1 Little Red

"And you once said I wish you dead, you sinner

I'll never be more than a wolf at your door for dinner

And if I see you 'round like a ghost in my town, you liar

I'll leave with your head oh I'll leave you for dead, sire

You were sharp as a knife to get me

You were a wolf in the night to fetch me back

The wishes I've made are too vicious to tell

Everyone knows I am going to hell

And if it's true, I'll go there with you"

- The Wolf, PHILDEL

Once upon a time, a sweet little girl lived with her family at the outskirts of a forest. Everyone knew the little girl, and everyone loved her. The little girl was named Red, and everyone knew when Red was afoot, because her mother had made her a beautiful cloak of scarlet velvet.

The person that loved Red the most, was her grandma, who lived in the middle of the forest, in a sweet, little house.

One morning, Red's mother said to her, "Red, my dear, come to me. Your grandmother has come down with a cold. Would you be a darling and bring her this basket of cake and wine? Remember to mind your manners, and do not stray past the purple flowers on the path."

Little Red promised to do as her mother had said. She took the basket and headed into the woods.

Not long into her walk, Red spotted a patch of chamomile flowers. 'Those, grandma would love.' She thought, and despite her mother's warning, she stepped over the purple flowers and walked over to the chamomile blooms.

While she was picking the flowers, a big grey wolf walked up to her from the woods. Red looked at the wolf, but as she did not know what a wicked animal it was, she knew not that she should fear him, so she did not.

"Good day to you little red riding hood."

"Good day to you as well, grey shaggy-back"

"Where are you off to, little riding hood?"

"To my grandmother's. She's come down with a cold, so I am bringing her a basket of goodies."

"What goodies may those be?"

"Some wine and cake to bring back her strength"

"Where does your grandmother live, little riding hood?"

"A quarter hour west, under three old, old, old willow trees." Said Red

'Now, there is a tasty meal for me.' The wolf thought to himself. "Listen, little red riding hood. I see you like to pick flowers for your grandmother. I know that just a bit further into the woods, is a forest bed of forget-me-nots and st John's wort, I am sure your grandmother would love those."

Little Red, having forgotten all about her mother's warning, thanked the wolf and headed further into the woods. Then the wolf ran as fast as he could, to find the grandmother's house.

As he reached the house, he knocked on the door.

"Who is there?" Came from a sweet old lady voice from the inside of the house.

"It is me, little Red. I am bringing you cake and wine. Could you open the door for me?"

"Just press the latch, dearie. I am far too weak to get up." The grandmother called out in reply.

The wolf entered the house and walked over to the grandmother, where he gobbled her up. He then took her clothes, and put them on, before he got into her bed, and pulled the blanket up to his maw.

Little Red was done with picking flowers, and holding a big bunch of white, pale blue and yellow blooms, continued to walk to her grandmother's home. She was surprised to see that the door was open. Red walked in and towards the bed. She saw her grandmother laying down in it, with the blankets pulled high, and her face looking quite strange.

"Oh, grandmother, what big ears you have!"

"All the better to hear you with."

"Oh, grandmother, what big eyes you have!"

"All the better to see you with."

"Oh, grandmother, what big hands you have!"

"All the better to grab you with!"

"Oh, grandmother, what a horribly big mouth you have!"

"All the better to eat you with!"

And with that he jumped out of the bed, right on top of poor little Red, and ate her up as well. As soon as the wolf had finished this tasty bite, he climbed back into the soft bed, fell asleep, and began to snore very loudly.

A huntsman was just passing by the house. He thought it strange that the old woman in the cottage was snoring so loudly, so he decided to take a look. He stepped inside, and in the bed, there lay the wolf that he had been hunting for such a long time. 'He has eaten the grandmother, but perhaps she still can be saved. I won't shoot him,' thought the huntsman. So he took a pair of scissors from within his cape and cut open the wolf's belly.

He had cut only a few strokes when he saw the red hood shining through. He cut a little more, and the girl jumped out and cried, "Oh, I was so frightened! It was so dark inside the wolf's body!"

And then the grandmother came out alive as well. Then Red fetched some large heavy stones from right outside grandmother's house. They filled the wolf's body with them, and when he woke up and tried to run away, the stones were so heavy that he fell down, dead.

The three of them were happy. The huntsman took the wolf's pelt. The grandmother ate the cake and drank the wine that Little Red Riding hood had brought. And Red thought to herself: 'As long as I live, I will never leave the path and run off into the woods by myself if mother tells me not to.'

'Never leave the path.' The young woman chuckled to herself as she stared into the big, black eyes of the wolf.

'I never had a choice, mother.'