Into the Woods
The pale, white ground was cold, tingling her bare feet. Tall, spiky trees loomed above her, casting dark shadows in the area. The girl hugged herself, rubbing her arms together. She trudged through the rough terrain, as her eyes constantly darted around for any sign of another person.
Looking up, she caught glimpses of warm orangey light peeking through the dense canopy. The girl fiddled with the necklace she was wearing, turning the black as ink gem between two fingers.
Her name? A mystery. Where she was, how she got here, how she would get out, her friends, her home, her family, if she would get back to her normal life, if she’d remember anything about who she was.
A total mystery.
But there was one thing–a teensy memory, dancing in the back of her mind.
There was a…a bed, and a… wooden table–no–side table with the square paper thing…the book which rested on it. Along with… a voice, rough around the edges, but still sweet as honey.
She couldn’t remember what it was saying, but it had to be good. Why else would it make her feel all warm and fuzzy inside?
When I get out of here, I can go back to the room with the bed, the book, and the wonderful voice. Then, I’ll remember everything and it’ll be a-okay.
She smiled at the thought.
The wind whipped at her tattered dress, its cold blades slicing at her skin. Still, she pushed forward, squeezing her eyes shut to avoid them being pelted by the tiny daggers. After the howls of the wind died down, she opened her eyes again, rubbing the snowflakes off of them. In the corner of her eye, she noticed something red flash by her.
She let out a gasp.
Someone is here too! She thought, following the direction of where they went. They’ll be able to help me!
She was right behind them now. Their back was covered by a long red cape and they had a hood over their head.
The girl waited, until she was satisfied with how close she was, and exclaimed.
“Hello!”
The person flinched and ran away.
“H-hey, wait up!”
She dashed after them.
They swiftly dodged branches and trees as she followed them, almost stumbling on her own feet.
The stranger made a sudden turn, causing the girl to skid to a stop and fall.
Why did they run away? Was it something I said?
She picked herself up, and dusted the snow off her dress. The girl continued walking in the mysterious person’s direction.
The girl followed the fresh footprints like a trail of breadcrumbs. She seemed to walk deeper into the woods. The dimming light casted shadows that littered the forest floor. An eerie silence of the night was broken only by her breathing. Despite this, she casually strolled by the imposing trees as if it was a normal thing for children to do.
Finally, the footprints led to a small clearing. She peeked behind a tree to see the red-hooded stranger slowly walking in it. She stepped closer and was about to call out to them when…
Clank!
Crunch
The girl jumped a little, and she covered her ears. She looked back up to see the person on their knees, their body shaking a little. They inched toward the tree behind them, and rested their back against the trunk.
She watched as they struggled to pull something off their leg. The girl tried approaching them, to get a better look.
Snap
She looked down to see a small twig broken in half.
The stranger’s head shot up to where she was standing.
“W-who’s there!” They barked, fumbling to grab something. “I-I know someone’s there!”
The girl put her hands to her mouth when they pulled out a crossbow with a sharp arrow loaded in it, pointing in her direction.
“Show yourself now. I won’t hesitate to shoot.”
She gulped, creeping closer to them.
Fiddlesticks.
The dusk sun barely illuminated the area, but she could at least pick out some details of the person in front of her.
His amber eyes bore into hers, with deep, half-moons under them. He had two large scars on each side of his face, stopping just short of his nose bridge. Dark, long bangs that didn’t look like they had a proper brush in weeks cascaded over his face, ending at a pointy tip. His bright red hood and cape stood out from his dull brown jacket with spiky fur on its collar and the cuffs of the sleeves. He had matching long pants that led to his scuffed hiking boots.
And on one of them, a large metal trap was sinking its teeth into his flesh, causing liquid the same color as his hood to trickle down. The person slowly stood up, using the bark behind him as support, and was now towering over her.
“A kid…” he muttered, his raised eyebrows betraying his scowling look. “What’s a little girl doing in a place like this?”
“I-I’m lost,” she whispered, trying not to look at his piercing glare.
“Lost? Ha! As if!” They narrowed their eyes. “No sane person would ever let a kid just wander into the Grim Forest. Hell, they wouldn’t dare to take half a step here at night.”
“I r-really am lost, I promise you.” The girl proclaimed, her body shaking.
“Yeah right,” he leaned back a little, his crossbow still aimed at her.
“Now, state your name and why you’ve been following me.” The person ordered.
She gulped again.
“I followed you ’cause I need someone to help me out of here and back home.” The girl explained, toying with her necklace. “A-and my name is…erm…”
“Spit it out.”
What am I gonna say?! “Well I don’t have one ’cause I can’t remember that or anything at all!” Hood guy will probably just fire at me if I do!
“It’s, uh…” The girl squeezed her eyes shut, trying to think of something, anything. She blurted out the first thing that surfaced in her mind.
“St-Stella!”
She braced for an arrow to pierce her, but it never came.
“‘Stella’,” he repeated, testing it out on his tongue. “That’s a peculiar name.”
“Hmm…” He sized her up, taking in her disheveled appearance.
The girl Stella smiled in response; the corners of her mouth were firm.
“Well… that still doesn’t explain how you got ‘lost’ in the forest in the first place.”
She let out a breath.
“It’s silly; you wouldn’t get it.” Stella gripped one of her arms.
“No, no, you’re going to tell me exactly why you’re lost.”
Hood guy doesn’t believe me now, if I tell him “I just woke up here.” He’ll totally think I’m a liar, or crazy!
“Y-you see,” she gulped. “I—”
The person’s ankle wobbled, and the trap pulled him down. He collapsed on his injured foot, which twisted in an odd way.
“Damn it!” he hissed through his teeth.
Stella shuffled closer, reaching out.
“Are you all right?”
“Stop! D-don’t come any closer!”
He held his ankle to himself, continuing to try to pull the metal teeth open.
She watched him struggle, her brow creasing.
“I-I could help.”
They snorted, “With what?”
Stella pointed to the bear trap.
“That… thing.”
“Like you could—” the person yelped in pain when the teeth bit harder.
…
“Fine,” he sighed, “help me out.”
“Really?” Stella blinked.
The person nodded; their head hung low.
“Y-yes,” he mumbled. “Just… be careful.”
“I will, I promise.”
She ambled over to them, and knelt down.
“So, what do I hafta do?”
He shifted his ankle to face her.
“First, grab each side of the trap.”
“Like this?”
“No, not there,” he put his hands on the edges, “you have to hold here.”
Stella copied his actions, then looked up at him with wide eyes.
“Now what?”
“Alright, I’m going to count to three. On three, we pull.” The person explained. “Got it?”
She nodded with a grin.
He sighed. “Let’s just get it over with.”
His bandaged hands tightened their grip on the cold metal.
“One…”
Pull on three. Pull on three. Pull on three. Three on pull… wait–
“Two…”
What does “three on pull” even mean… Focus! What did you need to do again? Full–no push! Wait it’s–
“Three!”
Stella yanked on the metal with all her might. She watched as the space between its jaws and the person’s ankle slowly increased.
Finally, the gap was large enough for him to carefully slide his foot out.
“There, now let go—”
She released her hands, and the trap slammed shut.
“—Or we could do that.”
He reached into a brown pouch on his belt, rummaging through it until he pulled out a roll of white cloth.
“Whatcha doin’?” Stella asked, watching him wrap the long cloth around his ankle.
“Bandaging the wound?”
“Why?”
“To stop myself from losing too much blood.”
“Whoa, you’re smart,” she remarked.
“Thanks?”
When he was finished, he used the point of an arrow to cut the excess.
“That’ll have to do for now…” he muttered, picking up his crossbow.
The person rose to his feet and looked down at Stella.
“Well, um, thanks again… Stella, was it?”
She nodded.
“No problem, Mister!”
“Anytime,” he replied, scratching the back of his head.
“You said you were lost, correct?”
“Y-yeah I am.”
“Follow me then, I’ll get you out of this place.”
“Y-you’ll really do that for me?”
Stella’s eyes sparkled. “I can’t exactly leave a little kid alone in the forest at night, can I?”
“Thank you so much, mister,”
“You don’t have to call me ‘mister’ ya’ know? I have a name too,”
“Besides I’m not that old…” He mumbled.
“Sooo, what’s your name then?”
His eyes flickered from the ground back to Stella. “…Red Riding Hood, but you can call me Red.”
“Well it’s nice to meet you, Red,” she grinned.
“Er, same to you kid.”
Red turned around, gesturing for her to follow him.
“Stick close; it’ll be dark soon.”
“Okay, Red!”
Stella tagged along with him as they headed out of the forest, and soon, back to her home.
