The Inside Story

Meeting Grandma

"Aah! What's that!?" I shouted at a mysterious thing rustling in the bushes right next to us. Red moved the thistles to take a closer look and a small white bunny hopped out, its small eyes blinking, then jumped away.

Red blinked. "Katie, I know you've never been in a forest before but try to get a grip. At least till you go back to whatever mortie place you came from."

I stared at her retreating figure as she walked ahead, okay, was I the only the one who noticed some hostility? Or is it just me? I'm used to it by now, but Red's was more noticeable. Selena and Snow followed her and Ella stayed behind with me.

"Katie, don't-"

"What? Ignore the fact that even FC stand ins hate me?" I asked.

I plopped down on the nearest rock, burying my face in my hands. I sighed, no matter how much it stung, FCs would always hate me. Morties, exactly who I was. Not to mention, staying behind with Ella was becoming a habit.

"Katie, she doesn't know you. Snow, Selena, and I all like you, that's cause we met you," Ella said.

"But why does Red hate me?"

Ella shrugged. "Who knows? But we have to go, if we don't, we'll never find out. You could get her to change her mind. Not that you need her approval, there are some people in this world you can never please."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, noticing her saddened face.

"Like Bella and Marabella, no matter what I did for them in my story, I never got their approval," Ella mused.

Red stepped out from the bushes giving me a glare. "Will you hurry up? Unless you want to be eaten by wolves which is fine with me."

I was startled. "Wait, I could get killed?"

Red rolled her eyes. "No, Katie. It was a figure of speech, an exaggeration. You're a mortie, magic can't touch you. You'll just get seriously injured and believe me that I will leave you behind, so pick up the slack."

"Come on Ella, we're almost there," Red said in a much gentler tone.

Ella gave her a brief nod and Red walked away. With a heavy heart, I trudged forward with Ella by my side. The warm air was whistling cheerfully, leaves rustling lightly, and the chitter chatter of animals was vibrating everywhere. We stopped in front of a small cottage, Red knocked on the door. "Grandma?"

Red opened the door letting us all in, we were in the kitchen considering the small stove, fireplace, and kettle resting on the stove. The room next to the kitchen was a bedroom with a figure resting on the bed, she was wearing a pink robe with a cap and had blue-grey fur. She had paws resting on the covers and a big black nose, beady eyes glancing at Red.

"Come in dearie," she said.

Red gave a small smile. "Brian, did you eat Grandma already?"

Brian tilted his head to the right. "Uh, yeah. Why are you breaking the story?"

"I'm here with FCs, the real thing who need Grandma's help. Could you spit her out?"

Brian shrugged. "Whatever. You know that we'll have to do this eventually, right?"

"Yeah, but circumstances have changed. Apparently this villain 'Ms. Sierra' is out to do something bad."

Brian snorted. "Ms. Sierra? Sounds so scary."

Snow stepped forward, rolling her eyes. "Yeah, we know. Could you just regurgitate Red's grandmother? We don't have a lot of time."

Brian gasped, taking off his cap and smoothing his fur. "You're- You're Snow White! The real Snow!"