Grandmother Gave Me the Little

¶ … grandmother gave me the little red cap for my eighth birthday. Everyonein the village said it looked very good on me so I wore it almost every day. In fact, I wore the hat so often, after a few weeks, people started to call me "Little Red Cap," or "Little Red Riding Hood" with great affection. I loved my grandmother very much: she was the person most near and dear to me, and I believe she felt the same way about me as I did about her because she so often gave me gifts. She only lived a ten minute's walk from our house, so I tried to visit her at least once a week.

One spring morning the fresh scent of cherry pie wafted up to my room. When I came downstairs, my mother said, "Good morning Little Red! Your grandmother isn't feeling so well today. Why don't you bring her this pie, and this bottle of beer."

My mother handed me the two items in a lined wicker basket, gave me my coat and a kiss on the cheek and saw me to our front gate.

Little Red," she said before I took off. "I want you to promise me you won't stray from the path. If you trip and fall you will break the bottle and ruin the pie and your grandmother won't get her nice treats. Understand?"

Yes, mom," I answered.

And Little Red?" she said again, "Don't go prying through all your grandmother's things when you get there, now, be polite!" nodded and skipped down the path through the woods. It was a fine sunny day and the scrumptious scent of fresh flowers mingled with the aroma of cherry pie.

Suddenly a manly voice piped through the scented air.

Good Day little girl!" turned toward the voice. Before me stood a big gray wolf. He was smiling so big that I could see his fangs and the saliva sitting beneath his tongue. I had never seen a wolf before, and as far as I could see the creature seemed quite friendly.

Hello," I said tentatively, eager to reach grandma's house.

Nice day for walking through the Black Forest, don't you think?"

Yes," I responded, trying to be polite. The wolf smelled a little like sausages.

Why don't you bring along some of those lovely wildflowers for your grandmother," the wolf suggested. "I bet she would really appreciate them." glanced over to where he pointed. A patch of flowers danced in the sunlight like happy little children at play. I couldn't resist. I set down my basket and ran over to pluck daisies, pansies, and whatever else I could get my hands on. I didn't notice that the wolf had vanished from sight.

When I reached grandma's house, I proudly sauntered up the snakelike footpath to her front door. It was ajar, which didn't seem so strange since the air was so fresh and I'm sure in her weakened condition she liked to breathe deeply.

Good morning grandma!" I called out.

I'm in here, Little Red!" my Grandmother cried from the bedroom. Carrying the basket of goodies and her bouquet of wildflowers, I delicately opened her bedroom door. Poor grandmother was lying down, her bonnet nearly covering her elderly face. When I crept closer, I noticed that grandma's ears had grown hairy. I nearly gasped but wanting to sound mature, I simply said, "Grandma, you must really not be feeling well. Your ears, they look so large!"

Oh, the better to hear you with my dear. Now set down those goodies and come give me a kiss."

Her voice sounded hoarse, poor thing. She must have a cold. I then noticed that her eyes were bulging and moist.

Grandma, what big eyes you have too!"

The better to see you with, my dear!"

Grandma then reached out to hug me and I almost drew back. Her hands had swollen to twice their normal size.