Hey There Little Red Riding Hood
“Hey there little red riding hood, you sure are looking good, you’re everything a big bad wolf could want.” -Sam Sham and the Pharaohs
Reds’ mother packed the basket silently, unable to look at her daughter, who was gathering things for the days journey, chattering happily, not seeming to notice that her mother wasn’t talking. Tears stood in the older womans eyes as she watched her daughter flit about gathering things up. Red was the spitting image of the older woman, Griselda, same strong features, same willowy figure, same tall, erect form but the most striking thing on both of them was their long, fiery red hair.
One the basket was packed with provisions and a nice lunch Griselda stood up and watched her daughter, biting her bottom lip to keep the tears from coming. Poor Red had no inkling of what was coming or that this was going to be the last time she saw her mother. The dear had deal had been made when Red was still and infant in her mothers arms. The war between the rival clans had decimated Griselda’s’ clan. When the deal was struck all that was left were a handful of women, including Griselda ad her new born girl. Deathica, her mother-in-law and the clan leaders mate, had made the best deal she could to spare what remained of her clan, the DarkHearts, so perhaps some day they could again flourish.
Once the deal was struck Griselda and Deathica had retreated deep within the dense Siberian forest, in accordance with the treaty, to raise Red. Their cabins were within several miles of each other and this was the only world Red had even known. She had grown from a chubby toddler to a gangly adolescent and finally to the beauty she now was in the forest without ever being around beings other than her mother and grandmother. An occasional glimpse of a hunter was all she ever saw of other beings. If she was curious or wanted for other company she had never mentioned it.
Her education was from her two matriarchs and was of the old ways passed down from mother to daughter for centuries. The history of her clan was taught to her but the war, its outcome and exactly what they were was never mentioned. If Red had ever wondered about any gaps in the history she had never once mentioned them.
