The Dark Fur Of The Forest: The True Story of Little Red Riding Hood.

Chapter 2: The Weakness of Hunger

     I once told a friend that the woods were something that can explore the human mind in ways that have never been. That earned me a disgusted face and I ended up with no friends. It was sad and kind of messed up, but I learned that people are scared of things unknown. Or things that they don’t understand. I was a type of person that loved the weird new things that nobody understood.
     The woods were kind of dark but full of life and bird calls. I listened as this one type of bird sang the loudest than the others. It had a nice voice and one that I would listen to all day. I kept walking and looked at all the beautiful things that nature had made. The trees were tall, big and dark. The leaves were green but as you go deeper in the woods, the colors change to ones that people would only dream of.
     I started to whistle a tune along with the birds and enjoying the peace like feeling with the danger. I paused at a brook and dipped my hands into the cold clear water. I put a handful of water in my hands and splashed my face. It was fresh, cool, and made my skin tingle. I did this every time I go on my way to grandma’s house. That is probably why I don’t get pimples or zits as all my classmates did.
     If I told the girls at school about the zits and pimples remover, they probably would flock to the brook. But that isn’t the reason why I stopped at that rush of water. I stopped because it always brought back a memory to me when I was little. I was 11 at that time and I was with grandma. She pulled me aside to this brook. I remember her long gray hair swing with the breeze as she grinned at me.
     She was wearing what any cool grandma would wear. It was a hippy outfit that had bright colors that swirled into a vortex with the hanging threads at the bottom of her shirt. Her pants were much like the same as her shirt. She was barefoot and seemed to soak in the wilderness of the woods. She gazed at me and grinned then turned to the small river, pulled out water with her hands and splashed some on me. I remember giggling and saw that she went for more water. I hid behind a tree. Only she used the water to drink it and wash her face. She turned to me with a serious face and said,
     “ Now, we always pay our respects to all living things and to all things that nature had laid out for us.” Then turning towards an unseen path as we went our way to her house. I could almost feel her hands holding mine-
     I spun around as I heard a small low growl came from some bushes and trees. I pulled out an arrow and my bow. I aimed at the place that I saw movement. My heart was pounding with excitement and a little bit of fear. A wolf appeared suddenly. I noticed right away was that the wolf was a male and his ribs were showing. Not just that but almost every bone was showing. Poor thing, it must be hungry. It was limping forward but still showing its fangs.
     I felt bad for it. I remember grandma’s words ring in my ears. I slowly lowered my arms and quickly transfer my bow and arrow in one hand. I slowly pulled out a wrapped up sandwich that was in my pocket. I looked over at him and saw that he was staring at me. I threw the sandwich to him and watched as he gobbled it up. he looked at me and it seemed to me that he was giving me his thanks. He then disappeared in the forest like trees. Wow! That was magical. I felt good inside for helping a powerless creature and thought what grandma would have said. She would say something like,
     “ Wow, my little girl has grown up. Red, I love you for being like Snow White. “ I smiled at that. Snow White was a running joke in my family. I tend to love animals by helping them and they in return don’t attack me or help me in weird ways. I blame this on the magical woods. I have been in the woods a lot that magic seemed to soak into me.
     I continued on my way with my bow and arrow on my shoulders and a backpack. I also was holding the basket mom gave me. I watched as the forest got darker as time went by.  Finally growing too dark for me to see, I stopped for camp. I found a tree that had low branches that I laid my blanket underneath it. I set small traps around my makeshift camp. I wasn’t stupid to let anything get close to me as I sleep.
    Finally, satisfied with my knots and traps I settled down on my blanket. I ate some cold beef jerky and changed into my nighttime outfit. It wasn’t really PJs, but more comforting than what I had on. I pulled out my dagger and put it beside my hip, ready to reach in case anything happened. I stared up at the stars that I was able to see through the branches and fell asleep.