Red Hood

Into the woods

Rouge

I sat on the roof our house, whittling a little wooden doll with my knife.
"Rouge! Where are you? Come quickly I have to tell you something," my mother called.
"I'll be there in a bit," I answered. I stood up and escalated down the drainpipe to the ground, I pushed the door of the house and went inside. A wave of herbs scents washed over me, thyme, rosemary and other smells prickled my nose.

"What is it?" I asked my mother who was kneading bread-dough, she looked up and lifted a hand to push back the few strands of hair that hanged in her sight, while doing that she smeared flour on her forehead.
"It's Grand-mère, the forest guard got news from her saying she took ill. I was wondering if maybe you could go check upon her? It would do her good seeing her grandson again and you could bring her some broth and bread I'm making her now," she explained.
"Yeah sure, I'll go right after noon," I replied. My mother smiled, "You're an angel, thank you Rouge."

I made the broth before leaving and packed the soft bread in my satchel, I took some sweets for on the way and for Grand-mère. After noon I put on my red cloak, Grand-mère made it for me some time ago. I took the satchel and was ready to leave.
"Now remember, don't go off the path and be there before dark, you know about Guillaume and Arthur," my mother told me as she cupped my cheeks, there was still a bit of flour on her fingers.
"Maman, I'm no longer a child. I know these woods by heart, I'll be at Grand-mère's before dark," I promised. My mother sighed, "Right, well off you go then, say hello to her for me."
"I'll do that," I called before hearing the door close behind me.

I walked towards the entrance of the village, some people waved me off when I passed them.
"Hey, Rouge! Where are you heading?" a girl's voice said behind me. I turned around to see Mathilde, daughter of the cobbler and my best friend since like forever. She was the same age as me, wearing a dark blue dress and she had two little braids in her hair that connected and made a sort of crown around her head. Her eyes were dark brown, like a trees bark.
"I'm going to visit Grand-mère, she's sick," I told her. Mathilde sighed, "C'est vrai, your granny doesn't live in the village."
I shook my head, "No, she lives away in the forest. You know nearby the stream."
Mathilde's eyes went wide, "But that's a good five miles from here!" She was exaggerating, it was maybe a mile or two, "Besides, I don't want you to go missing like Guillaume and Arthur, they too went into the forest and didn't return," she filled in. The two hunters had been missing for over a month, after two weeks of searching for them the forest guard gave up. But I wouldn't end up like them, I knew the forest like my pocket.
"I like walking in the forest, it's mystic and calm," I said instead. She huffed and crossed her arms, "Don't get eaten by the big bad wolf, I heard he likes the colour red," she sighed pointing at my cloak. I smiled, "You take care of yourself while I'm away." I planned on staying the night at Grand-mère's.
"Yeah yeah, I'll behave," she said while rolling her eyes. I patted her shoulder and continued my way out of the village.

After an hour of walking I started to recognise the way to Grand-mère's, but the sky had turned dark grey, a storm was coming up. I figured I would have to spend the night in the forest.
Maman wouldn't like that, but she doesn't have to know.
I kept walking and stopped for hunting when I reached the Crooked Oak. What Maman also didn't know is that I sneaked out late in the evening or early in the morning to practice my hunting skills, I wanted to be as good as Baptiste, the village's most skilled hunter. One time he shot a doe right in between her eyes, I was there when it happened. Baptiste had a bond with nature, he sometimes could feel when there's an animal nearby, that's why he's the best hunter.
But the real goal of every aspiring hunter is to kill a wolf. Our tradition is that once the beast is shot, the killer gets to make a cloak out of its fur. Baptiste has been searching for one ever since he heard of it.

I stood by the Crooked Oak and reached inside its trunk, my bow and arrows were still there. I went a little further and waited 'till I heard a twig snapping. I carefully peaked through the leaves of the bush I was hiding behind and spotted a brown rabbit. I aimed and locked my gaze on the little animal. The arrow struck true, I got up and moved to my catch. The first raindrops began to fall and I quickly took cover in the hull of a tree trunk, somewhere in the distance I could hear a thunder grumbling. I pulled on my hood and broke the point and end of the arrow off so that the rabbit would fit in my satchel. I ran out of my spot and went back on the path, the rain kept coming down faster.

When I couldn't see anything in front of me anymore I decided to go hide somewhere and wait till the storm was over. I found a den, probably from a bear long since dead. I sat against the wall of the den and pulled my hood of. Seemed I would be eating the rabbit raw, making a fire in a den wasn't so safe and outside it was raining like hell.
I took the animal and a loaf of bread and started eating.
The night fell, the rain didn't stop, in fact it became more dense and it even began to thunder.
Maman will hate me for this. I tried to imagine my mother in front of the hearth wondering where I am, wondering if I made it to Grandmère's house. I tried to imagine the warmth of the fire against my cheeks, thawing my frozen fingers and feet. Although it was raining hard I could still here the twig snap from outside of the den, I was immediately alerted, the long knife that I had packed in my hand. I crouched and glared at what was outside from under my hood.

That's when I saw them, two eyes as blue as ice staring at me from behind a bush. I stopped breathing when the owner of the eyes stepped out of its hiding spot.
A wolf!