A Girl in Red
The girl shivers in the darkness of the surrounding trees as tears stream down her face. A few gasping sobs are the only things able to come out of her mouth.
"Oh, Margaret, you are a fool..." She murmurs to herself.
Her short strawberry-blond hair blows in the gusty winds, covering her face. The red hoodie she wears is too big for her, sagging over her blue jeans.
The wolf is still.
She notices that it's getting darker and colder as day turns into night. Her breathing calms. Margaret hugs herself in a effort to keep herself warm and starts heading back, thinking about a warm supper, away from the dreary woods of bare trees. She starts walking down the stone path.
A snowflake drops on her hair and she feels the cold, freezing touch on her skin. She groans about being in the chilling snow unprepared and decides to take a shortcut through the dark woods.
Quiet in the shadows, the wolf creeps beneath her.
Snow falls in wet clumps, catching in her hair. She pulls the hoodie over her soft curls. The wolf admits quietly that she fits the picture perfectly in the strange night with no stars. A pale comparison to the real thing, like a moon caught in the trees.
Regret claims her as she keeps struggling past the snow, seeing only tree after tree. There is no lights for her to follow, nothing for her to run to. She stops and leans against a tree. Her breath comes in clouds.
She is small and weak. The wolf takes a step forward.
Her head shoots up, staring the wolf in the eyes. The girl relaxes with a slight stiffness in her shoulders.
"Do you know where the nearest town is?" She stumbles toward the wolf. "Please, I'm lost. Could I borrow your cellphone, something?"
Her eyes are bloodshot from the old tears. The wolf is reminded that this is not her, will never be her. She would never be so weak, so grating.
"Little girl," The wolf slowly smirks as he walks closer toward her, "doesn't your mother warn you about strangers?"
The terror on her face strokes his desire and the wolf grabs the edge of her red hoodie before she could run.
He devours her.