INKDAUGHTER
The Third Silver Tongue
Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in a village near the forest. Whenever she went out, the little girl wore a red riding cloak, so everyone in the village called her Little Red Riding Hood.
"Scarlet, get down here this instant!" my mum called.
"Coming mother, I am coming!"
I hate putting a book down while in the middle of starting it. Yes, it may only be homework but I love reading. I guess I take after my mother, Meggie. She wants me to go somewhere special tonight and told me to pack my suitcase. I don't know why, but she seems frantic about it. We must be late for the plane. She told me to pack my favourite things and make sure I don't leave anything I need behind. She never tells me where we are going.
I darted down stairs and I was rushed out of the door. My grandfather, Mortimer (we call him Mo for short), was sitting in the front seat. He didn't look that old though, he was quite young for what he was called, grandfather. It was a bit weird seeing my grandfather was going with us on our trip; normally he would hate to come. He told me never to read aloud but I did in class all the time. He never read aloud to me and he was always over. He used to tuck me into bed at night and Meggie looked up to him. He sang to me but when I asked him to read he snarled and said he was never to hear such a word.
The car started and mum double checked that we had everything. She ran up to the front door once more to check that she had locked it. She looked inside sadly and then ran back to the car. I saw hatred in her eyes and she tried not to show it. She pressed her foot on the gas.
Mum raced off down the road and didn't look back, and I was still wondering what the fuss was about. I was about to speak but Mo stopped me in my tracks. "Don't speak Scarlet; your mother needs to concentrate." Whatever she needed to concentrate on it must not be that important if we are going on holiday. But I do what my grandfather says because he is my only grandfather. My other grandparents, except for Mo's wife, are all well, dead and they didn't care about me that much.
We arrived at an airport, and it was late, my eyes were drooping but I still wanted to know what was going on. I saw a shadow linger in the distance and I felt like someone was watching me. Mo kept telling me to stand in front of him and not to stray away. But I wouldn't listen. He kept yelling at me but I just ignored him. And then something snapped beneath me. There were twigs everywhere and then Mo told me to drop everything. Meggie ran into the airport and Mo and I ran into the surrounding bush.