Sniplet 76. Little Skull Riding Hood [Fairy Tale Week]

Once upon a time in a village by a big forest, there lived a little girl named Morti. Her daddy and her papa found her on the edge of the woods one day when she was just a baby, and took her in, and ever since then she was the darling of the whole village, loved by all. Morti could not speak, not even a word, and that would have made more suspicious villagers say terrible things about her, but neither her parents would hear a word spoken against their dear Morti. As it was, Morti had a little board, and she wrote on it instead of speaking, and everyone would wait patiently to see what Morti had to say. 
Morti’s papa one day made Morti a beautiful red cloak decorated with pictures of skulls, as skulls were Morti’s favorite thing in the world. And because of her cloak, everyone called her “Little Red Riding Hood”, because “Little Skull Riding Hood” didn’t have the same ring to it.
One day, Morti’s daddy needed her to deliver food to his mother, Ehimay, who lived in the forest all by himself, and who was very sick. Morti loved her grandmother and visiting him, and was all too happy to visit him.
Her daddy and her papa always warned Morti never to go of the trail, for the woods were full of dangerous beasts that could eat her up in a second. 
Morti left early, so she would at her grandmother’s house before the hour grew dark. But on her day towards his house, she spotted a little skeleton of an animal long dead just off the trail, and in her delight she ran to collect it, and then she spotted another one beyond it.
Soon Morti had decided she would collect all manner of things to cheer up her sickly grandmother, and began to collect flowers, and interesting rocks, and any other little skulls she managed to find. As this happened, she did not notice who was watching her from behind a tree. A ferocious wolf!
When Morti finally spotted the wolf, she tried not to be afraid. Her daddy and her grandfather always told her to love animals, but he was simply so frightening that she nearly froze up with fear.
“Little girl, little girl, where are you going?” asked the wolf.
After a moment, Morti wrote, “I am going to see my grandmother, who lives north of here, by the lake.” 
“And why are you going to see her, little girl?”
After another moment, Morti wrote, “He is very ill, and papa and daddy have sent me with a basket of food for him, and I shall cheer him up. I am picking flowers for him, and I hope that he likes them.”
The wolf laughed, “Then keep picking flowers for him, little girl, and I shall be on my way and trouble you no more.”
Morti waved goodbye to the wolf, relieved he was gone, and continued to happily pick flowers.
By the time it was noon, she finally remembered she needed to be at her grandmother’s by dark, and hurried back to the path, and finally arrived at her grandmother’s cottage by the silver lake. 
She knocked on the door. 
“Sweet child, is that you at the door?” came the voice from inside. “Come right in!”
And Morti did so. Usually her grandmother was sitting on a chair or outside, practicing his shooting, but today he was simply resting in the bed. Now, Morti had a difficult time seeing things, especially those that were very far from her, and when she saw the person resting in her grandmother’s bed she had no reason to suspect it was not truly her grandmother. She closed the door and put her little basket on the chair, and wrote out a message to her grandmother.
“Grandmama, what a deep voice you have!”
He smiled. “The better to greet you with, my dear!”
Little Morti looked closer at her grandmother’s face. “Grandmama, what big eyes you have!”
“The better to see you with, my dear!” Morti guessed that was so. She picked up one of his hands lovingly and stroked it, before realizing how big it was.
“Grandmama, what big hands you have!”
He pulled little Morti close, and hugged her tightly to him. “The better to hug you with, my dear.”
Morti patted his enormous jaw and wrote down a message, though it was hard at this angle. “Grandmama, what a big mouth you have!”
The wolf opened his mouth wide. “The better to EAT YOU WITH, MY DEAR!” 
Morti gasped in fear, but suddenly, a knife slit through the wolf’s belly, and a huge opening came up. Her grandmother Ehimay jumped out of the wolf’s belly, grabbing his guns on the bedside table and shooting the wolf several times for good measure. Once he was absolutely sure he was dead, he hugged Morti tightly. 
“Morti, what the hell? Why did my son send you out here all alone? He should know these woods aren’t safe for a little girl! Come on, put your basket down, Grandma will teach you how to shoot!”
“I thought you were sick, grandmama.” asked Morti.
“I never get sick.” said Ehimay. “I just said that so you and your parents would visit me. Come on, Morti, it’s time you learned how to use a gun, that way you can defend yourself.” 
From then on, every time she went to visit her grandmother, Morti brought her trusted dog, Eggplant, and he kept her safe. But the truth was that no wolf would ever mess with Morti again since for they feared the wrath of her grandmother.

Author's Note: The only time I've writen anyone else's character- that character being Ehimay :) I think I managed to get him down pretty okay, though I don't think I want to do it again. I always worry about making people OoC, which is why I struggle with writing fanfiction. 

Word Count: 949 words

Date: January 14th, 2016