"Your Grandmamma is very
ill," said Red Riding Hood's mother one day.
"Take this basket of food to her. There's soup and cake and
fruit and biscuits. I'm sure it will make her feel much
better."
So the little girl put on her red velvet cloak with the red velvet hood which her Grandmamma had made for her for Christmas. She wore it everywhere. That was why everyone called her Little Red Riding Hood. As she set off into the forest, her mother called after her, "Make sure you come home before dark. And remember - whatever you do, don't talk to any strangers!"
Red Riding Hood had never been to her Grandmother's cottage deep in the forest, and she skipped along, swinging her basket of presents.
But when she halfway there, she suddenly heard a gruff voice close behind her. "Where are you going, Little Red Riding Hood?"
"I'm going to visit Grandmamma," said Red Riding Hood, who seemed not to notice the stranger's sharp teeth and piercing, yellow eyes. "She's very ill and my mother has made her some cakes and soup and biscuits. Look."
The wolf poked his nose into the basket. "Hm. Very nice, though I don't eat that sort of thing myself. Don't you think she would like some flowers as well?" He pointed out some pretty clumps of primroses growing under the trees.
"I'm sure if I was ill, I'd feel much better if somebody brought me flowers."
"What a lovely idea!" said Red Riding Hood. But then she remembered what her mother had said about not talking to strangers. "But she can't mean that I shouldn't talk to someone as kind as this!"
She set down her basket and began gathering Primroses. It took a long time, and when she turned back to the path, her basket brimming with flowers, there was no sign of the kind stranger.
By that time, the wolf had run on ahead, and reached Grandmamma's cottage. He gave a loud knock on the door and called out in a small, piping voice, "It's me, Granny, Red Riding Hood. Can I come in?"
"Lift the latch, my dear. I'm too ill to come to the door."
So the wolf let himself into the cottage and found the old lady sitting up in bed, dressed in her bonnet and shawl. With a sudden leap, he pounced on to the bed and swallowed her down in one great gulp.
The big, bad wolf drew the bedroom curtains to shut out the daylight. Then he went to the wardrobe and found himself a nightdress, bonnet and shawl. A few minutes later, Red Riding Hood knocked on the cottage door. "Lift the latch, my dear," he said, in an old lady's voice. "I'm too poorly to come to the door."
So Red Riding Hood let herself in. "Mother has sent you this basket of food, Grandmamma, and I have picked you these flowers. I do hope you're feeling better today."
All the better for seeing you, Red Riding Hood!" said the wolf. "Come in! Come in! And close the door."
Red Riding Hood stepped closer, and put the basket down on the bed. She saw the wolf's large ears poking out of the pink nightcap. "My! What big ears you have, Grandmamma!"
"All the better to hear you with my dear!" said the wolf. "Now, come closer and let me hold your hand.
Grandmamma's hands seemed awfully rough and hairy, but Red Riding Hood stroked them tenderly. "Oh! What big eyes you have, Grandmamma!"
A pair of yellow eyes flashed from under the nightcap. "All the better to see you with, my dear!" The thought of eating Red Riding Hood made him grin from ear to ear.
"And what big teeth you have, Grandmamma!"
"All the better to eat you with, my dear!" cried the wolf. And throwing back the covers, he pounced on Little Red Riding Hood and wolfed her down in one gulp - hood, coat and all!
A few minutes later, a woodcutter was passing the old lady's cottage and, knowing that Granny Hood was poorly, he decided to visit her. But what strange noise was this coming from inside? He peeped though the window... and saw the wolf lying on the bed fast asleep.
In an instant, he guessed what had happened. He crept into the cottage and with a sharp knife cut open the stomach of the sleeping wolf. And who should step out but Little Red Riding Hood and her Grandmamma! The woodcutter put his finger to his lips, "Shhhhh. Fetch me some stones from the garden as quick as you can."
The woodcutter tucked the stones into the stomach of the sleeping wolf. Then he sewed up the cut he had made with his knife, and crept into the next room with Grandmamma and Little Red Riding Hood.
The wolf woke with a start. "What a nightmare I was having! I shouldn't have eaten so much." And feeling very thirsty, he rushed down to the river for a drink. With the weight of rocks inside him, he overbalanced and plummeted to the bottom of the river. And that was the end of the big, bad wolf.
Little Red Riding Hood gave her Grandmamma the basket of food, and the old lady ate it and felt quite well again. Saying goodbye to her Granny and the woodcutter, Red Riding Hood walked safely home through the forest - and never spoke to strangers ever again.
Story Time � 1984-1989 by Rubicon Press CC