she ordered them to go to her house. Alexis picked up Rose and ran from the house. Running as fast as she could with a limp body in her arms, Alexis got to her house seconds before the emergency vehicle.
Rose had been slightly conscious as her friend was running. Rose realized that she had had a purpose and a reason to live the entire time.
Her purpose and reason to live was simple. She had a friend, and if Rose had died, Alexis would've died inside just like Rose had when her grandmother died. As long as her friend was there to save her, she would be alright.
.
You've probably found the metaphor's meaning by now.
In the metaphorical story, Little Red Riding Hood meets a wolf, gets attacked by it, and is saved by the hunter.
In the original story, Rose meets depression and anxiety, gets attacked by it, and it's saved by her only true friend. The wolf represents mental illnesses. The hunter represents a friend.
