Not for children or impressionable adults to read!

by Cheryl Henry Hodgetts, aka Laurie Foston


©The Wolf’s Side
(The truth about Little Red Riding Hood)

They call me the big bad wolf. They have been calling me that forever, since that meanie, "Little Red Riding Hood", and her grandmother told a story about me that was not true. But, as the old saying goes, “What goes around, comes around!”

I don’t have any reason to tell you a lie. I’m a good wolf.


One beautiful spring day while I was lying in a bed of wild flowers, safely guarding some nearby sheep when I heard a voice call to me.

“Good morning, Wolf!”

I turned my head in the direction of the voice and saw Little Red Riding Hood standing close by holding a basket on her arm. She was covering her face with her hood. I didn’t know why she was doing that then, but now I realize she was just trying to hide the smirk on her face.

“Good morning!” I answered. I was honestly glad to see her. I picked a quick bouquet of flowers and put them between my fangs. Then I trotted over to her and dropped them into her basket. I had only the best of intentions.

“Where might you be headed today?” I asked, just to be friendly, of course.

“Oh, my grandmother is pretending to be sick again. So, I have to take her some cakes and honey. My mother told me to go straight to Granny’s house but when I saw you lying there among those flowers, it gave me an idea. I would rather eat these cakes, then lie down and go to sleep.” She complained.

I had no idea what a wicked girl she was so I offered, “What a pity you have to rush over there on such a beautiful day. I’ll pick another bouquet just for her.”

There were wild flowers blowing in the breeze and sunbeams dancing on the trees. Colorful butterflies fluttered here and there. She cocked her head to one side.

“You call this a beautiful day, Wolf?” she grumbled.

“Oh, yes,” I said, “And I am sure that Granny would love a bouquet of flowers too. Surely you will allow me a few minutes to pick them for her?” I was already selecting the color arrangement that I thought Granny would like such as yellow, pink and violet.

Little Red Riding Hood yawned, patted her mouth and replied, “Okay Wolf, but hurry up! I’m sleepy and I’m tempted to eat up the food in this basket and tell Granny that mother was too lazy to cook anything today.”

She flopped down in the grass and nearly dumped the contents out of her basket.

I skipped back over to the field and picked a fine bouquet for Granny. By the time I had returned, Little Red Riding Hood had eaten everything in the basket and had sound asleep, snoring with her mouth gaping open. I was so disappointed in her behavior.

“Go away, Wolf!” She mumbled as I tried to awaken her. I did not really want to disturb her rest but I was concerned that Granny was not getting her bouquet. So, I decided I would take the flowers to Granny myself. This was the only way I could insure that Granny would actually receive the flowers. Obviously, I could not trust Little Red Riding Hood.

I slipped my paws under Little Red Riding Hood’s head and slid the red riding hood off carefully so I would not disturb her nap. I did not want to scare Granny before I could even get near her, so I pulled the red riding hood over my head. I peeked at my reflection in the nearby lake. I could pass for Little Red Riding Hood, except I wasn’t as overweight.

There was only crumbs left in the basket for Granny. Looking around, I spotted a young lamb that was lost from the flock. Then I thought that Granny just might be hungry for lamb chops! Tucking the lamb under my arm, I headed for Granny’s house as fast as I could go!

On the way to Granny’s house, I saw one of the Three Little Pigs. “Hello piggy,” I said cheerfully. I wasn’t trying to get on the pig’s good side. I just wanted to make him feel better by saying “Hello.”

“Oh, there you are Little Red Riding Hood. Are you going to visit your Granny today?” He asked cheerfully.

I softened my voice a little because I know that they still think I destroyed two little pigs' houses and that simply is a lie also, but that’s a different story.

“I wanted to surprise Granny with some lamb chops and snacks,” I almost whispered out from under my hood. “I’m on my way there now.” I added.

“I know you are doing this out of the goodness of your heart,” snorted the pig. “I’m going on my way then, Have a nice day and say 'Hello' to your Granny for me.”

I kept thinking I could smell pork chops cooking for some reason, but I shrugged it off and went on my way to Granny’s to give her the bouquet and the lamb. After the pig left, I pondered his sarcastic comment. He acted suspicious and I thought for a moment that maybe he recognized me. Anyway, he was mean to blame a poor defenseless wolf for blowing down two houses. I wasn't in the neighborhood at that time. Everyone in their right thinking knows that only things like tornadoes, twisters and hurricanes can blow houses down and not poor little wolves--no matter how hard they huff and puff! But he couldn’t hear me because he was already far down the road. So I continued on toward Granny’s house.

That’s when I saw the Boy That Cried Wolf. He gave the whole town a bad reputation by being a liar. He said twice that the wolf was eating the sheep and the third time he said this the people ignored him. Then a fox came along and did the deed himself. They all still claim it was a wolf. The discrimination we wolves have been through is remarkable.

“Hello, Little Red Riding Hood. Nice day isn’t it?” he asked.

“Lovely!” I said trying to soften my voice.

Then he went on past me and along came Peter. I held my head down and ignored him completely. That Peter and the Wolf story was totally unfair! I remembered immediately that his stupid lies got a wolf into a lot of trouble.

At last, I was getting close to Granny’s house when I heard someone chant:
"What rumbles and tumbles
Against my poor bones?
I thought 'twas six kids,
But it feels like big stones."

Looking around, I saw a goat eating a newspaper. I was so fed up by then that I just asked, “What’s your problem, goat?”

“Oh, nothing at all." Crunch! Crunch! The goat continued chewing up the newspaper. “I was just quoting the poem out of the Wolf and the Seven Kids. It was a pity that they had to load up that wolf’s belly with rocks so that he would drown when he went to get a drink. But that’s what he deserved.”

“Well it’s nice to know someone remembered the story about the wolf," I chided. “But I’ll bet there’s another side to that story. So, why don’t you just go eat up a tree!”

“Could be another side to it,” smacked the goat. “But there’s too many wolf stories to prove that the wolf is a bad fellow.” Then he bounded off toward the meadow. And I turned my attention toward Granny’s little cottage at the end of the road.

I took notice of her lovely garden as I sneaked up — I mean, uh, went up to the front door. Then I cleared my throat so that my voice would not scare Granny. I stuck one big paw out from under the hood and I knocked on the door.

“Who’s there?” a woman shouted hatefully.

“It is I, the friendly Wolf.” I answered, not trying to disguise my voice at all. As I explained earlier, I had nothing to hide.

“I’m not about to get out of bed!” She shouted angrily. “The door is open. Are you too lazy to turn the knob and let yourself in?”

This mean comment hurt my feelings and I almost changed my mind at that point but being the good wolf that I am, I pushed the door open wide and went upstairs to Granny’s bedroom. I was still carrying the lamb under my arm.

When Granny saw me, she screamed, “Just as I thought, Wolf! You have eaten my granddaughter, put on her red riding hood, and stolen a lamb from the Huntsman’s flock.”

She threw off the covers, pulled a rifle out from under her pillow and started shooting like a crazy woman. I was so shocked that I ran down the stairs and out of the door, leaving the lamb inside with Granny.

Later, when I peeked inside the window, I saw Granny gobbling up the last of the lamb and smacking her lips. She let out a big belch. Then I heard her grumbling to herself, “I’ll go and find that lazy granddaughter of mine and we will go find the Huntsman to tell him the wolf ate up his lost lamb. Ha! Ha! He’ll chase that wolf down and cut him wide open.”

I felt a sudden fear that I had never felt before in my life. I was afraid. I stayed well hidden in the bushes outside of her window. When Granny left, I knew I would have to think of a way to convince the Huntsman that I was innocent. Therefore, I hurried back into the house and up the stairs to Granny’s bedroom.

I pulled one of Granny’s nightgowns over my head. It was a tight squeeze and I had to tuck in my tail. I put on Granny’s housecoat, took her old reading glasses and placed them on the end of my nose. I covered my black nose with some of her face powder. After all, I had to find some way to avoid being cut open by the Huntsman.

I looked at myself in the mirror. I really did not look anything like Granny so I pulled her nightcap down over my ears and climbed into her bed. I pushed the glasses back up to my face so I could pull the covers over my long powdered nose. It was strange how well I could impersonate little Red Riding Hood, but not her Granny.

Smiling to myself, I settled back to wait on the Huntsman. I would tell the Huntsman how Little Red Riding Hood ate up the food, and fell asleep. Then, I would make him understand how the kind wolf came and brought me a lamb and a bouquet. Then tell him he should locate Little Red Riding Hood and make her bring me a new basket of sweet things to eat…especially lamb!

I started to hear voices downstairs. I remained very still when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. I pretended to be asleep by closing my eyes and making a loud snoring sound. The Huntsman came over to the bed and said, “Ah! Ha! So, you are pretending to be Granny, you rascal! One of the Three Little Pigs told me he saw you dressed up in Little Red Riding Hood’s clothes. Then the Boy Who Cried Wolf, told me he saw you. Then Pete from Peter and the Wolf said you tried to ignore him and the goat from The Wolf and the Seven Kids saw you as well. I have been looking for you a long time. Now I got you!”

The Huntsman held the knife under my chin but I was too quick for him. I hopped out of the bed and was out of the house before the Huntsman could turn around. I heard him yelling, “When I catch you I will cut you open and take out Granny and Little Red Riding Hood!”

Then I thought to myself, Wolf, make tracks!

I ran and ran until I returned to the field of flowers where I found a note nailed to a tree. It was from that brat, Little Red Riding Hood.

Humiliated with embarrassment, I opened it up and read it:

You stupid Wolf! Just wait until I tell everybody a tale I made up about you. You will not have a friend left in the world. Oh yes, Granny said to thank you for the lamb chops!

Signed:
Little Red Riding Hood

So, I lay back down in the field to guard the sheep once more and gave all of this some thought. This is what I have learned:

Just because something looks good does not mean that it is good. Just because something looks bad does not mean that it is bad. Last, but not least, there are always two sides to every story. This is The Wolf’s Side.

Original copyrighted 1998 on Delphi Member Services by Cheryl Henry Hodgetts, aka Laurie Foston.