Twisted Tales: Little Red Riding Hood by Mahima Kedlaya

Blanchette, a young girl who lived in a small village near the forest. Her beautiful chocolate hair, piercing ocean eyes, and pale complexion made her unforgettable. Although she was ripe of age, she was beloved by all in her town. She lived alone in a small cottage with her mother, although her grandmother lived nearby as well. Blanchette did not visit her grandmother often due to the deep forest that intervened their houses. One morning Blanchette had the sudden urge to visit her grandmother as it had been years since she had last seen her. Reluctantly her mother agreed and gave her a small woven basket filled with an assortment of baked goods. The aroma of the sweets filled the air, tempting her, but she knew she had to give them to her grandmother. Blanchette picked up the basket, put on her show white cloak, bid her mother farewell, and started walking towards the woods. Suddenly she heard her mother’s calls, cautioning her not to dawdle along the way and talk to strangers, pleading her to be wary of her surroundings. Blanchette happily agreed as she was excited to be reunited with her grandma. As she strolled through the woods, she noticed many patches of red roses lining the path to her grandmother’s house. They were the most beautiful flowers she had ever seen, but as she went to pick them she noticed hundreds of thorns surrounding them. All the bushes had an abundance of these thorns, rendering it impossible to pick the flowers. But, Blanchette was mesmerized by their captivating color Blanchette forgot her promise to her mother and sat down near the bushes, admiring their beauty and listening to the hums and croaks of the animals nearby. The warm sky shone above her hiding any lurking shadows nearby. Swiftly a dark figure crept behind her, Blanchette unknowingly continued to pick the roses. Suddenly, the dark figure moved in front of her, unveiling himself. "What are you doing out here, little girl?" the creature asked in a voice as friendly as he could muster. "I'm on my way to see my Grandma who lives through the forest, near the brook,” Blanchette naively replied. She soon immediately noticed the sun setting and realizing how late it had become she quickly excused herself, rushing down the path towards her grandmother’s house. The cunning creature took a shortcut, dashing towards the grandmother’s cottage, and gently knocked on the door. The grandmother peered through the window before opening the door as it was late outside and she knew many animals lurked nearby. To her horror, the figure outside of her door was not her granddaughter but a large creature. Its eyes pultruding from its head, claws the size of tree branches, and teeth, strong enough to chew through bone. The grandmother was paralyzed in fear, as the creature started to grow impatient waiting by the door to devour its new victim. Minutes passed and Blanchette finally grew close to her grandmother’s cottage. She immediately saw the creature towering over the door, ready to kill her fearful grandmother, and ran behind a tree to stay hidden. Her mind raced, in a matter of minutes, the creature would break the door killing her grandmother and then her as well. As fate would have it, Blanchette noticed some gigantic patches of rose bushes behind her. Hastily, she jumped in front of the tree yelling at the creature, drawing its anger away from the cottage and towards her. Immediately the creature started running towards her, blinded by hunger and rage. Blanchette dashed behind the tree and jumped in the other direction. The creature chasing after her did not have her agility and ran behind the tree straight into the rose bushes. Blanchette gasped in relief as she saw the creature being pricked by the thousands of thorns in the bushes. Injured, and unable to move the creature slowly gave its last dying breaths, as its body laid, covered in blood in the bush. Blanchette was overwhelmed with gratitude as it were those red rose bushes that saved her and her grandmother’s lives. She then slowly took off her white cloak and placed it over the creature’s corpse. Its blood stained the cloak, impurifying the show white fabric. The bright red spread its way through the entire cloak leaving it a beautiful red rose color. Blanchette then put the blood-stained cloak on reminding her of the fragility of life, her lost innocence, and the enchanting red roses.