Once there was a cheerful girl who loved a bright red hood her grandmother had sewn. Everyone called her Little Red. One sunny morning, Mama packed a small basket.
“Bread, berries, and carrot soup,” said Mama. “Please bring these to Grandma, and remember: stay on the path and be home before the shadows get long.”
Little Red nodded. “Path, basket, home,” she sang, and off she went.
The forest was friendly that day. Birds went chip-chip. Leaves went shhh, shhh. Little Red stepped along, letting the basket swing. She saw three white daisies by the trail and whispered, “Hello, flowers,” but she did not step off the path.
Just then, a gray nose peeped from behind a tree. Out stepped a wolf—tall, curious, and very quiet.
“Good day,” said the wolf, tipping his head. “Where are you walking so carefully?”
“To my grandmother’s cottage,” said Little Red. “I’m bringing her lunch.” Then she remembered Mama’s words. “I can’t stop to chat. I have to stay on the path.”
The wolf’s ears twitched. “What a thoughtful granddaughter,” he said with a silky smile. “Her cottage is the one with green shutters, yes?”
Little Red didn’t answer that. She just waved and kept walking: step, step; basket swing.
The wolf, however, knew the woods well. He ran a zig and a zag (not on the path at all) and reached the cottage first. He knocked politely.
“Who is it?” called Grandma.
“A…a blanket delivery!” said the wolf, deepening his voice. But Grandma was clever. She kept the door locked and slipped into the little closet to wait, as quiet as a mouse.