"Little Red" by Renee Reizman

Now, though she was adored by all, and appeared to be sweet an innocent, Little Red was a very mischievous girl. No one knew that more than her mother. And when the time came for her mother to bring a picnic basket full of sweets and other good things to eat to Little Red’s sick old grandmother, Little Red’s eyes twinkled with mischief.

Little Red acted as innocent as she could. She smiled ever so sweetly to her mother and asked her as politely as she found possible, "Mama, may I please bring that beautiful picnic basket to our ever so sweet, and unfortunately, sick grandmother? I’ll be very careful, and I won’t talk to any strangers on my way."

But knowing her daughter too well, Mother shook her head. "I’m sorry honey," she began, "but this job is too important for you. Your grandmother needs all the supplies she can get, and you have been known to loose things now and then."

And now came all the whining. Little Red began to cry and cry, for she dearly wanted the sweets in that basket. She was about to start screaming when her mother gave in. Instantly, Little Red stopped her tantrum, and smiled so broad her face looked as if it were to crack. "Oh thank you so much Mama! I promise to come back all in one piece." And before any other objections could be made, Little Red was out the door.

Little Red skipped happily along the path to her grandmother’s. She held the picnic basket carelessly in her hands, and when she got hungry she would pop her hand into the basket and pull out something sweet to eat. The basket’s contents were slowly diminishing, and soon there would be nothing left.

That’s when Little Red saw the wolf.

The wolf looked poor and helpless, but not too poor or helpless. It seemed sad, but happy enough to make it not sulk day in and day out. It looked hungry, but not hungry enough to search for scraps. It looked like the kind of wolf that you would fear sorry for, not one of the sly ones. And Little Red decided to take advantage of this.

The wolf walked over to Little Red, seeing the basket in her hands. Since it was a magical forest, animals had developed an ability to talk, and the wolf was no exception. "Hello little girl." Said the beast, "Could you spare something in that basket for a hungry wolf?"

Little Red shook her head. "I’m afraid most things are gone, and I have to get to my grandmother’s house to give her what’s left. If not she’ll be very sad, and my mother will get angry with me."

Now this wolf was a smart one, and he knew that Little Red wasn’t intending to go to her grandmother’s house at all. He couldn’t help but to feel bad for the sick old woman, and decided to get Little Red over there. "Well, if you keep eating everything in that basket, you won’t have anything for your grandma. You’ll be wasting her time going over there."

Little Red feared that the wolf was catching on to her plan, and though the wolf was right, she wasn’t sure. "Well, my grandmother doesn’t eat a lot. She’ll hardly notice if anything’s gone." Little Red said hastily.

But the wolf wasn’t fooled. "But what about the crumbs? Won’t she see those?" he shook his head and continued, "And what about the packaging of the food? Doesn’t your mother pack everything up? Is you’re grandmother too blind to see these things?"

Little Red couldn’t lie much about this longer. "Well, I guess I made a bad mistake, but don’t worry. I’ll pick a bouquet of wild flowers, that’ll cheer my grandma up."

But the wolf knew that this wouldn’t work either. He knew that this path lead to the old woman who lived at the edge of the forest. The wolf also knew that Little Red’s grandmother would be allergic to the specific type of flowers that Little Red was picking. "Little girl, I’m sure that you’re grandma will think those flowers are pretty, but isn’t she allergic to them? I suggest that you walk on a little further before you make a bouquet for her."

Little Red didn’t care for the wolf’s advice. "Who cares if she’s allergic to them? She’ll think that they’re pretty, and she’ll accept them."

"But won’t she get sicker? She won’t be able to get better if you give her something that’ll make her sick."

Little Red grew angry. "She won’t get sick. You’re just a wolf, you don’t know if my grandma is really allergic to these flowers. You’re just thinking of some other flower that looks like these."

The wolf would have protested more, but there was a slim chance that Little Red was right. Instead he asked her, "Well, you may be right. I take it that you’re a clever girl. May I go with you to your grandmother’s house though? I can help you if some animal – perhaps a bear – were to attack you."

Little Red had been in the woods plenty of times before, and wasn’t scared about any bear. But she decided to use the wolf to her advantage. If her grandmother were to get angry with her, she could just say that the wolf tricked her into it. So she agreed and the wolf joined her on her way.

Time passed quickly. Little Red still munched on the snacks in the basket, and kept adding flowers to her bouquet – all of which her grandmother were allergic to. And despite the wolf’s comments, she didn’t heed any of his warnings until she was at a good distance to her grandmother’s home.

Reaching into the basket again, Little Red had to feel around the bottom. She struck the bottom of the basket and couldn’t feel anything. Her face grew quite pale, and the wolf asked, "What’s wrong?"

Little Red quickly took her hand out of the basket. "Nothing’s wrong at all. I just have to go into grandma’s garden and get some carrots. I know that they’re ready to be harvested."

The wolf, being as clever as he was, saw right through this plan. "But little girl," he began, "I don’t think your grandmother would appreciate that. And if you’re all out of food, you can always tell her the truth. Besides, you still have that bouquet, even though I strongly advise you not to give it to your grandma."

Little Red considered what the wolf had said, and then shook her head. "No, my mother will find out. I don’t want to get in trouble. I have to get grandma’s carrots out of the ground." And before the wolf could say anything else, Little Red went into her grandmother’s garden.

Taking up a shovel, Little Red began to dig. She dug up many holes in the garden and only came up with about 5 carrots. She didn’t notice how much of a mess she had made until she stooped down to pick up the vegetables. She gasped a bit, but then thought that her grandmother wouldn’t notice, and if she did she would say it was the wolf.

Putting the carrots into her basket, she came around back to the front of the house. The wolf was sitting patiently with the bouquet of flowers at his feet. Little Red picked up the flowers and said, "Ok, it’s time to go in. I don’t think that grandma would like you to come in, but that’s ok. She’ll accept you."

And so the two went in.

Little Red and the wolf saw Grandmother lying down in her bed. Little Red walked over to her grandmother and said, "Here grandma. I’ve brought some stuff for you."

The Grandmother sat up in bed and received the flowers and the basket. First, she looked into the basket. When she opened it, she was surprised and asked, "Little Red, all I see in here are carrots. Your mother said that there would be nice things to eat. Where did they go?"

Little Red shrugged her shoulders. "I don’t know. I never touched anything."

Her grandmother nodded and looked out the window. She saw the holes in her garden and asked, "Little Red, when I look outside I see many holes in my garden. Perhaps that’s where these carrots came from?"
Again Little Red shrugged her shoulders. And again she said, "I don’t know. I never touched anything."

Taking her gaze from outside, the grandmother looked at the bouquet of flowers and asked, "Little Red, all these flowers look beautiful, but they appear to be the kind that get me sick. Did you know that?"

Once more Little Red shrugged her shoulders and said, "I don’t know. I never touched anything."

Her grandmother put the flowers aside, hoping that they wouldn’t make her too sick too fast. She sighed and looked at Little Red. "Why did you do all these things?"

Little Red turned cold. Her grandmother knew exactly what she did. It was time to blame all on the wolf, like she thought of in the first place. "I didn’t do any of it grandma. It was this wolf’s fault. He tricked me into doing all those cruel things." And then she pretended to cry.

Now the grandmother hadn’t of seen the wolf until now, and she looked down onto the wolf and said, "My, what big eyes you have."

The wolf simply replied, "The better to see you with my dear."

Grandmother looked up at the wolf’s big ears and said, "My, what big ears you have."

And the wolf replied, "The better to hear you with my dear."

And then Grandmother’s gaze turned towards the wolf’s muzzle, which displayed two rows of large teeth. And she said, "My, what big teeth you have."

The wolf just licked his lips and said, "The better to tell you the truth with my dear." And then he began to tell what really happened. And by knowing that Little Red was mischievous, and that she had gone cold and pale, Grandmother knew he was telling the truth.

And so, Little Red got into much trouble by her mother and grandmother. She was never allowed to carry a picnic basket anywhere alone for the rest of her days. As for the wolf, he stayed as Little Red’s guardian, and made sure she listened to her warnings.

And that’s exactly what she did.