Rida Hood was a nice, sweet girl. She was twelve years old and had ruby red ringlets. She was also quite short for age. So people called her Little Red Rida Hood. Rida lived with her mother in a city by the name of Forest. One day, her mother asked Rida to send her poor sick grandmother a cooler of food. Her grandmother lived all the way across town, so Rida left the next morning.
Rida walked through Forest, nibbling on some of the food from her grandmother's cooler. She saw a man wearing a gray trench coat, hat, and pants up ahead. He was smoking a cigarette. She was planning on just walking by the man, but he spoke to her:
"Little girl," his raspy voice said, "What do you have in that cooler?"
"Some food for my sick grandmother," Little Red Rida Hood said, for although she was a nice girl, she wasn't very smart, and didn't know not to talk to strangers.
"Oh, I'm sorry, little girl. Is she very sick?" the gray man asked.
"I'm not sure. Bronchitis, I think."
"Would you mind if I had just a bit of food from that cooler?" the man asked. "I'm so hungry and I forgot my wallet at home."
"Alright," Rida said, taking out an apple. The man took it eagerly.
"Thank you, little girl. What's you name, dear?"
"Rida Hood. What's yours?"
"Mr. Wolfe."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Wolfe," Rida said. "Bye!"
Little Red Rida Hood kept walking through the streets of Forest until finally she came to her grandmother's apartment building. She said hello to the doorman and went up to her grandmother's apartment and rang the doorbell.
"Come in!" she heard a scratchy voice call, and she let herself in.
Her grandmother was in bed. Only it wasn't really her grandmother at all. Rida didn't know that, though.
"Hello, Grandmother!" Rida said. "I brought you some food in this cooler."
"Thank you," the fake grandmother said in a quiet, raspy voice.
"Oh, Grandmother, why is your voice so raspy?" Rida questioned.
"It's the bronchitis, dear," the fake grandmother replied.
"And Grandmother, I never noticed… you sure have some big ears!"
"The better to hear you with, my dear."
"And Grandmother, your eyes are so huge and gray…"
"The better to see you with, my dear."
"Oh, and Grandmother… what a big rope you have in your hands!" Rida yelled panicky.
"The better to tie you up with my dear!!"
The fake grandmother, who was indeed Mr. Wolfe, started to tie Rida up. Rida screamed, but he gagged her with a bandana. He threw her into the closet, where she found her grandmother, tied up and gagged as well.
Mr. Wolfe opened the cooler and started eating a BLT sandwich. He was hungry, all right.
Now the doorman, who was called Woodsman, had seen Mr. Wolfe run into that apartment building. He had also heard Rida screaming from that building. And although a scream didn't necessarily mean trouble, he decided to check it out anyway.
Woodsman wasn't sure where to start, so he just walked up the stairs of the apartment building, looking for any suspicious behavior. When he got to the third floor, he noticed the door was slightly open to one of the rooms. He knocked and opened the door and stepped in. He saw Mr. Wolfe eating the food from the cooler.
"Where's Mrs. Hood and her granddaughter?" Woodsman asked.
Mr. Wolfe looked up. He stared at Woodsman.
"They went for a walk."
"Funny, I never saw them leave," Woodsman said, very suspicious of this man in gray.
Mr. Wolfe shrugged, still eating. "That's your problem."
Woodsman heard pounding. Pounding against wood. Mr. Wolfe heard it, too. Woodsman heard it coming from the closet. He walked over and opened the door.
Little Red Rida Hood and her grandmother tumbled out.
Woodsman turned around to talk to Mr. Wolfe, but he wasn't there. He had run off with the cooler. Woodsman untied Rida and Mrs. Hood. They were very thankful to him.
Eventually the police found Mr. Wolfe. They arrested him and put him in jail. Rida promised her grandmother and mother she wouldn't talk to strangers again. And, most importantly, Rida's mother didn't let her child walk around Forest alone anymore.
The End