Scarlet and the Wolf

"Finally! Took you long enough" grandma huffed. “Seriously,Scarlet, someone your age should be able to gather some berries in less than an entire hour.”

"Sorry, grandma",I mumbled, looking down. “I had to walk a bit to find the white-spotted berries-”

“And there you go again with the excuses. You talk too much, honestly. Go make yourself useful and get the washing done.”

"Yes,grandma".

While washing I kept thinking about what grandma said. Am I really that slow? That useless? I shook the thoughts away. My mama,when she was alive, always told me I was smart. She loved me. Thinking of her always brought a smile to my face,but when I think of living with Grandma my whole life.........I suppressed a shiver. Grandma was my father's mother; and I have never known my father. Was he like this too? Fussy, bitter and always angry? I found that hard to believe. My mama would never have married such a man. When she was alive,we lived in a nice cottage at the edge of the woods, and we always went into the forest together to pick fruits and herbs. But after her death, I have to live with Grandma in the clearing deep inside the forest. With a sigh,I gathered up the washed clothes in a basket and went to hang them up.

“Scarlet! Scarlet! What has the girl got up to now? Scarlet!”

"I'm here,grandma", I panted, having run over from where I was setting the table for dinner.

“Took your time coming over,huh? Well now,go and get me some blue peaches for my dinner.”

“Now? But I've prepared dinner, I've made-”

“I don't want to eat any of that.  Get me some blue peaches,and go now!”

“But grandma, it's night! How can I go into the forest in the dark? The moon's not up tonight.”

“Well,take a lantern.Are you hoping I'd change my mind if you keep giving excuses,Scarlet? Show a little more gratitude for all I do for you and go get the peaches.”

So I left the house on that dark night to get peaches for my grandmother,only a candle in my hand. I took my mother's old red hood from my bedroom and wrapped it around myself. I tried to imagine my mother was there with me,guiding me through the dark forest. I knew the peach tree was only a short distance away from my grandmother's house,but I seemed to be walking forever. At last, I felt like I couldn't do it any longer,and I stopped. I knew I shouldn't,but I just couldn't keep going anymore. I saw a big tree near where I was,and I went to lean against it. 

Immediately,a bright light flooded the place. I gasped and tried to shield my eyes from the glare. When they adjusted,I saw a huge shape looming over me. I couldn't make out its shape at first.....but once I did,I almost screamed. But I couldn't find my voice. It was a huge wolf,with grey and white fur intermingled on its body, and orange eyes like molten lava. It stood staring at me,not blinking,for what felt like forever, but probably only was a couple of minutes. Finally,it moved back a bit,and growled, “Who are you? Why did you invade my territory?”

"I-I-I am S-Scarlett,my lord. And I came here to.....for my grandma....she..." I tried to tell my story properly and explain myself,but I could barely keep my head straight. I was terrified, and all I could manage was stammering out words. The wolf had heard enough, however.

“Your grandma! You invaded my territory because of your grandmother?”

"No! I mean,kind of,yes,but it's complicated,I mean,I didn't mean to come here,I was just looking for peaches and I think I got lost...." I was full on rambling now,and I was unsure the wolf was even paying attention to my words. But after a while it looked thoughtful,and nodded. “So you didn't mean to come in here? Hmm I see. Well then,I would give you one chance to get out of my lair.”

"You-you would? Thank you,O great wo-" The wolf glared at me. I turned and started running.

I ran and ran till I couldn't anymore. I didn't know where I was,and I had lost the candle at some point. But I didn't care about any of that. I still had my mother's hood,and blindly I tried to feel my way to grandma's house. I was already tired from having walked all the way into the woods,and the encounter with the wolf had left me badly shaken. Still,I persisted. Finally,finally,I saw a small ray of light in the darkness. I dared to hope that I was close to my destination,that the light was kept on by grandma, waiting for her beloved blue peaches. I pushed myself to keep going, just a little further. Several minutes later,I collapsed just inside the doorway of the house.

I heard a woman's voice nearby. "Ah,Scarlett! What happened,child? Why are you in such a state?" I froze. It was my grandma's voice,but.....it wasn't. My grandma never talks so kindly. She would never ask after my wellbeing first,if she asked at all. I expected her to have thrown a tantrum about blue peaches by now. Instead,she was concerned about me. That wasn't.......it wasn't the way things were done in our household. I looked up at her face,and she looked like grandma,but her face was much more kind,and she didn't look angry or on the verge of yelling,which had virtually never happened before. I shakily rose to my feet. Best to go with the flow, and apologize before she could start yelling at me. "I'm sorry grandma,I couldn't find the blue peaches you wanted. I got lost,and there was this big wolf-" She looked confused for a moment,as if she didn't know what I was talking about,but then her face cleared. "Ah,yes,the peaches. Well,never mind the peaches now,dear,you need to rest. Come, sit on this chair." Dear? Who was this woman and what has she done with my grandma? I was too tired to think more about it, however. I gladly accepted her hand and sat down. She brought me some food (the miracles never cease) and helped me to my room when I was finished.

When I woke up the next morning,I felt like something was off for a moment. Then I realised that I'd been woken by the sunshine creeping into my room, and not by grandma's voice yelling at me. I slowly remembered the events of last night. Remembering the wolf had me shaking,but I was also weary of this sudden change in grandmother's behaviour. Why was she being so nice all of a sudden? I remembered mentioning grandma to the big wolf last night. Did the wolf do some sort of magic on her? That didn't make much sense. Even if it did any magic,why would it make grandma nice? Wouldn't it want to kill...............A sudden thought occurred to me. No, surely that can't be? I shook my head as if to shake off the thought and got up to do my chores for the day. 

More surprises awaited for me, however. I soon found that the washing and dishes from last night had been done,and grandma had also started cooking. When she saw me,she smiled. “Good morning,Scarlett,honey. How are you after yesterday?”

“I-I'm well,thanks, grandma. Have you finished all the chores already?”

“Ahh,yes,yes I did. I was up early,you see,so I thought I might as well. But you can come help me cook now! I'm cooking stew!”

"Stew?" I went over to the stove. Sure enough, big pieces of meat were floating around in the soup. Off to one corner,I saw some more meat, enough to feed us both for 4 days at least. "But,grandma," I looked at her, “where did you find all this meat?”

This time, I was sure she looked startled by the question,but she composed herself quickly. "Ah,I bought it yesterday,of course. I was saving it for today! Isn't this a nice surprise?" "Oh,yes,of course," I mumbled uneasily,now certain that something was wrong. My grandma has never bothered with housework from the time I was nine or ten. She taught me how to do everything and then left all the work to me. The most she contributed was yelling for me at intervals to finish this chore or that. This woman standing near me was not my grandma. At that moment, I was terrified, because I had a very good idea about who it was instead. And that meat in the stew........could it be.......could it be grandma? The very thought was enough to make me nauseous. But I couldn't decide what to do. Confront her-it? That could go very, very bad for me. So I decided to stay silent for now,and pretend to be as calm as possible. “Grandma,can I go exploring in the woods then? I can bring some fruit for us.”

“Oh,sure,dear. But don't go too far,and be back soon.”

As I walked through the forest, I thought about why the wolf would come into our house and pretend to be grandma. And how? Is it some kind of sorcery,or illusion? I was almost certain that it was the wolf,and also that the meat for the stew was.....I couldn't think of that without wanting to vomit....my grandmother's body. How,then,does the wolf had the same body? I could understand why it would want to kill grandma,but why stick around, pretending to be her......? Suddenly,I stopped in my track as a sudden thought came into my mind. A chill seemed to seep into my marrow as I realised the wolf's next target could be....well,me. But then I frowned, because it seemed unnecessarily complicated. The wolf could have killed me easily last night. It could have killed me at any point when I was sleeping and even this morning. I considered my options. Confronting the wolf could be dangerous, but merely living with the wolf was dangerous enough. Can I run away? But I had nowhere to go,my grandmother was my only living relative. After much thought and roaming around,I noticed noon approaching,and hurried home,still indecisive. But once I saw "grandma" 

eating the stew in our dining table,my resolve hardened. Maybe it was foolish,but confronting the wolf was much better than waiting for it to kill me. I slowly walked inside and sat down on a chair. 

"Dear Scarlet, you're back! I was starting to worry! Here,have some food." She/it said, passing me some stew.

I looked at her/it dead on,and said flatly, "I'd rather not eat my grandma. I know you killed her, and I know you're the wolf I met last night." 

Silence. The wolf stared at me,and it was beyond bizarre to see that calculating gaze in grandma's face,but I reminded myself that this isn't grandma. That grandma is dead.

Finally,the wolf spoke. “You're clever. Yes,indeed, I am not your grandma. And yes I did kill her. That is the punishment for trespassing in my lair.”

“Then I suppose you're going to kill me now,too?”

The wolf looked surprised. “You? No. Why would I kill you?”

It was my turn to be surprised. “What do you mean? I-I entered your lair! You just told me the punishment for that-”

“Ah,but you were acting on your grandmother's instructions. You are but a child, it was your grandmother who was the real culprit. I realised soon that you were not to blame.”

"So-what, you're just going to let me go?" I said in disbelief. “Then why are you even here, pretending to be grandma?”

"Ah," the wolf sighs. “I stayed in your house to protect you, I suppose. I knew it must be hard for you,losing your grandma. I didn't want-”

I laughed out loud at that. And laughed. And laughed. The wolf watched me,looking concerned. After what seemed like forever,I was finally able to form words. "It's not-" laughter threatened to overcome me again. "It's not like that. At all. I'm glad she's dead. We've known each other for about a day,but you've already treated me a lot better than she ever had. You actually treated me like a granddaughter. She-she" this time anger threatened to overwhelm me as I laid bare everything to the wolf. How my grandma treated me,how I've had to put up with her because I had nowhere else to go,how she basically treated me like a slave, how I ended up so deep in the forest just because she had a craving, and somewhere along the way I realised I was crying. The wolf was looking at me sympathetically,still wearing my grandma's face. That jars me out of my ramblings,and I finish lamely, "So yeah. I hated her, and I'm glad that she's dead." The wolf nodded. Then it said thoughtfully, “But,now that she's dead,you don't have anywhere to go,right? So what would you do?”

I tilted my chin up,defiant. "I'll live here,of course. I have always done all the work, anyway. I know where to find food. I'll be fine on my own. Better than I was with her, really." The wolf hesitated for a moment, before saying, “All right. But I think you should get a dog,for protection. I have some relatives-”

"That's not a bad idea. But wait," I narrowed my eyes. "Why do you care about my protection?" The wolf looked embarrassed. “I suppose I've grown somewhat fond of you. You have gone through enough already. I don't want any harm to come to you.”

Unbidden,tears welled in my eyes. This wolf,whom I had thought a monster,is a nicer creature than my grandma,who,by all accounts,was human. I swallowed and managed to say, “Thank you. You said you had relatives......?”

"Yes indeed. The most majestic dogs in this forest. I'll send one of them over to you in a few days." The wolf resumed his true form then,and said, “Farewell,Scarlet. Oh,and you still cannot come in my lair.”

I smiled. “I'll keep that in mind.”

Three days later,I was washing my clothes when I heard a sound at my door,like someone's bumping their body against it. I open the door to find a large brown dog. The dog looks at me and says,"You are Scarlet?"

I stared at the dog in surprise. “You can talk??”

The dog looks offended. “Yes,of course I can talk. I'm Toby.”

“Um, it's very nice to meet you,Toby.”

Toby moved inside my house,sniffing, “Nice house you got here.”

“Thanks.”

“You got any treats?”

I laughed. “Yes,yes,I have treats. Come to the kitchen.”

2 years have gone by after that. Me and Toby are still living in the house that belonged to my grandmother,the house that I once hated and have now come to love, because now we've made happy memories here.