Little Red Riding Hood and the Prince

Chapter 4- A Terrible Time

It didn't take all that long for the little girl to reach the house in the woods, only about 30 minutes. Granted, she had been walking rather briskly. After that uneasy scene in the clearing, she found that she was getting rather hungry, and so hastened to the cottage to share a noontime meal with her grandmother.

Reaching the door, she knocked and waited a moment.

"Grandma, are you up? It's me, your favorite granddaughter in red. I've brought some things for lunch." Her voice was light and cheerful.

Hearing no response, she opened the door and took a look around. At first glance, she could see that things were out of the ordinary. Dishes and pans sat in the sink, the cupboards were nearly bare, and a thin layer of dust had begun to settle on many of the surfaces around the room. It smelled odd too, the air felt stale and musty.

Her heart began to beat faster, a prick of fear spread in her mind as she thought, 'grandmother must be doing very badly.' How long had her grandmother been ill before she sent word?

Worry and dread filling her, she set the basket on the kitchen table and moved towards her grandmother's room. What she saw through the open door made her gasp.

"Oh grandma, what pale skin you have."

She moved closer. "How still you are."

Finally coming to the bedside and taking her hand, she said in a wobbly voice "what cold hands you have," and began to weep next to the body of her beloved grandmother.

Her hunger forgotten in her sorrow, she stayed there crying for a long time, remembering all of the happy times when she had seen her grandmother. She had never gotten to meet her grandfather, but her grandmother used to tell her stories of him and her father when he was growing up. She smiled in remembrance of a particularly funny fishing trip story, in which her father aged five, ended up in the pond- pulled in by the fish he was trying to catch. To make him feel better, her grandfather had let his next catch 'pull' him into the pond as well.

She wished that they had all had more time together. She wished that she could have said goodbye to her grandmother. The last time she had seen her was months ago when they visited after Christmas. Her father was so often away, traveling with his work, and her stepfamily didn't care to visit if they didn't have to...

'At least grandma and grandpa are together again in heaven. My mother's there too, and the baby brother I never knew, and mom's parents, and my great aunts and uncles. I bet everyone is really happy to see her again.' The thought brought her comfort and her tears finally slowed to a stop.

Soon after, she got up and went back to the kitchen to nibble on some of the food that she had brought all this way.