"I can take care of myself…"
Little Red thinks she can handle what life throws her way. But when Momma G asks her to come for a visit, it means a walk through the forbidden woods to get there. Can Little Red handle the dangers and the unknown to get to Momma G's house? Or will she let fear of the unknown grab her by the cloak?
Little Red; Not so Little
Everyone who reads my story always thinks I'm just some helpless little girl who doesn't have any way of defending myself. They don't realize that I take care and don't need anyone to help me. Everyone is scared of the big bad wolf, but not me! I can stare that wolf right into his eyes and he runs away with his tail between his legs. On a day like any other, Momma G called me saying she wanted me to come and visit with some of the delicious cookies that I frequently make. The poor little lady lives all by herself, but without a care in the world. So anyway, as Momma G talked to me on the phone, she warned me about the forbidden woods that I would have to go through. I told her I was going to be just fine. *slam* I hung up the receiver. By the time I got everything together to get ready to go, dusk had already begun to set in. Normally, the average person would be scared to death to go out at dusk; but going into the forbidden woods at dusk would totally freak anyone out. Me? Nah! As I gathered my cloak and my cookie basket, I set out down the pathway that leads to the forbidden woods. As I walked down the path, I started to hear some rustling in the bushes. I started to get annoyed with myself because I'm not the type to get scared; and I actually felt my heart quicken. I found myself walking a bit faster and before I knew it, I was running down the path. What was wrong with me?! I could feel the presence of something behind me and as I was running down the path, my foot caught onto a rock and I fell flat on my face. I turned around to face the shadow behind me and found myself shrieking
"Don't eat me!!" To my embarrassment, a little white rabbit was sitting there looking at me with confusion. Even in the dim light, I could see his little blue jacket and bowtie.
"I wasn't going to eat you," he said; his right ear was twitching as he talked. "I could smell your delicious cookies all the way down from the thicket, and I wanted to know if I could have one." At first, I just kind of blinked and looked at him. After all, you don't meet a talking rabbit every day, not to mention one wearing a jacket and bow tie.
"Um sure," I said. "But I need to get these to Momma G while they are hot. Why don't you join me, and when we get to momma G's house, we can have some together?" The little rabbit gave be a toothy grin and nodded. I took that as a yes and started walking along the darkened path; I could hear the rabbit hopping along behind me. By this time, I had to start squinting to see where I was going and not only that, I was starting to feel a bit more nervous. How could a girl who was never scared of anything in her life, all of a sudden be scared? As if the rabbit was reading my mind, he hopped in front of me; making me pause in my walk.
"It looks light we need some sort of lighting to help us find our way..." I just rolled my eyes when he said that.
"What do you suggest there, Mr. furry?"
He hopped over to the edge of the path and picked up a mushroom, broke it in half. Within a few seconds, I could see the mushroom starting to glow. "Ah, thank you Mr. –" I had started to thank him. "My name is guidance" he said.
That struck me as odd because you normally don't meet a rabbit named guidance. Generally they are named "fluffy" or "Peter", but guidance? As we walked along, well, at least one of us walked. Guidance hopped along in front of me lighting the way. As we came into a narrower spot into the road, Guidance warned me of what was ahead.
"You may want to watch your step here Little Red, sometimes the path can be a bit… Well, sticky."
With that, he hopped on with the glowing mushrooms, leaving me to follow right behind.
"Wait for me!!" I started to run after him. Before I knew it, Guidance and the dim light had disappeared. As I walked on to find him, owls hooted and my cloak snagged onto branches. My heart start to quicken as I ran down the path; but I was suddenly stopped when I couldn't take another step. Was it just me or did I start to sink? Before I knew what was happening, I found myself getting lower and slower. It was at this point in time that I remembered guidance's words; "You may want to watch your step there Little Red, sometimes the path can be a bit… Well, sticky." Quick sand. I should have figured it would be in a forbidden forest. I mean, it's one of the reasons it would be forbidden.
"Help! Help!" I tried to struggle, but it only made me sink faster.
" Hold on, I'll get you out!" I heard a voice in the darkness. "Reach your arms out!" I felt something furry with my hand. "Now hold on tight!" As I did, I felt myself being lifted out of the sand and onto dry ground.
"W-Who are you?" I stammered. So much for being Mrs. 'I can take care of myself'… I was highly annoyed at myself for being such a wimp.
"My name is Strength" the gruff voice said. What was it with these names?
"Ok, rather than WHO are you, WHAT are you?" I was feeling the fuzziness of the creature that stood in front of me. Maybe I didn't want to know what it was.
"I'm a black bear, but don't worry my dear, I already had my dinner." He laughed a deep husky laugh. "Pray tell, what is a little girl like you doing in a forest like this? Especially after dark! It is very dangerous out here…" He paused long enough for me to hear the foreign sounds of the forest. I crossed my arms and tried to sound brave.
"I'm headed to Momma G's house. She wanted me to bring her some cookies…" I paused and gasped. "My Cookies!!! I must have lost them in the quick sand along with my basket! A-And I'm not little!! I-I can take care of myself!!" At this point, I was angry not only at the bear who thought I was helpless, but that I had lost the cookies and wondered if it was worth going on. Strength only laughed at me and told me to climb up on his back.
"I'll take you to momma G's house. Wouldn't want you to run into the big bad wolf, now do we?" I managed to find my way onto Strength's back as he started to trudge down the path. Strength noticed I was really quiet; and asked me what was wrong. I had proceeded to tell him how I was confused by the fact I had always been brave. And now that I was here in the dark, I was scared. And I had been out walking in the dark in forests before.
"Well Little Red, sometimes we have to realize that being brave isn't the same as having true courage."
Now the bear had me really confused. Wasn't courage something where you weren't afraid of anything?
"What if you're the bravest person of them all?" I couldn't help but wondering.
"Being brave doesn't mean you don't have courage, but it merely means sacrificing yourself or something for someone else. True courage doesn't always come from the outside, but it comes from within you."
When he said that, it made me realize I had never thought about it like that before. There was a moment of silence and all that could be heard was the chirping of crickets and the crunching of the leaves and gravel under Strength's feet. The it hit me like a brick falling from the sky. The names of the two animals I met tonight; Strength and Guidance. Those were two qualities of having true courage. It's having the strength to help others and to sacrifice yourself or something for someone. Having the strength to be a true leader; guiding and leading people to do the right things. I had never thought about it like that before. I no longer felt scared; I knew what true courage was now and no longer had to be ashamed of being scared. I felt myself smile through the darkness and slowly leaned forward on Strength's back. As I slowly closed my eyes, I knew that Strength would soon have me to Momma G's house safe and sound. I knew Guidance would be there waiting to lead us to the door where I would be safe. Then maybe I could learn how to have true courage; courage from the heart.