Not So Fairy Tales

Little Red Riding Hood

The girl flew through the forest
a flash of red in green
Her laughed echoed through the trees
at the freedom her family had 

To her grandma's house she ran
Woven basket in her hand
But laughter faded as she arrived
to the broken door of the little home.

In she crept, her shoes kicked off
Bare feet silent on the floor
as she waited for a noise
that meant company was there once more.

And there it was, a quiet voice-
and the rattling of chains.
Little Red clenched her hands
and barged though the unlocked door.

A hunter, dressed all in black
a knife at her grandmothers throat
tied up, chained up, locked up tight
her grandmother, unable to fight.

Little Red stepped forwards once
and caught the old woman eye,
who nodded and smiled at the young girl
As Little Red's cloak fell to the ground.

A howl tore through the dense forest
As the Hunter raised his head.
Not realising, until too late
the granddaughter was a dangerous threat.

No more a girl, dressed in red
But a wolf stood in his escape
its eyes, still human, watched him freeze
as it stepped forward to meet him.

The hunter dropped his weapon, the knife
and the keys to unlock the chains
already pleading for his life,
crying, with noting left to gain.

The grandmother unlocked herself
and stood between man and wolf
a smile playing on her lips
as she picked up the young girls cloak

“My,” she muttered with a laugh.
“What big teeth you have.
And, Granddaughter, big eyes too...
and a tail to match them both.”

With a flick, the cloak it fell
on the crouching wolf
and in a flash of burning light
Little Red appeared once more.

Both woman turned to the hunter
As he backed off down the hall
not believing what he saw-
or the tales of the family here.

But he had seen with his own eyes
The magic of the bright coloured cloaks
the reason the woman are seen with them...
and the reason the wolves are not.