The Girl Who Cried Wolf [Eng.]

0. What little red riding hood saw

What little red riding hood saw.

The superstitious old women in town always whispered about the Daireaux woods almost in awe. And you'd hope no one would listen to them since their sanity was always in doubt, but no. In there, they were the holy bible of the past and if you didn't listen to them you made the mistake of being marked as a heretic. And it's not that Ana loved to pick fights with them, but being a good listener was never one of her qualities.

She still remembers that afternoon, or at least some of it. It was the middle of winter, and grandma Clementine had managed to save up coins to buy Ana those little red boots with the black laces that matched the cloak she had been knitting during the spring.

Ana was a little small for her age, six-something years old, and maybe too eager to try her new ensemble. Like any child, she wasn't the one to take care of her clothes; the need to use them until they sighed exhausted was brewing inside her, and could barely stop herself from running out to the front yard.

But her grandmother's voice stopped Ana as soon as she had set foot excitedly on the porch. She was worried about her granddaughter and to this day Ana could barely understand why; maybe because she never dared to believe in the superstitions of crazy old women or because she refused to accept that her grandma feels that much responsible for her when Ana doesn't want her to.

"Ana, you shouldn't go out in this weather, you could catch a cold," she said in her honeyed low tone, clutching the silk shawl that covered her shoulders. "Come into the living room, I'll make some tea for us."

Ana could still see her wilted fingers reaching out to her with the need of leading her inside and still, she rejected the gesture; grandma Clementine wasn't worried about a cold, and Ana knew it.

"No, thanks," the little one pouted, a little winter mist leaving her lips. "I'll be careful, let me play."

She could see in her grandma's eyes that she was torn between saying no or letting her go, but she was always lenient when it came to Ana.

Unlike the other grandmothers in town who would have tied her down to a chair for just wanting to play outside while living in front of the forbidden Daireaux forest, she couldn't say no to Ana. She felt compelled to meet her every whim.

She was not cool with any of it, and to this day her hands shake like that afternoon every time Ana walks her way to school. Grandma Clementine refuses to see her leave, perhaps because she doesn't want that to be her last image of her granddaughter; much rather keep the kiss on the cheek and the 'I love you' that comes out of her lips when she's about to leave.

The rubber soles sink into the snow and Ana starts running, leaving footprints behind, feeling a bit like Hanzel and Gretel with their trail of crumbs for no one to find them.

Although entering the forest wasn't strictly forbidden, it did feel like breaking all the statutes of the town, almost as inappropriate as shouting in the church that God isn't real; very frowned upon.

The cold was just one of the many colors that created the scenery; the wind swayed the branches of the tall pines against each other, hurling twigs into Ana's hair. Her boots looked out of frame in all that white, they clashed and almost seemed to come out of a picture of blood-red on the ice bed.

Ana couldn't help but feel elated for a moment, but she was a child and had no idea about anything.

With a light heart, she threw herself into the snow, her clinking laugh echoing in every corner of the forest; but nobody could hear her even if they tried to.

Suddenly, the sound of a branch snapping wakes Ana up. She instantly jerks her head up, propping herself up to look around for the sound.

A rabbit popped up, black, too black, a lost color like the red boots.

The little kid stands up and without even bothering to wipe the ice off her clothes, letting it melt, she starts running towards the animal that tries to escape from her grasp.

Exactly why Ana thought it was wise to follow the animal was unknown to her. Maybe it had a family that was waiting for it, and they would show her what that was like for rabbits.

The creature was fast, so fast that it drew a trail on the white and seemed fake when it jumped the roots of the pines, so the kid ran after it for what seemed like minutes, sometimes losing sight of it and giving up. But every time Ana lost track of it, it would reappear, frozen still a few leaps ahead as if it was waiting for her to catch up.

The child started to wonder what dad would say. Grandma Clementine said that he loved to go hunting, ignoring her mother-in-law's warnings that it was dangerous and that there was a reason no one hunted in the area.

A few feet ahead Ana could see what the bunny was trying to show her. A large flat rock was supported by two smaller but plump ones, as if it were a luxurious entrance to the hole below. She strode closer to it, leaning down to see how deep it was, but the bottom seemed to be non-existent.

"Hello?" Ana called causing an endless echo that disappeared into the darkness.

Maybe it was the home of a hibernating bear, she thought, that could wake up any moment and it would be upset by her presence. And then she realized that her partner had disappeared.

Could it have jumped into the hole? Scared, she hopped in too. No bunny or six-year-old would survive if an angry bear were to wake up hungry.

What seemed to be a simple pit, looked in the dim light like an entrance that slopped down, dirtying even Ana's socks with mud. When she reached the bottom, dirt spewed onto her face. There was barely any light, just a small ray of sunlight that entered through some cracks on the roof. Tree branches dangled above her head, and a stream of water gushed down to her feet, forming a puddle. It was the only sound Ana heard, but she knew there was something down here.

Careful to not make any noise, she tried to step forward, but a constant hissing made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. That's when the small child realized she wasn't alone, and heavy footsteps approached.

"B-bunny?" she innocently called out, knowing that no damn rabbit would answer, let alone make that much noise.

A shifting sound behind her alerts Ana. She tries to narrow her eyes but sees nothing but the shadow of rocks and tree branches. The animal's legs can be heard to be riding swiftly in the opposite direction again, almost toying with her.

Ana snaps her head back, and she can see them: eyes bright as the moon itself in the dark, and those sharp teeth that are bathed in cool red liquid.

Rumors say that a high-pitched scream exploded in the middle of that winter afternoon, scaring even the smallest living being. It is said that the girl who crossed the overgrown pines never returned, that she did not live to tell what the monster of the town of Daireaux was like, the creature who had taken refuge in the forest when it was hunted down by angry torches hundreds of years ago.

And maybe she'll never tell because, to this day, she barely believes a third of what happened.