Accosting Red – Fractured Fairytale

Accosting Red

For days, the wolf watched the girl in the red-hooded coat wander through the woods. Unlike most travelers, she seemed unaware that danger lurked there. He pondered over it. Was she brave or just naive? He finally decided to confront her.

“Little girl,” he whispered from behind a tree.

The girl stopped in her tracks and looked around. Not seeing anyone, she continued along the path. The wolf hurried ahead of her.

“Oh little girl!” he shouted this time from behind a large rock.

Again she stopped, but still saw no one. “Who’s there?” she asked.

“Where are you traveling to, little girl?”

“Why should I tell you? Come out so I can see you!”

The wolf crept out onto the path and hunched down low. “Where are you going?” he asked again.

The girl shrieked and dropped her basket. “You’re… you’re a wolf!”

The wolf laughed. “But, of course I am! Now tell me!”

“My grandmother is ill. I am taking her some food,” the girl whispered.

“Aren’t you frightened to walk these woods alone?” the wolf growled with opened jaws.

The girl stared at his white, glistening teeth. “Well, I wasn’t until you came along!” she retorted.

“Perhaps I should accompany you. To keep you safe, that is.”

The girl picked up her basket. “No thank you. I will just be on my way,” she replied as she walked slowly past him.

“Suit yourself. Just remember… dangerous creatures reside in these woods!” The wolf moved off of the path and disappeared from view.

The wolf kept vigil. Day after day, he sat and watched her comings and goings. He cursed himself for having pity on a human. Given the chance, they always try to slaughter his kind. However, this one held his attention.

One late evening, as he awaited her return, the wolf drifted in and out of sleep. He nearly missed her passing. He opened his eyes just as her red-hooded coat fell from view. He left his burrow and followed her. He just needed to see her face. As he rounded a curve in the path, he heard her scream. He dashed forward, running through the brush, hidden from the pathway. When he reached her, he watched as she struggled to break free from the grips of a woodsman.

“Unhand me!” the girl screamed as she beat the man with her basket.

The woodsman pulled her close and tried to nuzzle her neck. “I will take you for my bride,” he whispered into her ear.

The wolf sprang from his hiding place and lunged at the woodsman. His jaws clamped down upon the man’s arm and he growled as he ripped at its flesh. With his free hand, the woodsman swung his axe and hit the wolf’s side, knocking it into a tree. The girl screamed again and rushed toward the wolf.

“You brute!” she yelled at the woodsman. She bent down and ran her hand along the wolf’s head. “You could have killed him!”

“So what? It’s a wolf! It should be killed!” the woodsman barked as he ripped a piece of cloth from his shirt and bandaged his wounded arm.

The wolf blinked his eyes. He felt the girl’s hand comforting him. He tried to move, but she cooed at him to lie still. He closed his eyes. Never had he anyone been so kind.

The woodsman inched toward the girl. He still meant to make her his own, but when he got within a few feet of her, the wolf growled and snapped at him. He jumped back and stumbled over a tree root, nearly falling to the ground.

“You’d better keep that beast away from me!” he yelled.

“And you’d better leave,” the girl told the woodsman. “Or I will tell the sheriff that you accosted me!”

“Fine! You and that beast deserve one another!” The woodsman slung his axe over his shoulder and stormed off.

From that day forward, any time the girl roamed the woods, the wolf accompanied her. By night, he slept at the foot of her bed. He wouldn’t let anyone harm his Little Red Riding Hood.

©2016 Lori Carlson. All rights reserved.

(689 Words)

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Each day in May, I will be participating in the StoryADay in May. Here is today’s prompt:

Via Julie – Re-write a fairytale