"Scarlett!" 7 Year old Scarlett looked up from her spot, laying on the couch. She was watching TV, something about the Royal families and Prince Ben's birthday. Whatever.

"What?" She called back.

"Scarlett Rose Edon, I know you didn't just shout 'What' across the house at me." Scarlett sighed and rolled off the couch. It was a floral couch, Once it had been vibrant and colorful but after so many years and so many asses it was faded, dusty looking no matter how much time they spent cleaning it, and the cushions sagged, no longer able to spring back up when people got up off of it. Scarlett walked into the kitchen where her grandmother was literally up to her elbows in bread dough.

"Yeah?"

"Excuse you?"

"I mean, Yes, Grandma?" Scarlett corrected herself. Eliza Edon didn't take flack from anyone, especially her granddaughter.

"That's better. I'm out of Yeast and still have ten more loaves to bake." Grandma Edon was known for her fresh baked breads. They were always the hit of the City Market on Saturdays. "Get a ten dollar bill from my purse and run into town to get me some more." Scarlett nodded, but hesitated at the door. After a moment, Eliza sighed. "Alright, get a five out too and you can get a soda from the shop."

Scarlett brightened.

"Thank you Grandma!" She chirped and bounded out of the room, she found her Grandma's purse and took out two bills, a ten and a five, carefully folding them and slipping them into the back pocket of her jeans. She headed for the door, about to open it.

"And Scarlett, put on a jacket, it's getting chilly out." Scarlett pulled her hand away from the door knob and grabbed her red hoodie from the peg by the door. She slid her arms into it and pulled the hood up over her head to protect her ears before venturing out into the front yard. The Edon's farm was a modestly sized one. They had chickens, a few crops. Their main source of income had to be Grandma's baked goods and, Scarlett liked to think, the little painted rocks she sold alongside her Grandma's bread on Saturdays. Ten cents for the smaller ones, Twenty five cents for the bigger ones. She even managed to get a whole dollar for one once.

She headed out of the front gate, closing it behind her, she headed towards the forest. There were two ways to get to the town from Edon Farms. There was the road, it typically was fine to walk on it as long as she kept an eye out for passing trucks. Some zoomed by so quickly they nearly knocked her over. However the road took about twenty minutes to walk there and twenty back.

The other way was to cut through the woods. Grandma always told her to stay out of those woods, there were wild animals out there that would eat her up. However, what Grandma didn't know was that Scarlett had started going that way, it only took ten minutes to get to the town and it meant Scarlett had time to play in the arcade at the diner, as long as she remembered to bring some of her rock change with her.

Scarlett headed towards the woods, tucking her hands into the pockets of her jacket, glancing back to make sure Grandma wasn't watching before moving into the line of trees.

Scarlett had no idea why Grandma thought the forest was so bad. Yeah, she knew about her mom's story. About how Grandma had sent her daughter off to take a basket of goodies, and she was accosted by a big bad wolf, but in the end, everyone was okay. And, Scarlett reasoned, she was much smarter than that. She knew the difference between a wolf and her grandmother.

Scarlett had made it about half way when she heard someone whisper,

"Scarlett." She whirled, assuming her Grandma had seen her and followed her out.

"Hello?" She called out, looking around. She shook her head, she must have imagined it, but she had only made it about ten feet when she heard it again, someone whisper her name.

"Tommy, is that you? It's not funny. And I'm not afraid of you." Scarlett crossed her arms over her chest, blaming one of the boys from town. She went back to walking, moving a little faster. She heard her name again and she started to jog, then run. She just wanted out of the woods. She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She didn't know how to explain it but she knew something was wrong, that her Grandma was right, she should stay out of the woods.

Scarlett kept running glancing to the left, her heart nearly stopping as she saw a dark figure running between the trees. She knew she was close to the end of the woods. She just had to get a little further. She heard the figure coming closer, fewer trees between them.

She burst out of the woods, but didn't stop running until she got into town. She bought her Grandma's yeast, trying to tell someone about what happened, but no one had the time to listen. Scarlett headed back home, taking the long road, completely forgetting about the soda that was suppose to be her treat, all the girl wanted as to go home and to feel safe again on that old, faded floral couch.


You guys know that feeling when you have eighty story ideas and you want to start all of them? I'm going through that right now. It's both awesome and horrible. Anyway, I think I'm actually going to post the next chapter of The Guardians today too. I'm not sure. I mean, it's written.

Anyway, I have to get to work. Another chapter soon. Check out my tumblr for cool extras. Also Favorite, Follow and Review... you know... if you want.

Quixotic