Little Red by Carl East

Little Red
     
    I’ve always hated being called Little
Red. Ok, I’m small for my age, but it was only cute when I was ten
years old. Now that I’m twenty-one and all grown up, I find it so
annoying. Still, I shouldn’t complain. I’ve had a good life in the
Enchanted Woods, even though as each year passes, I grow more
restless, waiting for something exciting to happen in my
life.
    A few days after my twenty-first
birthday party, I’d received a parcel through the post. Wondering
what it was and excited to see, I opened the box and discovered a
carefully packed birthday cake and a short red dress tucked inside.
My Grandmother Rose had sent the gift and enclosed a beautiful card
with a note, apologizing for not being able to come to the
celebration. In her message, she also let me know that there was a
new short cut in the Enchanted Woods. I would save thirty minutes
if I took the new route during my weekly visit to her.
    Now, I’ve always been a good girl. I
followed all the rules, which included never going out late at
night or straying from the path in the Enchanted Woods. Yet, this
note from my grandmother seemed a bit odd. Carefully reading the
card again, I decided that it was just my imagination, as I knew
that she would never steer me wrong. Since I had planned on going
to her cottage that day, I packed the usual goodies in my basket
and decided to wear her gift, the dress that she had
sent.
    I was surprised when I first took the
dress out of the box at how short it was, but I was shocked when I
finally put it on. The dress did fit me, but only just. The bodice
was very tight and low cut, and my breasts were barely covered.
Checking my reflection in the mirror, I saw that the hem came down
to the top of my upper thighs, so I decided to wear my white
stockings. Checking the mirror again, I saw that they just met the
edge of the hem, and were a nice complement to the dress. Slipping
on white panties and my black buckled shoes, I picked up my basket,
threw on my red hooded cape for modesty sake and locked the front
door, heading off to see my Grandma Rose.
    I reached the woods fifteen minutes
later and sure enough, there was a brand new path, with a sign
saying Enchanted Path. I knew that anything enchanted protected the
traveler from evil magic, so I entered the woods believing that I
was safe.
    I skipped along the path, remembering
my previous uneasiness, and laughed at my unnecessary worry. Then,
the light began to dim and the trail of the path faded away to be
replaced by a dark, dense, forest. At first, I began to panic,
thinking that I’d been tricked; but at the height of my fear I
spotted a light shining through the trees in front of me and I
began to head towards it. Fighting my way through the prickly
thistles and the thickly tangled vines, I managed to break through
to a clearing where I saw a large figure of what I thought was a
man kneeling in the center.
    “ Hello sir, could you help
me?” I said.
    The figure slowly stood up to its full
height and then turned to face me. The stranger wore a long gray
cape that covered his body, and I couldn’t even see his face
because of the enveloping hood that obscured it. I slowly walked
towards him wondering who he was and what he was doing in the
Enchanted Woods.
    “ Do you know how long it
took me to arrange that entire enchantment, my dear? All for the
love of a woman who didn’t even know that I existed?” he said, as I
drew nearer.
    “ If you’re referring to me,
I don’t know who you are, so how could I have known you existed,” I
replied feeling more apprehensive.
    “ Oh, how rude of me, I’m the
Big Bad Werewolf of course,” he said and then removed his
hood.
    I screamed and took a few steps back.
He had the furry face of a dark-gray wolf, with pointed ears, a
long snout and sharp white teeth. He strode towards me and as he
did so, his billowing cape fell to the floor, revealing the rest of
his wolf-like body. He walked upright, on strong