My Bad Poetry

don't believe everything

Twist on little red Riding Hood

May 1st 2020

The wolf was lurking  behind the trees and bushes as he watched the raven haired girl clad in red, walking on the path. She did this once every week, and every week was the same. She came into the woods, the wolf would watch from afar, and she would carry her basket of goods to the house of her grandmother. The wolf had no intention of hurting her, or stealing the basket of goods. It never crossed his mind, not once. 

She started coming into the woods about a month ago. When she first entered he wanted to help her find her way, but who would trust a wolf? So instead, he sat and watched, making sure the other forest animals stayed away. There were a couple of times he was almost caught but he was able to make due and hide before being seen. Yes he has heard some stories from his buddy Hermez, about the reason why they call the girl “little red hood”. The reasons aren’t exactly what the wolf was expecting, but you can’t believe everything you hear. So following up on that, he still believes that she is as nice as she looks, even if her cloak is torn and ragged near the bottom and her eyes slightly glowed a constant purple. 

When he saw that she was still walking on the path and it was almost nightfall, he was concerned. It never took her this long before, and the creatures in this forest are already as dangerous as they are now, but when the moonlight floods the forest floor, the creatures are twice as intense. So he had no choice but to help her on her way through the forest before the fog rose. 

He walks out of the brush slowly, the fallen dead leaves from the upcoming autumn crunching under his feet. The sound and rustling made the girl in red turn to look at whatever was making the threatening sounds, but instead saw the wolf. Rather her eyes winding in fear, they narrowed into a glare filled to the brim with hatred.

 He puts his hands up in hope to be trusted and approaches the girl. She had her hand inside her cloak, slowly pulling something out from her waist, it shined silver when the sun hit it slightly. He eyes her hand and she looks at him. “If you're trying to steal from me you have another thing coming” as she eyes him up and down. “I promise, I’m not looking for any trouble. I just wanted to help you along your way, it is not safe after nightfall.” She looks at his light brown ears, then to his attire, the dark green t-shirt and tan cargo shorts, the light brown tail sticking out, to the dark brown boots that were a bit worn. She looked back to his blue eyes to see his hands still risen, she sighed but didn’t remove her hand from the holster around her waist. “Do you even know why they call me ‘little red hood’?” He looked at her “because you wear a red hood? It doesn’t matter anyways” he lied. she looked at him suspiciously but removed her hand from her side and started to walk along the path.

 He noticed that she walked with the slightest limp, he was going to ask her about it but she seemed to notice him eyeing her leg. She looks at him with a face saying ‘don’t say a word’ mixed with ‘don’t talk to me’, so he simply slipped her right arm over his neck while he grabbed that hand with his right to act as a limp. 

They walked along the path, the sun trailing behind as it moved down and no longer shines above the treetops. They have walked for only 15 minutes but it felt like an eternity. The silence was unbearable for the wolf so he had to strike a conversation. “So...uh” she looks at him “why do you come out here every month?” Her eyes trail back to the path in front of them. “Well, my grandma has been ill lately, and I decided that fresh home goods would make her feel better”. He looked at her, she had a slight smile on her face as she talked about her grandmother. “I see, that’s nice of you” he smiles, this girl is nice. Maybe the stories aren’t true.

The small shack of a house came into view and the girl started to pick up her pace. The lights were on, awaiting the arrival of the granddaughter that would bring the women something good to eat. In no time they arrived at the house and the girl looked at the wolf and smiled slightly. “Thank you for escorting me to my grandma's house” he looked at her and smiled as well. “You are welcome, till we meet again, little red hood” he bowed and walked into the woods. She knocked on the old dark oak door and awaited the sound of the click of the lock. It came after a minute or two and she walked inside to the open arms of her grandmother.