The Girl Who Cried Wolf: A Novella

Five

05 | f I v e

Grandma Baker had been dancing around for five minutes, singing about all the things she could do with their fat envelope that she hadn't noticed a sulking Red sitting on the wooden stool.

"I met a hunter, Nana," she finally confessed to her grandmother.

Instantly, Grandma Baker dropped the envelope on the counter and went to sit beside her grandchild wrapping an arm around the sulking girl's shoulders.

"What did it look like?"

It wasn't difficult for Red to remember what the creature looked like. "It was truly magnificent if I'm completely honest. It was white-furred with the brightest dark blue eyes. And it was tall too. Way taller than me but most of all, it wasn't affected by my eyes." Her heart raced when she remembered how she narrowly escaped death.

Her grandmother's eyes widened in shock. "A wolf immune to red eyes? A wolf like that could have..." Grandma couldn't bring herself to voice out the rest of her sentence, but she didn't need to; Red already knew.

"It grabbed my cloak and yanked me back to it. I don't know why, but for some strange reason I feel like it didn't want to kill me," she said. "At least not yet," she quickly added.

"And why do you think so?" Grandma was curious to know.

"It tore a strip of my hem and left me alone. It was satisfied with it."

Grandma placed her palm on Red's cheek. "This was why I didn't want you to go to the woods, child. If that wolf took a piece of your cloth then it has mastered your smell by now. It will find you," Grandma trembled as she told her.

"But that's the thing, Nana. I saw the piece of my cloth it took."

"You did?"

"Yes, grandma. I saw it on the castle floor." Red stood up from the stool and placed around the room. "I don't know why it was there or how it got there but I saw it in the castle."

Nana's eyes widened in realization. "Do you know what this means?"

Red knew the bitter truth already. "Yes, I do, Nana. Someone in the castle wants to kill me." She swallowed the lump that formed in her throat.

*:*:*

Later that night, Grandma Baker comforted her with songs of all the things they could do with the money she had gotten from the castle to enable Red to sleep. It worked, just not on her. Grandma Baker snored loudly beside her on their little bed.

She was already used to her grandmother's infamous snores every night. She stood up to sit by the window. The thoughts of the wolf that could kill her had given her a bad case of insomnia.

Huh, she sighed, If only she could see the wolf again. Almost like an answer to her prayer, something moved quickly in the dark cold night. Shadows. Then it was gone. Had she imagined it? Now, she was seeing things. She really needed sleep.

She stood up to return to bed but the shadow moved again. A figure formed outside her window, stopping to stare at her. She recognized those blue eyes anywhere. It was the wolf. Knowing it had been spotted, the wolf ran into the woods.

No, she wasn't going to let it go again. She quietly but quickly put on her red hoodie and stepped out of the house. Her grandmother was a light sleeper so she had to be extra careful with the creaking door.

The woods. She was going there again. Glancing down at her thighs, she noticed she was still in her night shorts, but that didn't matter. She was going to see the wolf.

And so she ran. Into the woods, she was forbidden to go. This time around, she wasn't afraid, though. Weirdly enough, she felt safe.

She saw it. The wolf was not far away from her anymore. It wasn't running so she stopped. The strip of her red cloak dangled from its clenched teeth. Its white fur sparkled under the midnight sky, making it look like a mythical creature.

The wolf took a step closer and so did she. "You shouldn't be here, Red," it spoke. How did it know her name? But more importantly, it could talk?! Its voice was husky and grumbly, coming deep from its chest.

"I was curious. I wanted to know if you were real," she said. She could have asked it how it knew her name but she didn't.

"Curiosity killed the cat," it recited the old saying.

"Well, I am no cat," she stated, taking another bold step closer.

A sound came from the wolf like a laugh. Wolves laughed?

"Indeed, you're not. But you shouldn't be here. Return to the village where it's safe," the wolf warned.

"Why didn't you kill me when you had the chance? Why aren't you killing me now?" She ignored it and asked.

"Because I don't want to kill you. But, they will not hesitate to kill you, Red," it told her.

"They? Do you mean the rest of the hunters?"

"Yes," it clarified. "Which is why you must leave immediately."

"I saw that strip in the castle. You're from the castle aren't you?" She was certain yet she still asked.

"Something tells me you already know the answer to that question." The wolf's fangs glimmered in the faint night light.

"Are you Linton?" She squinted her eyes to study the wolf. "No, you can't be Linton. He is way too thin to be as big as you."

"I am not Linton and you mustn't know who I am," it told her.

"I should at least know the name of the only hunter immune to my eyes." Her face was close to its and she memorized every detail of its face. It's white fur, blue swivelling eyes, long erect ears, small button nose...

"Your grandmother will be looking for you," it told her.

"She's asleep." She reached out to touch its face. She wanted to feel the softness of its fur.

"What is your name, wolf?" she asked, just a little more for her to touch the wolf.

"You said it yourself." Then it ran away from her before she could touch it, into the thick darkness of the night where she couldn't see it anymore.

"Red!" She could hear her grandmother call.

Oh no!

She turned around, nervously. "Yes, Nana?"

"Red? What are you doing here, child? You know it's late. How could you come to the woods at this hour?" Her grandmother grabbed her by the ear, outraged, and dragged her home.

"I swear, Red, you'll get some good reprimanding in the morning when I'm agile, you naughty girl!"